Tumble dryers: energy efficiency

Cardew

purple_hamster wrote: »

My dryer (only used in the cold, dark months) takes such a long time. It can take 90 mins to dry a normal load of washing, longer for towels. Mine is a condenser. My friend has a vented one and it takes 30-45 mins to dry a load. I often wonder if they take into account drying time. Does mine really use less energy in over an hour than hers does in half that time?

I have the largest drum size Miele heat pump dryer, which does take a long time to dry a full load but has remarkably low electrical consumption - you can hear the heat pump compressor cutting in and out.

Whilst dryers seem to be public enemy No1 amongst appliances, a couple of factors in their favour!

1. Many people live in flats with no facilities for hanging out washing.

2. In some urban areas, the pollution would mean that washing hung out to dry would be dirtier than before it was washed!

3. The softness of towels and reusable nappies is so much nicer than anything dried outside!

purple_hamster

and 4. before I got ours, we had mould growing up the walls and condesation literally dripping of external walls and windows. Then I had to use a dehumidifier constantly (day and night), which used far more energy than the dryer. I only use ours in autumn and winter.

Although I do find that towels dried in the machine don't seem to be as absorbant as ones dried on the line.

warrenb

We have a Bosch heat pump dryer, old dryer was a indesit self condensing. Old power con : 2.3kw
New power con : 520w

No brainer.

Mohawk_3

purple_hamster wrote: »

and 4. before I got ours, we had mould growing up the walls and condesation literally dripping of external walls and windows. Then I had to use a dehumidifier constantly (day and night), which used far more energy than the dryer. I only use ours in autumn and winter.

Although I do find that towels dried in the machine don't seem to be as absorbant as ones dried on the line.

I live in a flat with no outside drying space, and it's just not efficient to dry everything on radiators, especially in the winter. Even in the Summer, I tend to give the heavier clothes a bit of a dry in the tumble drier before hanging them up to finish off.

When you see how much water comes out of things like towels, and realise this used to just go into the air, and into walls, then you understand how easy it is for damp to become a problem if you are unable to fully ventilate.

I rarely iron anything, so I make savings there! :T

changed_username

I run a dehumidifier review site and would just like to reply to the above posts about using dehumidifier for drying washing indoors.

First of all you can get a dehumidifier with a 'Laundry Mode'. This basically places the unit on full power and brings the humidity levels way down eradicating any spore growth (or condensation on windows and walls etc).

Many dehumidifiers warm the surrounding air by up to 12C when used in Laundry mode so the room temperature will rise resulting in faster drying.

You can also buy a dehumidifier with an adjustable louvre so that you can aim the warm air flow to blow over the drying clothes.

If you want to pay bigger bucks you can also buy dehumidifiers which slip into a lower energy usage once a certain humidiity level has been reached (ie 35% for drying lothes).

For ordinary use you can buy dehumidifiers with energy-efficient technology so that when the set humidity level has been reached the dehumidifier automatically toggles off. When the humidity level rises by +-5% (depending on the model) the unit toggles itsef on automatically into the most efficient setting to bring the humidity down again.

With this technology you shouldn't have to run a dehumidifier 24 hours a day. Sometimes its better to spend a bit more money upfront in order to secure longer term savings.

Many dehumidifiers use around 620w in Laundry mode and around 200w-300w in regular mode.

With a proper dehumidifier you can say bye mould and dry your washing indoors in a safe manner as well.

Btw I must place my power meter on our tumble dryer to see if stated power usage is correct. There is often a variance when it comes to power usage and dehumidifiers 9but maybe that's just the grid that I am on).

purple_hamster

I think ours doesn't work properly. When we first got it, it would fill up in 12 hours (or less). Now, I could run it all day for a week before it needs emptying. Meanwhile, the humidity monitor says humidity is 70-80% (in the winter). We're lucky if on a very hot day with all the windows and doors open it gets down under 40%. But then overnight it's back up to 60%.

lstar337

purple_hamster wrote: »

I think ours doesn't work properly. When we first got it, it would fill up in 12 hours (or less). Now, I could run it all day for a week before it needs emptying. Meanwhile, the humidity monitor says humidity is 70-80% (in the winter). We're lucky if on a very hot day with all the windows and doors open it gets down under 40%. But then overnight it's back up to 60%.

Yes, I would say it has an issue.