How much does a Dryer consume? Savings tips!

The spread of dryers in Italian homes is a recent phenomenon. The dryers, or washer dryers, allow you to have perfectly dry and fragrant clothes in a short time and throughout the year, regardless of our cities’ climate and pollution.

Like any other large appliance, the dryer immediately presents a critical issue linked to the high electricity consumption, resulting in excessive spending. So let’s see the different types of dryers on the market and how much they consume to understand how much it costs to have one at home.

The various types of the dryer and their consumption

Before understanding how much a dryer consumes, let’s understand the types of dryers on the market today. We will see that the technology used will significantly affect consumption, affecting expenditure and the electricity bill.

Condensation dryer

Condensing dryers create heat thanks to an electrical resistance; the heat is circulated inside the basket thanks to a fan. The laundry’s humidity is condensed and collected in a tray, emptied after each use. A condensing dryer consumes around 4Kwh for one complete cycle.

Evacuation dryer

Evacuation or expulsion dryers dry clothes with a process similar to condensation. They are equipped with a fan that sucks in the moist air, but they do not condense it. The steam extracted from the laundry will need the typical ” vent ” tube. Consumption is completely similar to that of condensing dryers.

Heat pump dryer

The dryers of this type are the most technically advanced and those with generally lower consumption. This is because they heat the air as occurs in dual split air conditioners, that is to say, through a hot/cold circuit whose product is circulated by a compressor. In any case, these are motorized heat diffusion procedures, which means that the technology is very sophisticated and allows lower consumption.

So which dryer to buy?

In general, the consumption classes give the first reference regarding household appliances and energy consumption.

In the case of dryers, there is a trend that clearly differentiates ” resistance ” technologies (typical of condensing and evacuation dryers) from “pumps, “i.e., motorized ones. Basically, resistance dryers belong to energy Classes B and C. Those with heat pumps, on the other hand, are almost all in class A and easily reach Class A+++.

The heat pump dryers guarantee much lower consumption without providing massive heating of resistance throughout the entire cycle of use. As with any household appliance, progress leads to producing tools with less and less environmental impact, a process from which dryers and washer dryers are certainly not excluded.

But how much does a dryer consume?

In general – and also about dryers – the energy class constitutes a substantial difference in expenditure. For example, if a class A dryer consumes about 1 kWh per cycle, one in class C will consume about 4.

We have seen that consumption depends strictly on the energy class of the appliance and that this can define savings – on management costs – which can reach £140 per year.

But let’s go into detail, and see how much a dryer consumes. We consider as a standard a price of £0.20 for the supply of 1 kWh and assume that on average, about 200 drying cycles are carried out annually. Given the same use and the same price of electricity, the differences remain significant:

• CLASS A+++ dryer consumes less than 1.5 kWh per cycle and will cost less than £45 a year.
• CLASS A++, consumption drops to 1.5 kWh, around £55 for 200 full cycles at full load.
• CLASS A dryer consumes 2 kWh per cycle on average, corresponding to around $72 per year.
• CLASS B appliance, a drying cycle requires approximately 3 kWh, which will cost around £110 at the end of the year.
• CLASS C, consumption for each cycle drops to 4 kWh, around £145 in a year.
• CLASS D dryer can consume more than 5 kWh per cycle, affecting household finances for around £180 a year.

As you can see, the consumption differences and, consequently, in price are absolutely relevant. At this point, it becomes clear how important it is to choose a modern household appliance in line with the most recent directives on energy efficiency and environmental impact. Should remember that lower consumption also corresponds to lower greenhouse gas production and less pollution from energy efficiency.

What measures can decrease consumption?

As with any household appliance, some measures can help increase efficiency during use and thus reduce consumption: spin at maximum power during washing:

• Putting well-wrung clothes in the dryer will involve less work in the drying phase and the possibility of a shorter cycle.
• Take care of routine maintenance: cleaning the filter often and carefully emptying the water collection tray (if present) is an excellent way to keep the instrument efficient and well-functioning.
• Make full use of the load capacity: To not waste power and energy, as happens for the washing machine, it is good to start a cycle only once the maximum load capacity has been reached.
• If not necessary, avoid the anti-crease function: convenient, the anti-crease function, now present in almost all models of dryer and washer dryer, involves very high consumption, which can sometimes avoid.

Obviously, one of the most functional measures will be to avoid putting the dryer into operation if not strictly necessary.

Are we ready to buy it?

Once we have analyzed how much a dryer consumes and having ascertained its quality and functioning, we can think concretely of purchasing one. Obviously, factors such as the size and noise of the object we intend to put into the home will have to be considered, especially if we approach our first dryer.

There are tumble dryers suitable for all budgets for the sales prices: prices range from approximately £200 to £600. For guaranteed second-hand products offered by large chains, the price can also drop to £120/200.

We have seen how much the energy class of the appliance affects consumption. Although we believe that a Class A+++ dryer is more expensive than an energy Class B dryer, it is good to know that this is not the case.

There is Class A appliance among the cheap ones, as there are expensive ones among the ” old ” ones. Therefore, when choosing which dryer to buy for your home, it will be beneficial to consider can solve that consumption’s criticality with a careful choice.

Buying a dryer in energy class A++, A+++, or A will allow us to have always dry and perfumed clothes and linen at the cost of £45/74 per year. How to bring clothes to the laundry room for one month!