Consider this. The outside temperature is 90 degrees. You have an HVAC system cooling your house down to 70 degrees. You do a full load of laundry in order to save water, as we are in a severe drought affecting almost the entire west.
Now that your washer has finished cleaning your laundry they are ready to be put in the dryer. Think about this. What is that dryer doing besides drying your laundry? Yes, it is sucking cool air out of your house, heating it back up and sending it outside via the dryer vent. So, as it sucks cool 70-degree air out of your house, hot outside air has to come into the house to take its place. Oh, yes that hot air now needs to be cooled down using your HVAC air conditioning system.
Do you see how inefficient it is to use a dryer on a hot summer day? You cool the air down only to heat it back up again and then you have to cool down the air that takes the place of the air that goes out the dryer vent.
It takes 15 gallons of water to generate 1 kilowatt of electricity. By hanging up your laundry to dry, either inside or outside, you save electricity and conserve water at the same time. It is a win-win for you and our water resources.
Buy some clothespins, put a clothesline up outside or get one of those folding clothes racks for drying inside. You, your guitar and your houseplants will benefit from the extra indoor humidity. You will save money and help the environment.
I don’t know if there is a type of dryer that uses outside air but, if there isn’t, it would be a great invention.
Jim Pearson, Kaysville
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