I am wondering about the actual amount of increase in efficiency from a gas dryer of the recent and not so recent (5 year ago and 17 year ago as opposed to what is on the display floor today). For a family doing an average of three or more loads a day is there much reduction in the gas used now vs an older dryer, and just how much?
Thanks!
I don't think you will find much change in the efficiency of the dryer. On the other hand if you pick up a new front loading washer will a high spin speed, you will reduce drying time by maybe 30%. That is real savings no matter what dryer you are using.
If you really want to use less gas, I would be thinking about why you do so many loads of laundry in the first place. I'm doing about 2 per week.
On 1/24/2005 2:00 PM US(ET), scott snipped-for-privacy@my-deja.com took fingers to keys, and typed the following:
Not everyone lives alone. I live with 3 adult females (don't get excited, 2 are my daughters). We all shower and change clothes everyday, some twice a day. Towels alone can take two loads. Besides, with the women, there are delicates that have to be washed separately from other clothes. I have a
1' x 2' square laundry chute dropping down from the second floor bedroom area that is usually half full. My wife does about 10 to 12 loads a week. My water softener says we average 240 gallons of water per day.
If your dryer is new enough to have an electronic ignition instead of a pilot light, there's not a lot of efficiency gains in anything newer.
I'd have to agree with Joseph. You're going to get a lot more bang for the drying buck getting a front-loading washer with a fast-spin cycle -- with a good one the clothes are darn near dry before you put 'em in the dryer. They also tend to use less water more load, too -- might be significant if your water runs you a good chunk o' change.
reduction
The real savings is to use it less. A dryer is on of the worst applicances energy wise in the winter. You are taking warm air from your home, heating it more and drying your clothes with it and pumping it outside. All the air from your home that your dreyer pumps out through the vent must be replaced and it is replaced by cold dry air from outside leaking in. So running the dreyer makes your home furnace work more too. It's a double wammy. If you REALLY want to improve energy efficency, consider on of the heat reclimation devices for the dryer exhaust. But they have problems with lint, so you can't win. Mark
I agree too. CHeck out front loaders from Whirlpool, Kenmore and Maytag. Consumer Reports says the Maytag is not reliable but I've had one for 7 years and it is fine. They had some mildew issues but if you called them they replaced the tub seal with a mildew resistent one and made other improvements and upgraded the circuit board to make it wash better for free even though it was over 5 years old. I call that standing behind your appliance.
I recently moved into a house that came complete with a Maytag Neptune washer (and dryer), circa 1998. I'm glad they stand behind their product... Maybe the recent class action lawsuit has something to with that? The *major* mildew issues were unacceptable for my family, we chucked it within a few weeks.
Victor
seriously. 4 people, 3 loads a day. you guys need to get a handle on this.
for starters, towels (and most clothing) can be used more than one day... sounds like you could cut your laundry in half right there... and if its not just full of towels, i would seriously consider counseling to get over this obsession with cleanliness.... let me guess. you got those sanitary wipes in the house too? it also beats your clothes to hell being washed all the time.
its costing you a fortune.
but ignoring those issues, as others have said, sounds like your best bet is a washing machine with an extraction cycle.
randy
I'm with you. Drip-dry uses NO towels at all!
Towels used only after a shower never need washing. Ever.
Depending what was in the bath water (various herbs, spices, fragrences, emollients, etc.), towels used after bathing may not need washing.
Well, when I was in school it took 512 BTU, if memory serves, to vaporize water at 212F and one atmosphere. That is, to go from liquid to vapor at
212F.I expect it takes the same ammount, even if that ammount is different than my memory.
What could get more efficient? It isn't a wise ass answer, you're trying to vaporize water to blow it out a vent. I guess you could use a lighter drum, and lower HP motor.....
I dry clothes with an indoor clothes line. I don't even own a clothes dryer any more.
I tried to use it less, but during the winter it got really cold going naked. Not only that the neighbors complained.
I know that running loads back-to-back is more efficient because the dryer is already heated. A moisture sensor saves some energy. You have to weigh the cost of a new dryer with a little less efficiency. I'd probably keep the old dryer, and keep the machine and ductwork clean. With that many loads, even a new dryer will deposit lint in the ductwork fairly quickly. I do 3 large loads a week and clean the ductwork every 10 months.
well your skin does have oil on it, and showering doesnt remove all of it, and it does get into the towel a bit along with little bits of skin... i woundnt say never need washing..
i get about a week of daily showering (sometimes twice in a day) out of a towel before i move on to the next one, but im sure i could get longer were i trying to stretch it.
randy
I also think you need to go to once a week towel washing.
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