SolarSamAK
New Member
May I ask what is the capacity of the heat pump dryer?
Sam
Sam
You won't believe how much power it takes to do laundry
- Thread starter efficientPV
- Start date
SolarSamAK
New Member
Heat pump dryers,
I have been trying to compare them to gas dryers. Efficiency and cost per load are very different. If you are going pure electric then a heat pump dryer is the way to go. Skip the standard electric dryer if at all possible If you have a gas line in place, and access to cheap gas, stick with the gas as it costs less, even in the long run. Time is money. Heat pump dryers often take 3 times as long as gas dryers and 2 times as long as traditional electric dryers. Size matters, most heat pump dryers are 4 cubic feet or less. King size bedding maybe a problem. A king sized comforter requires about 7 cubic feet of dryer space.
Commonly a 2:1 rule for dryers. If your washer is 4 to 4.5 cubic feet you need a 7.8 to 9 cubic foot dryer. In my mind you can dry half your load at a time if you have a standard washer and a heat pump dryer as most are under 4.2 cubic feet. You could split your washing machine loads 1/2 but probably all benefits of the heat pump are out the window since you running more cycles.
Heat pump versus standard electric, the heat pump is 20 to 40% more efficient.
A standard electric versus gas dryer, the gas dryer is 40 to 50% more efficient.
Everything I read makes no direct comparison from gas to heat pump but likely the heat pump dryer uses less energy despite the above findings.
Cost wise, gas dryers are king at about 15 to 25 cents. Electric is about 16 to 34 cents. Again all this depend upon the cost of gas and electricity. I can not figure out a heat pump's cost as they do not come in a regular size, only small sizes and the drying cycle is super long. I do feel they are cheaper than standard electric but probably not close enough to catch gas on price per load since you have to run more loads longer.
Cheapest of all is air drying your laundry when ever possible. Probably the most reliable. Easy to size up or down as well.
Sam
I have been trying to compare them to gas dryers. Efficiency and cost per load are very different. If you are going pure electric then a heat pump dryer is the way to go. Skip the standard electric dryer if at all possible If you have a gas line in place, and access to cheap gas, stick with the gas as it costs less, even in the long run. Time is money. Heat pump dryers often take 3 times as long as gas dryers and 2 times as long as traditional electric dryers. Size matters, most heat pump dryers are 4 cubic feet or less. King size bedding maybe a problem. A king sized comforter requires about 7 cubic feet of dryer space.
Commonly a 2:1 rule for dryers. If your washer is 4 to 4.5 cubic feet you need a 7.8 to 9 cubic foot dryer. In my mind you can dry half your load at a time if you have a standard washer and a heat pump dryer as most are under 4.2 cubic feet. You could split your washing machine loads 1/2 but probably all benefits of the heat pump are out the window since you running more cycles.
Heat pump versus standard electric, the heat pump is 20 to 40% more efficient.
A standard electric versus gas dryer, the gas dryer is 40 to 50% more efficient.
Everything I read makes no direct comparison from gas to heat pump but likely the heat pump dryer uses less energy despite the above findings.
Cost wise, gas dryers are king at about 15 to 25 cents. Electric is about 16 to 34 cents. Again all this depend upon the cost of gas and electricity. I can not figure out a heat pump's cost as they do not come in a regular size, only small sizes and the drying cycle is super long. I do feel they are cheaper than standard electric but probably not close enough to catch gas on price per load since you have to run more loads longer.
Cheapest of all is air drying your laundry when ever possible. Probably the most reliable. Easy to size up or down as well.
Sam
Frank in Thailand
making mistakes so you don't have to...
@SolarSamAK , thanks!
Yes, you are right.
One benefit of the heat pump is it's longer drying time. Less risk in shrinking clothes
Gass is amazing fast, yet one needs to be careful what to put in there
Yes, you are right.
One benefit of the heat pump is it's longer drying time. Less risk in shrinking clothes
Gass is amazing fast, yet one needs to be careful what to put in there
wattmatters
Solar Wizard
Very common here. What is rare here are gas powered clothes dryers.
Heat pump dryers are very good on energy consumption, are quiet and they don't pump out hot/warm humid air to steam up the laundry. The water is drained away (or captured in an empty-able container if you don't have the drain hose connected like we do). They automatically monitor moisture level and so only run as long as is required to achieve the desired dryness setting.
The down side is they take longer to complete a cycle and are more expensive than the regular crappy electric dryers.
wattmatters
Solar Wizard
Interesting. Here residential dryer and washing machine capacity is rated by the weight of the loads they can handle, e.g. 8kg, 10kg. I haver zero idea what the volumetric capacity of ours is, it's not listed in the specs.
pollenface
Solar Addict
I originally set out to buy a heat pump dryer, but ended up bringing home an old 2nd hand old-school one that I got for very cheap. It's not much to look at and it makes a lot of noise but only uses 1800w on high and 900w on low and works awesome. It will run from my 12v/2000w inverter if needed.
I have a few fans positioned above an undercover clothes line which definitely aid the drying of clothes during wet weather, the air movement really helps, the the fans on in the morning and off and the afternoon, they consume about 100w while running.
I have a few fans positioned above an undercover clothes line which definitely aid the drying of clothes during wet weather, the air movement really helps, the the fans on in the morning and off and the afternoon, they consume about 100w while running.
Zapper77
Renaissance Man
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2022
- Messages
- 2,321
My Traditional resistive dryer consumes 2.5-4 kWh depending on load size. I avg 3 kWh to dry.
Last edited:
wattmatters
Solar Wizard
Sometimes in the Summer when it's rainy/very humid but I still just want to hang clothes out rather than use a dryer, I put the clothes horse next to the aircon compressor fan, which is under cover.
Zwy
Solar Wizard
I looked at heat pump and condensing dryers this spring when I realized I could use the Kwh's for something else like heating the house. In my opinion, these are not ready for prime time yet, the sizes are small for one thing. I like the non discharge to the outdoors, this alone makes a house more efficient by not needing makeup air.
I decided to wait a year and review the subject again. If I could find larger models and it was reliable, I'd buy one today. These will gain in popularity but whether the price comes down is another matter. The EPA is currently rewriting refrigerant standards and a ban on some refrigerants will be coming once again.
I decided to wait a year and review the subject again. If I could find larger models and it was reliable, I'd buy one today. These will gain in popularity but whether the price comes down is another matter. The EPA is currently rewriting refrigerant standards and a ban on some refrigerants will be coming once again.
wattmatters
Solar Wizard
These are our washer and dryer BTW.
Do you like this set? Any complaints?
wattmatters
Solar Wizard
Seems to be doing the job OK. There's lots of brands available here with these options, they all seem pretty similar. We also have a matching pair of a Fisher & Paykel front loading washer and heat pump dryer in the cottage as well and they work well too.
Plenty of review sites for some online feedback.
I see people with these who love them and those who hate them. It's weird.
B-Mod
Solar Enthusiast
Over the weekend we just got a new GE Profile all in one. Washer and dryer in the same machine, heat pump, 4,8 Cu ft. Suppose to use 1/2 the power if a electric washer and dryer. Runs on only 120v power, no 220v power needed.
Cheap 4-life
My body is 2.63 trillion volts, .07v per cell
Using one of them newish washing machines that don’t have an agitator. It is horrible. I build homes from the ground up. My clothes get rather dirty. The washer cannot clean them.. an agitator is absolutely needed unless you have an office job and no kids dirty clothes.. I will share a detailed graph of its power usage.
We live in a warmish climate which enables us to hang our clothes on a clothes line. That I am very happy with. Obviously uses zero power. We learned to get stainless steel clothes pins that have lasted us for years. the wood and plastic type always broke.. from what I read the sun does a better job (than a traditional dryer) of killing bacteria on the clothes.
We live in a warmish climate which enables us to hang our clothes on a clothes line. That I am very happy with. Obviously uses zero power. We learned to get stainless steel clothes pins that have lasted us for years. the wood and plastic type always broke.. from what I read the sun does a better job (than a traditional dryer) of killing bacteria on the clothes.
SilverbackMP
Solar Addict
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2022
- Messages
- 928
This is why I bought my mom an old school style Speed Queen set (with a gas dryer). Speed Queen offers both models.
I have an older fisher and pakel set from before they were bought out and they probably only have three years of use (in between deployments and foreign assignments). Might just replace the dryer with a gas model for use in my shop/temp living quarters.
And will install a new clothes line. One of those rotating ones. A dryer is still needed, at least occasionally, for lint removal. I grew up with 100% clothes line. Black apparel would eventually turn a shit black gray. Especially when cotton was king.
I saw a review of this, it's an amazing machine for sure - how many loads have you run through it?
We have a lot of laundry In our family and would probably do 4 loads a day easy
peakbagger
Solar Enthusiast
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2021
- Messages
- 309
Back in the "stone age" of the off grid movement, folks with modified sine wave inverters had lots of issues with modern appliances breaking down when fed by MSW power. Solar panels themselves were in the $6 to $10 range not including racking or inverters, so most were seriously power starved. The washer of choice for many was a Staber Top Load Horizontal Axis washing machine as it tolerated crappy power very well and didnt use much power plus it got clothes very dry. I picked up one about 23 years ago and its still running. All mechanical switches, Stainless Steel wetted parts, no transmission, belt drive. It runs on a primitive variable speed AC synchronous motor. No dealers, buy direct as all service if any required can be done by the homeowner. https://www.staber.com/pdfs/staber-washer-model-HXW2305.pdf Unless it damaged from external events, they probably are a once in lifetime purchase.
With respect to heat pump dryers, there is recent news that they should not be vented indoors as they are a major source of microplastics into the home.
With respect to heat pump dryers, there is recent news that they should not be vented indoors as they are a major source of microplastics into the home.
wattmatters
Solar Wizard
Who puts plastic in a dryer?
I'm assuming they mean from synthetic fibres that are in most clothes these days. Polyester, etc.
timselectric
If I can do it, you can do it.
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2022
- Messages
- 18,619
Not worth the risk. Just going to be naked for the rest of my life.
Similar threads
