Method and device for drying laundry

For energy-saving drying of laundry, the moisture-laden outgoing air leaving the laundry-receiving room (1) is guided via a heat exchanger/heat accumulator unit (4). The heat removed from the outgoing air is used in a first operating state for charging the heat accumulator, while the connected-in heating device (5) serves for heating the dry air supplied to the laundry-receiving room. If the heat accumulator is charged, the heating device is disconnected or partially switched off by the drier control and the dry air is guided via the heat accumulator for heating before admission into the laundry-receiving room. After the heat accumulator has cooled down beyond a given value, the drier control switches over again to the first mode of operation.