Comments on: Going Green: Upgrading Your Household Appliances

By: Saving Energy & Money with Energy Star Appliances | Sustainablog

Saving Energy & Money with Energy Star Appliances | Sustainablog — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 13:43:38 +0000

[…] save you upwards of $80 a year, based on the samples below. But you’ll pay more upfront for most eco-friendly appliances — so is it worth it to go green? Here’s a […]

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 23:24:00 +0000

Thanks for the typo catch, and the interesting/good comments. Makes me think of an apt complex where i once lived that had them housed in a little outdoor shed. Not a bad idea, given the points you make.

But overall, yes, i think they are one of the biggest energy hogs in most homes.

By: Tom G.

Tom G. — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 02:11:00 +0000

“While Energy Star does not rate clothes dryers, it’s recommended that you purchase a dryer with a motion sensor installed.”
Correct word should be MOISTURE sensor instead of MOTION sensor but I think everyone knows what you mean. However, what bugs me about gas or electric dryers is how they operate.

If you have ever went outside your home while a dryer is running you can feel all kinds hot moist air coming out of the dryer. This AIR has to come from somewhere and that somewhere is the air inside your home. You have already paid to either heat or cool that air once by your furnace or to cool it by your air conditioner. Therefore the hundreds of cubic feet of air you have paid to heat or cool is sucked out of your home by your dryer and sent outside. Really a dumb idea.

Dryers should be manufactured to draw in outside air; heat that air to dry your clothes and then exhaust that air outside. Further refinements could be added so that if you lived in areas of the country where temps drop below freezing and additional moisture is needed in your home, the warm moist air could be used inside the home. In hot dry climates using the outside air would save on your air conditioning bill. We can and should be doing better.

In any case I believe clothes dryers are some of the biggest energy hogs we have in our homes.