Washer/Dryer energy usage

[saunders1313]

My dryer has a setting that you can choose how 'dry' you want your clothes and then it automatically turns off, a lot better than setting a timer. Clothes rarely, if ever, need to be washed in hot water. I'm still trying to convince my wife that she can wear some things more than once without washing them and the clothes will not disintegrate. Mostly jeans, which take the longest to dry.

[NiHaoMike]

http://us.lge.com/products/model/det...WM3431HW.jhtml
That is not the exact one I have but it works the same way. Instead of a vent, it uses a compressor (like the ones used in air conditioners) to compress a gas (commonly chlorodifluoromethane, also known as R-22), getting it hot. The hot gas flows through a radiator (condenser) that allows it to give up heat to the air stream that dries the clothes. In the process, the gas loses so much heat that it condenses into a liquid. A control valve (TXV) lets some of that liquid flow into another radiator (evaporator). As the pressure drops, the liquid boils and takes in heat from the air stream leaving the clothes, causing the moisture to condense for removal. The air is recirculated through the condenser for reheating, and the gas from the liquid boiling off is returned to the compressor.

[Axaday]

I made a second hole so that in the winter I can pipe my dryer exhaust into my house instead of outside. The boost of warm, moist air is really nice. Why just throw it away?

Also, I have a rather old dryer that only runs by a timer and when I actually experimented to see how long it took to dry things, I found that I had been drying too long for years.