Dryers are serious energy-eaters! In many homes, the dryer will be the device with the highest energy consumption — it can account for 10% of the electricity bill. With this in mind, it’s a good idea to take energy consumption into consideration when buying a dryer. But energy consumption is only one of many factors. Enervee not only helps you to find the most energy-efficient dryer for your home, we can also give you some advice on how to pick the right dryer for you from the wide variety available today.
Gas or electric?
Gas dryers are a little more expensive than electric dryers, but they cost less to run, so don’t worry about that extra cost if you already have a gas line in your laundry room. Installing a gas line can get pricey and probably won’t be worth the investment.
Size and Capacity
Of course you’ll have to see how much space you have for your new dryer. There are different options, such as stackable dryers, and it really depends on your home which option is right for you. Make sure you measure the height, width and depth that you have available.
The capacity of your dryer should be appropriate for your family size, but also for the washing machine you are using. You want to be able to fit a full load of laundry into your dryer, but you don’t want it to be too big — that would waste energy every time you’re running it. As a rule of thumb, your dryer should have double the capacity of your washing machine to allow for the most efficient drying.
Be careful when you see words like “extra large” or “super size” — those terms are not regulated and manufacturers use them differently. Look at the numbers to decide which dryer is the right size for you.
Features
Just like every other electronic device, dryers are getting more and more high tech. Here are some popular features that you can choose from:
Moisture sensors: Moisture sensors are a great feature to save energy when drying your clothes. They automatically detect when your laundry is dry and turn the dryer off to prevent unnecessary over-drying.
Delayed start time: If you don’t want to dry your clothes right away when they come out of the washing machine, you should look out for a delayed start time feature. You can time your dryer to have your clothes waiting for you warm and dry in the morning when you get up, or in the evening when you have time to fold them and put them away.
Sanitize Cycle: Using steam or high temperature, a sanitize cycle feature sanitizes your clothes to get rid of bacteria and germs — a good idea for people with allergies!
Steam: Steam does not only sanitize your clothes, it also prevents them from wrinkling. It can also be used to just freshen up clothes when you don’t have the time for a full wash.
Smart dryer features: High end dryers come with smart features that allow you to control your dryer using your smart phone. Some come with a touch screen display which adds a nice design element. Some smart dryers can even send error reports to the manufacturer to speed up troubleshooting when something is wrong.
Energy Efficiency
As mentioned above, dryers are the appliance with the highest energy consumption. Let’s look at the numbers:
When we compare the highly energy-efficient with the not very efficient , we see that over 10 years, the energy-efficient dryer costs over $400 less to run than the other dryer with the same capacity!
