tumble dryer verses gas central heating

jfmch

Can anyone tell me the costs of running a tumble dryer for an hour and running gas central heating for an hour (3 bed house 11 radiators). Or alternatively how to work out costs ie how many watts each would use

Pincher

Tumble Dryer

http://www.johnlewis.com/231039725/Product.aspx

4.13kWh/cycle

depending on vented/condensing dryer, how dry and load size of clothes. Sensor dry most efficient, as it will stop wasting heat when dry.

Gas Central Heating

Every hour your boiler REPLACES the heat lost in that hour.
Simplest thing is to read the gas meter over that hour,
and make sure you are not using gas hob etc.

The insulation property of your house and the difference between internal and external temperature define how much heat you lose. So 21-(-5)=26 degrees difference will lose a lot more heat than 18-10=8 degrees.

Total guess: 30kW for 26 degrees, and 8kW for 8 degrees.

dannymccann

Without using facts or figures I would say your boiler would be around 35kWh (gas) and the tumble dryer I will pinch Pincher's 4kWh figure.

The tumble dryer will cost around 40p depending on tariff, the boiler, if its working non-stop 100% for the whole hour (unlikely) will use roughly £1.40. However it is unlikely that is the case for your boiler, so if you half it to 70p and then remember this heating your whole house, not just your kitchen / utility room like the tumble dryer.

I dont use the tumble dryer that came with our house because I think the costs outweigh the benefits from it, things dry perfectly fine in 24 hours on a clothes horse in a spare room / over a door or even draped over radiators this time of year, as long as the vents in your windows are open in that room to allow the extra moisture to escape

mickey234

Electricity cost 3 times that of Gas per KW/h. So if you compare like with like, Gas will always be the winner.

It silly heating the whole house just to dry your clothes. If you use a tumble drier I would expect you to consume at least 3 Kwh. costing anything from 30p to 40p, depending where you live. Be sure to spin dry your clothes at the fastest spin-speed before you use the tumble.

Also be aware that vented Tumble Driers are more efficient that the condensing type.