Typical dryer consumes 3000-5000Watt of power.
- Energy used for 40 min load @ 4000Watt : 2.5 kWatt hour
- Cost of Electricity at $0.11/kWhr: $0.32
- CO2 emission at 2 lb/kWhr : 5 lb of CO2.
To put this in perspective, 5 lb of CO2 is what 1/4 gallon of gasoline would leave in the air.Not much, if we think how much gas we are used to using up in the United States. Actually
for most Americans, driving is the biggest contributor to our Carbon foot-print.
This weekend, against the back-drop of ongoing global warming concern, I decided to opt for air-drying my laundry. On this warm summer day, it took just 30 minutes to dry most of the clothes. I am pleased with the results. Following image is of my socks drying on a contraption that I picked up in Japan. I was surprised to find people in that technically advanced culture using a clothesline. And, it is not even as warm as it is here in California.
Letting the sun and the wind do the drying..
Talking of carbon foot-print, I would like to write in detail, at a later time, about the solar attic vent-fan. It is amazing! We have noticed that it keeps the house about 8-10F cooler (than without the vent-fan) in the summer months.
