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re: saving electricity
15 jul 2005
lou wrote:
>> if we need to evaporate 10 pounds of water and we set the dryer to 71 f
>> in a 70 f room, does the dryer still supply 10k btu of heat?
>
>if the drying compartment was perfectly insulated, yes, assuming an ending
>temperature equal to the starting temperature. if not so insulated, no.
room air flows through the dryer.
>> >the dryer does more than supply heat, of course - it also tumbles the
>> >clothes during the drying process, and powering that tumbling action also
>> >uses energy.
>>
>> maybe american dryers should operate like european washers, taking longer
>> to do their job at a lower temperature, eg 80 f, with a motor that rests
>> most of the time and only exhausts air and turns the drum for a few
>> seconds every few minutes, when the rh inside the dryer rises to 60%.
>
>that's a curious use of the word "should".
it's used in the context of our subject, "saving electricity."
>there's more than one way to build a dryer, and different strategies will
>differ in their effectiveness. i find it most convenient when the drying
>cycle takes about the same time as the wash cycle - i can get the laundry
>done in the minimum amount of time.
maybe american washers should operate like european washers. if i only do
laundry once a week and i don't watch the machine during the entire cycle,
i don't care much whether the cycle takes 20 minutes or 4 hours. how much
energy can we save with longer cycles?
then again, i rarely use my dryer. maybe once a year. i hang small stuff
right next to the washer and hang larger stuff on an outdoor clothesline.
nick
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