Gas Tumble driers

tonecontrol

I've never seen anything about gas tumble dryers on the site. We've had one for over 10 years, and I think it seems like a good idea

We got ours from the high street british gas shop, but now the easiest place to buy is probably: http://www.gastumbledryers.co.uk/
this site says "Gas tumble dryers function in exactly the same way as electric tumble dryers except for the significant savings on energy costs - typically over 70%. That’s almost 1/3 the running costs of a similar sized electric tumble dryer. "

which is what we already know: gas is cheaper than electricity per kwh

A, B,C rated washing machines use 0.5 - 1.5 kwh, depending on wash temperature
average is 1.15kWh per cycle (from http://www.britastro.org/dark-skies/calculators.html)

tumble driers average load uses 4.5kWh per cycle (from http://www.britastro.org/dark-skies/calculators.html)

so basically every load uses 4.5 kWH to dry.
Electricity is 9-15p per kwh
Gas costs 3-4p per kwh

so every electric dry costs 40.5p - 67.5p
so every gas dry costs 13.5p - 18p
saving is 27p - 49.5p per load

mostly families do a load a day,
3 loads a week is £42 - £77 a year
1 a day is £99 - £180 a year
2 a day (lots of kids) is £198 - £360 a year

current ownership is low:
http://www.mtprog.com/ApprovedBriefingNotes/PDF/MTP_BNW06_2006September19.pdf says "The MTP assumes that ownership of gas tumble dryers will remain low. In the late 1990s it was considered that only 0.3% of households owned a gas tumble dryer and this percentage is likely to increase only very slightly to 0.4% in 2010 (due to the general increase in household numbers). Gas dryers are more carbon efficient because they use the primary energy source. Barriers to increased ownership, however, are assumed to be initial purchase price and limited flexibility in installation (most houses with gas would require an additional gas connection point)."

However, they are about £250-£300 at http://www.gastumbledryers.co.uk/
You need a normal cooker point and a vent fitted to the exhaust, which should be about £100 or so of work. NB: no dampness into the house!

what do you think?

cheers
Tone

1882

It's a large outlay upfront compared to electric ones and limited locations as you say. Also I wonder if the savings are as big now as in the past as gas costs have risen faster that electricity ones.

Cardew

Tonecontrol,
I agree with the thrust of your argument, except I think the consumption figures you quote are too high.

Most tumble dryers are 2.5kW or 3.0kW and I don't think than many people have then on full heat for 1.5 hours - bearing mind that they have a cooling down/anti-creasing cycle. I have measured a typical load in my house and it is normally under 2 kWh.

Also nearly all the programs on my(cold fill) washing machine are 0.6kWh or 0.9kWh with the former being used more often.

Can you get condensing gas dryers?

MATH

My off-peak electricity and gas price per kwh are almost identical. Factoring in the increased purchase price of a gas dryer, the cost of having it installed. I don't think it would be price effective in my case.

Do you have to have them serviced regularly like you do CH boilers?

tonecontrol

1882 wrote:

It's a large outlay upfront compared to electric ones and limited locations as you say. Also I wonder if the savings are as big now as in the past as gas costs have risen faster that electricity ones.

gas still costs 3 times as much as electricity in the tariffs I've found. I think it depends on how often you use it really. e.g with kids a lot more!

tonecontrol

MATH wrote:

My off-peak electricity and gas price per kwh are almost identical. Factoring in the increased purchase price of a gas dryer, the cost of having it installed. I don't think it would be price effective in my case.

Do you have to have them serviced regularly like you do CH boilers?

yes, the maths need to work for you. I reckon it would pay for the difference itself in 1 year if you do a load a day. Also, I think that having a vent installed should be done for an electric one too.

tonecontrol

MATH wrote:

My off-peak electricity and gas price per kwh are almost identical. Factoring in the increased purchase price of a gas dryer, the cost of having it installed. I don't think it would be price effective in my case.

Do you have to have them serviced regularly like you do CH boilers?

I'm pretty sure the servicing period is less frequent. It's not been a big job.

Cardew

tonecontrol wrote:

gas still costs 3 times as much as electricity in the tariffs I've found. !

Or the other way around;)

JuJu_3

We used to have a gas tumble drier. When we moved house we didn't get round to get it installed, and eventually got an electric one. It dried the clothes in HALF the time the gas one took. Gas may cost less to run, but if it takes twice as long as electric, that cancels out any saving.
JuJu

gasdryermaker

I have had this thread brought to my attention and have been asked (as a designer of domestic gas tumble dryers) to try to provide clarification on some of the many points raised.

Here goes!

Gas dryers do genuinely cost less to run than electric tumble dryers of similar size and capacity. In the UK, the MTP (market transformation programme - funded by DEFRA) have found that a typical UK domestic tumble dryer load size is 4kg (despite the fact that dryers have declared capacities of anything between 5 and 8kg) and that the average consumer uses the dryer 148 times per annum. Using these figures, a typical electric dryer has running costs of ~£41 per annum, whilst a gas dryer costs ~£11 per annum. These figures can be confirmed by the Energy Saving Trust who have recently announced that Gas Dryers can claim "Energy Recommended" status because of their extremely low carbon footprint and low running costs. (try visiting www.est.org )

A gas tumble dryer produces half the carbon that an electric dryer produces. It even produces less carbon and has half the running costs of the best of the Energy "A" banded electric dryers (running cost of ~£24.50 per annum).

The "high speed" gas dryers take half as long to dry a load of clothes (they have a slightly higher noise level due to their increased fan speed), and a typical 3kW gas dryer takes the same amount of time to dry a load as its electric counterpart.

Domestic gas dryers do not require regular servicing unless it is recommended by the manufacturer. A regular clean around the airways with a vacuum cleaner nozzle is all that is normally required.

Condensing gas dryers do not exist as the flue gases have to be vented outside the building.

Gas dryers can be bought from many high street retailers (eg Currys etc) as well as through on-line retailers. Sometimes you have to push a bit as sales assistant knowledge on gas dryers isn't exactly brilliant in my experience.

I recommend that if you are in doubt about these appliances, you give the Energy Saving Trust a ring and ask them for their thoughts.

By the way, domestic gas dryers manufactured here in Yorkshire are exported to various parts of the world including Holland, Spain, Germany, Italy, Taiwan, to name a few.

Hope this helps to clear up some of the confusion.

In these uncertain climatic times, the ultimate solution of drying on a clothes line simply isn't viable. So the greenest and cheapest alternative is using a gas heated dryer.

Finally, congrats to Tonecontrol for his contribution to the thread.

Pip pip

Gasdryermaker

[Deleted User]

gasdryermaker wrote: »

So the greenest and cheapest alternative is using a gas heated dryer.

Gasdryermaker

Wrong!! Do what I do. I have to dry all washing indoors under the terms of my lease. Use ecover liquid, soda and dolly balls and you get a very soft result. Pick a sunny day or designate a room and use airers like me. I have 5 assorted airers and can get a mountain of washing dry very quickly and pretty well out of sight

It is even easier in winter when I stand a wooden airer in the bath in a heated bathroom. I simply turn the fan on from time to time to get rid of the damp air