Laundry and off-grid... Hmmm?

[Vigo]

The issue is that one might go with less inverter capability and think 'I can serialize the use of things' but in practice it's easy to forget and turn on dryer + cooktop + microwave + k-cup all at once while the whole house heat-pump decides to run and wham - you're up to 4500 + 4500 + 3000 + 1500 + 1500 = 15,000w

I use the same approach, hit same issues. I thought about rewiring the 240v heating element to 120v like i did to my water heater, but in the end i found it 'livable' to just run it as is, when the sun is good. Something that could be done which i considered, was building some kind of interlock on the real high-power circuits so that you couldn't simultaneously run multiple large devices. But, it's really only a good idea on 'dumb' devices that aren't sensitive to repeated power cycling, plus with the drier it wouldn't automatically restart when power came back, so i decided against it. I do have a 2000w air conditioner running off a large contactor controlled by my inverter's dry contacts so it drops out if voltage falls below a certain level, and when power comes back it will resume operation automatically. I planned to do more things 'like' that but in the end there wasn't as much need as i thought.

 

[Warpspeed]

I built a home brew "Frankenstein" natural gas clothes dryer out of junk for under a hundred dollars.

Its basically a Rinnai natural gas room heater. These have a fully enclosed burner, and use a heat exchanger to heat the room air.
Normally, room air enters high up at the back, goes through a centrifugal blower, through the heat exchanger, and hot air blows out of the front down low into the room.

I removed the centrifugal blower and fitted it to where the hot air normally discharges at the front. This reverses the airflow through the heat exchanger. By cutting a hole in the top of the Rinnai housing, hot air then blows straight up vertically out of the top of the heater.

On top of that I bolted a normal electric tumble dryer with a hole cut into the bottom.
Hot air from the Rinnai then goes straight up into the tumble dryer, through the drum, then discharges normally at the back to outside.

The 220v connection to the 2.4Kw heating element in the dryer was disconnected and used to operate a 220v relay. The relay contact is connected to the room temperature sensor in the Rinnai heater. Whenever the dryer calls for heat, the Rinnai starts up and provides hot air.
The dryer goes through its normal hot air/ cold air cool down cycles. It works great and was all a very simple conversion.

Amazingly, The measured airflow and temperature coming out of the Rinai heater (on low heat, one burner, slow blower) are almost identical (about 50C) to what the tumble dryer normally runs at. Its a VERY UGLY BEAST, but it works extremely well, and has done so now for several years.

I have some pictures of all this here somewhere, but cannot find them right now.

Rinnai can provide a different burner jet to optionally run on propane.
Anyhow, its a great way to dry clothes on really gloomy days where solar electrical power is limited.

 

[Hedges]

But, it's really only a good idea on 'dumb' devices that aren't sensitive to repeated power cycling, plus with the drier it wouldn't automatically restart when power came back, so i decided against it.

Older dumb dryers use 120V circuit for motor and controls, 240V circuit for heater. So all you have to do is interrupt the correct hot leg to suppress heater. Or run 120V to heater as you considered, and balance loads. Newer with 240V for everything, you could still reach in and interrupt heating element, relay in series with thermostat.

 

[cj5orion]

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.View attachment 135726
All the drivers 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. View attachment 135724
It's best when you have a fire place like this one that already has a duct.View attachment 135727
Otherwise you may need to make some what of a jacket around the chimney or fireplace to make sure you get hot air.

Nice thick steak ya got there ¡

 

[cj5orion]

Laundromat 2 miles from the desert nest. One trip a week, done in an hour and half and get showers at time same time. Unlimited hot water. 2 more miles to the transfer station and done for the week.

Unlimited hot water ¡ for showers... "priceless" !

 

[Vigo]

Older dumb dryers use 120V circuit for motor and controls, 240V circuit for heater. So all you have to do is interrupt the correct hot leg to suppress heater. Or run 120V to heater as you considered, and balance loads. Newer with 240V for everything, you could still reach in and interrupt heating element, relay in series with thermostat.

Yeah, at the time the idea was complicated by the fact that i was using a 'stacked' unit with washer on bottom and drier on top, and according to the diagrams BOTH 120 legs were used for various things so i'd have to go specifically interrupt the heater circuit. I guess if i was feeling extra cool i could interrupt the timer switch motor at the same time so that the timer didn't advance unless the heater circuit was intact. Now i run separate units and it would be easier for sure to implement something. Probably simplest thing would be to run a 'voltage sense' wire from my 48v house pack over to the drier location, and use a voltage monitoring relay at the drier, through a contactor or ssr, to either interrupt the heater circuit, or just switch it to 120v which would cut load by 3/4. At that point it would be similar to my 120v water heater which i run for hours every day with no 'smart' control, it just generally isn't enough to threaten my system during the day except when i have NO solar for days and have to use generator and be aware of the water heater and drier use.

Eventually I'll build a setup that uses heat coming off the case of generator, or heat from diesel heater, to be able to dry clothes with mild electrical consumption on days when i have to run a generator or diesel heater because solar isn't cutting it. ?‍

 

[12VoltInstalls]

get showers at time same time. Unlimited hot water. 2 more miles to the transfer station and done for the week

Ya, that would not work for me LOL

Interesting thread, though. I don’t have the ‘facilities’ for washer/dryer here at home yet. I’d like that, however. I can go for around three weeks before running out of clean socks and underwear- ‘aging out’ of socks and jeans requires buying more, of course, but at the same rate as it would be regardless. But laundromat costs around here while not life-changingly expensive are still expensive: if you use the mega-sized washer and don’t sort colors you still need two dryers and you’ve spent $20+! And that won’t do three weeks of clothes and bedding- it only handles ~two weeks worth. $500/year.
The primary advantage of the laundromat is it uses less time (although it’s 35-mins one-way to drive so i combine errands).

But I’m not going a week without a shower- you can shower on as little as 2 gallons of water, though a 3-4-gallon shower is nicer.
I use a <$200 propane tankless/demand water heater that is turned way down to keep the output temps reasonably cool with the low gpm I’ve throttled to with a ball valve. I’m just not going to not take a shower every morning LOL Or both morning and nights in the warm months.

 

[cj5orion]

Ya, that would not work for me LOL

Interesting thread, though. I don’t have the ‘facilities’ for washer/dryer here at home yet. I’d like that, however. I can go for around three weeks before running out of clean socks and underwear- ‘aging out’ of socks and jeans requires buying more, of course, but at the same rate as it would be regardless. But laundromat costs around here while not life-changingly expensive are still expensive: if you use the mega-sized washer and don’t sort colors you still need two dryers and you’ve spent $20+! And that won’t do three weeks of clothes and bedding- it only handles ~two weeks worth. $500/year.
The primary advantage of the laundromat is it uses less time (although it’s 35-mins one-way to drive so i combine errands).

But I’m not going a week without a shower- you can shower on as little as 2 gallons of water, though a 3-4-gallon shower is nicer.
I use a <$200 propane tankless/demand water heater that is turned way down to keep the output temps reasonably cool with the low gpm I’ve throttled to with a ball valve. I’m just not going to not take a shower every morning LOL Or both morning and nights in the warm months.

Oh boy,,,,there's a few issues to get worked out here !

 

[wme]

Ya, that would not work for me LOL

Interesting thread, though. I don’t have the ‘facilities’ for washer/dryer here at home yet. I’d like that, however. I can go for around three weeks before running out of clean socks and underwear- ‘aging out’ of socks and jeans requires buying more, of course, but at the same rate as it would be regardless. But laundromat costs around here while not life-changingly expensive are still expensive: if you use the mega-sized washer and don’t sort colors you still need two dryers and you’ve spent $20+! And that won’t do three weeks of clothes and bedding- it only handles ~two weeks worth. $500/year.
The primary advantage of the laundromat is it uses less time (although it’s 35-mins one-way to drive so i combine errands).

But I’m not going a week without a shower- you can shower on as little as 2 gallons of water, though a 3-4-gallon shower is nicer.
I use a <$200 propane tankless/demand water heater that is turned way down to keep the output temps reasonably cool with the low gpm I’ve throttled to with a ball valve. I’m just not going to not take a shower every morning LOL Or both morning and nights in the warm months.

Sounds like the Big Hero 6 method of underwear