Why not green buildings that cut down on the use of dryers?
GBA Editor
| Posted in Energy Efficiency and Durability on
Just now the temperature in Issaquah 98029 WA is 93°F and I am forced to put on the dryer to dry my washed clothes, and unable to make use of the abundant solar heat available all around my townhome, thus consuming lot of electricity in the process.
Can’t the standard homes be designed in such a way that the dryers usage would be drastically minimized by making use of natural heat coming from the Sun? Dryer is the single biggest consumer of electricity in such homes. What extent this feature is inbuilt in the green residential townhomes and condominiums particularly in the state of WA?
RAMMOHAN PRATTIPATI
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Replies
when my home is open on National Solar Tour day, I make a point of pointing out that being green is not just about installing solar panels etc., it is about making sensible choices for the low hanging fruit.
After people have looked and my inverters and panels, and geothermal, and ERV, etc. I point people to my "Solar powered clothes dryer". Most people fall for the gag.
I point them in the direction of my clothes line, with some clothes pegs on it hanging pieces of paper with "Solar powered clothes dryer" written on it. I usually list the Return on Investment as something like 1000%.
Here's a way to design a home for better support of solar powered clothes dryers. Have a large overhang at least 3', more is better at the rear, it provides shade and reduces risk of clothes getting wet if it rains.
Thinking about that, since I'm re-roofing in a few weeks, maybe I should extend the overhang at the rear of my house.
If you don't like the simple implementation of a solar power dryer (clothes pegs and wire), you can always use the high tech version here: http://cordoclip.com/