Laundry and off-grid... Hmmm?

[Ptom]

About 40 years ago, I was on new property with nothing but my '30s era Jacob 32 v 2500 watt wind turbine for power (which was a large step up from the even older 6 volt 200 Wincharger I had earlier), and my luandry solution was: an old Maytag wringer, in great shape, that I got cheap, and a 24 VDC motor that had more than enough power. I'd wait until a windy day if possible...., the dryer "solution" was a clothsline strung up inside the shop, in the Idaho winters anyway. ANYTHING beat driving 20 miles into town to use a laundromat. Nowadays, in my large modern laundry room, and my excess of grid tied power year round, I have a couple pictures of the old setup, and think I've come a long ways!

 

[boondox]

I just have regular laundry machines and do laundry during the day.

 

[jyoung1]

So every other thread seems to be about powering microwaves and aircon and water heaters as your "MegaPowerLoad", but being able to do a load of laundry is one of those things that I rarely see touched on (outside the Solar Clothes Dryer) and I'd had the occasional noodle in my head to do something about it.

Well, people here know my love affair of Diesel Parking Heaters, and one of my YT channels had a similar thought. I'll be interested to see how the motor swap goes, but it's a really simple idea that I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking about.

Am I the only one? Probably.

I have no issues running my dryer and entire house at the same time with my solar system. I sized my system to cover dryer and whole house load in order to reduce my total electric bill. I will also be converting gas water heater to heat pump unit soon. My dryer energy use is as follows: 1hr dry cycle will see up to 6000 watt draw that cycles on/off for roughly 50 minutes, 10minute cool down. Power consumption per load is normally 2.5-3.5kwh per cycle. What drying mode you select obviously changes the total consumption per load. Running my dryer off grid is only an issue when the sun doesn't shine so we try to schedule most of our laundry for sunnier days. Been off grid electrically for a bit now in Wisconsin, things are working well.

 

[zanydroid]

Condensing dryer does not imply heat pump. Many are happy to heat the air with resistive heating.

Heat pump generally does imply condensing.

Condensing can still be more efficient in some seasons because it does not expel conditioned air out the vent.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

people here know my love affair of Diesel Parking Heaters, and one of my YT channels had a similar thought

Had a friend with a prototype wood-fired clothes drier and every time he went to a Walmart super center they would sell out of bacon…

 

[JJJJ]

My grandmother pioneered solar clothes drying many years ago.

And everything smelled so fresh when it came off the line.

 

[Checkthisout]

It's worth noting that gas and propane dryers pass the combustion gases through the clothes. This increases efficiency due to lack of heat exchanger VS a diesel parking heater which is already very inefficient, only passing the air it has heated.

 

[Hedges]

I lived in an RV on acreage for a while.
Had a small washer, and tried to dry clothes on a line.
In the winter, every 3rd day (about when they were dry), it would rain again.

It's worth noting that gas and propane dryers pass the combustion gases through the clothes. This increases efficiency due to lack of heat exchanger VS a diesel parking heater which is already very inefficient, only passing the air it has heated.

So pass the exhaust through the center of a gas-fired water heater.
(trick is balancing water consumption with drying needs. Batch pre-heater?)

 

[SilverbackMP]

My grandmother pioneered solar clothes drying many years ago.

And everything smelled so fresh when it came off the line.

Lint is the problem. I couldn’t own a black shirt in my youth. A dryer occasionally is a good thing.

 

[Hedges]

Two words:

"Air Fluff"

 

[Llaves]

Two words:

"Air Fluff"

or perhaps "lint roller"

 

[SilverbackMP]

or perhaps "lint roller"

No, not when your black t shirt goes shit gray. It’s not that loose kind of lint.

May not be much of an issue now as opposed to when t shirts were mostly cotton.

 

[Llaves]

May not be much of an issue now as opposed to when t shirts were mostly cotton.

or if you don't wash your black t shirts with the white ones.

 

[Sun in Lithium]

There is a simple solution, to make a wood fired dryer,

Step 1 find an used electric dryer, that has a back of the drum tat doesn't spin.
All the dryers I've worked with actually pull the air through. So you just need to disable the heating element, attach a duct to the back of your dryer and run it to the woold fireplace.
It's best when you have a fire place like this one that already has a duct.
Otherwise you may need to make somewhat of a jacket around the chimney or fireplace to make sure you get hot air.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

There is a simple solution, to make a wood fired dryer,

So just do laundry 6 or 7 months of the year here ?

 

[Sun in Lithium]

So just do laundry 6 or 7 months of the year here ?

Ya, or over heat your house ?.
It's not so bad using a clotheslines during the summer, which is what we do.

 

[Supervstech]

I googled 'LG Inverter Washing Machine' and while I got hits none of them seemed be models for sale in the US. It sounds very interesting. Is it the same thing as the direct drive models?

My washing machine in inverter drive, not sure the brand, I will check when I get home. Got it at Best Buy a few years back, I saw they sell at Home Depot as well.

 

[Rednecktek]

Am I the only one who's ever had problems with mosquitos and line drying? Ugh!

 

[Danke]

My grandmother pioneered solar clothes drying many years ago.

And everything smelled so fresh when it came off the line.

https://diysolarforum.com/threads/i’m-selling-diy-kits-for-my-solar-clothes-dryer-only-19-99-shipping.45132/#post-570892

 

[12VoltInstalls]

Am I the only one who's ever had problems with mosquitos and line drying? Ugh!

Airborne Hydrocarbons, CO2, heat, and blood do attract mosquitoes.

What is your professional occupation again?