Using an electric clothes dryer off-grid

Re: Using an electric clothes dryer off-grid

This is likely my last post on the subject. I have been repairing appliances for twenty three years. I have had Maytag, Frigidaire, Asko, GE and Whirlpool dryers in my home, in both gas and electric. My opinion is that the Whirlpool dryer with the lint screen on the top is the best design on the US market for drying clothes quickly and efficiently. It is a robust, well engineered unit whose major design points haven't changed in forty years. You might look at it and say it can't work well because the heat and exhaust both come in the back, yet somehow it does.

I am also not of the consensus that there is much room for efficiency improvement in electric clothes dryers. Dryers need lots of heat and lots of airflow to drive the moisture out of the clothes. Washers, refrigerators, and dishwashers have become much more efficient in the last 40 years. Why are dryers still using 4500 watt heating elements and 1/3 hp motors? Because manufacturers are lazy and consumers won't buy one? I think not. It takes heat and airflow to dry clothes quickly and there is no way around that fact.

I agree with Chris' observation that theoretically, a dryer could be designed with a heat pump to run more efficiently than with a resistive element. So we need a heat pump that can produce 15000 btus to equal a 4500 watt element. The compressor itself would run over $200 plus the costs of the evaporator and condenser coils, not to mention controls and refrigerant. All this to replace a $20 resistive element and $5 bimetal thermostat, and it still has to fit in a 30"x30"x36" box to fit in people's laundry rooms. Manufacturers aren't stupid. I would imagine they could build such a thing for $1500. It would save $40/year over the cost of a traditional dryer that costs $400 and the payback would be on the order of 25 years. There is a darn good reason that the heat pump hasn't been widely implemented for clothes drying. It doesn't make sense economically. It also doesn't make sense "green" as the embodied energy in a heat pump system is an order of magnitude larger than a resistive element and the complexity increases repair costs over time.

Dryer technology hasn't changed much in forty years for a reason. Electronics are all the rage now and if you can accurately shut the thing down when the clothes are dry instead of letting the timer run out, I suppose there's some savings to be had there, but it's nothing that frugal housewives haven't known all along and adjusted the time on the cycle to the size of their loads.

Buy a cross vented dryer if you want, but I have watched the things work, I have felt the airflow out the back after 15 minutes of towels with a full lint screen versus the Whirlpool with a half full screen and I have watched the Whirlpool dry faster time and time again. I have a 15 year old Whirlpool in my own house, and I could have replaced with countless other brands over the years. Sorry if I'm a little opinionated on the subject, but I eat breathe and sh#t home appliances and get a little passionate about the subject.

Re: Using an electric clothes dryer off-grid

Sorry for picking out the lint, but no one mentioned Bosch, a brand of washer & drier my wife (SWMBO) LOVES...

the dryer goes in fits and stars by rotating the drum one way then the other, an irritating side to it is it squeaks differently depending on direction...BUT SWMBO claims it dries ALL loads faster. It has a batch of electronics that control it so it shuts off when the goods are dry.
The only time I have noted things are a bit damp is wen the dreaded sheet tangle occurs. (I am the designated dryer emptier)

Sorry I am not able to test the draw of the drier or the washer, it uses a standard drier wall plug for the 240 connection and the matching 110 washer, a whiner at 1800rpm, uses a Euro plug. from the back of the drier , for power.

other wise a great thread.