By Gavin Hudson •
May 28, 2008
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What would a country would look like if almost nobody had an electric clothes dryer? You might imagine a a landscape of colorful underwear flapping in the wind to dry. Or maybe people would be strangely content wearing damp clothes.
In six months of living in South Korea, any sign of clothes dryers has eluded me. So bring on the airing undies and the soggy bottoms, right? Well, despite having no — or at least relatively few — clothes dryers, Koreans are both perfectly dry and dignified, with seldom so much as a scrap of clothing hung to dry in view of the neighbors.
The idea might seem a little strange in the United States, but air drying clothes as they do in Korea is environmentally wise, economically smart, and practical too.
By Philip Proefrock •
February 22, 2008
The Dryer Miser is a huge step forward for one kind of energy sucking home appliance, the clothes dryer. While clotheslines are even more efficient and lower energy consuming, not everyone can use them all the time. Climate and weather can limit when a clothesline can be used, and many people live in buildings or sites where line drying is impractical.
Instead of directly heating the air, the Dryer Miser uses a heat exchanger filled with a fluid that is heated in order to transfer heat much more efficiently. “Made of durable copper and aluminum, the Hydronic Dryer’s heat technology works by heating up a specially formulated, non-toxic and non-corrosive heat transfer fluid with an immersion element (similar to a water heater). The fluid is transferred to a heat exchanger where it is mixed with air. The heated air is then blown into the dryer’s drum. The result is a safer, highly energy efficient dryer, that dries faster than any other brand available on the market – up to 41% faster!”
