NON USA Dryers; what is typical, electric, gas, clothes line?

[3beltwesty]

In non US areas of the world what is the typical dryer like?

Here in the USA many folks have 240 volt electric or Natural Gas dryers or clothes line too.

Say in Europe, South America, Australia, Africa, Asia etc are inside dryers normal or not so common?

For inside house dryers in the UK etc are the more gas than electric?

When I was in New Zealand 20 years ago at some folks house they had an electric dryer but we used the clothes line about always to save money.

I wonder about the dryer since little is mentioned about them.

 

[hoover1100]

In the UK

Probably more than half of households today own a dryer, although I do still know a number of people who don't own any, and a few who own washer/dryers.

Compact dryers which hold about half the amount of laundry as an average washer are common, as a cheaper alternative.

Condenser dryers are becoming increasingly popular, as are dryers with electronic moisture sensors.

All dryers run on 240v, probably about 99.9999% of domestic dryers are electric, only one model of gas dryer is on sale, they are not available through stores (that I am aware of) and I have never seen one in person.

Almost all full size domestic dryers are a standard 60cm wide cabinet, although some American sized machines are sold, but these are very few and far between (again have never seen one in person).

The vast majority of people who own a dryer will dry clothes on a washing line when the weather permits, even in poorer weather conditions a lot of people will dry clothes indoors (on airers or over radiators) even if they own a tumble dryer, to save energy.

That's pretty much how the situation is here, the use of dryers and the ownership of dryers is still increasing, but many, if not most people who do own them, do not use them all the time, often usage is reserved for bad weather and when clothes are required in a hurry.

Matt

 

[3beltwesty]

wow, Thanks Matt!

As a related side question is Natural Gas plumbed it to houses common or not so common? Here in the USA in built up areas NG is rather common in many areas, and often used for heaters to heat the house in winter.

 

[paulc]

My aunty

has a matching USA Whirlpool washer dryer set but she is the only person I know with a US dryer.

I myself do not have a dryer anymore. In our last place I had a Zanussi condenser dryer but as we get "free" heat and hot water in the place we are now and I have room to dry in doors I Have a big clothes horse I use in the winter. In the summer I hang washing out, weather permitting.

 

[thomasortega]

Very interesting international thread. More things we'll know about our friends.

In Brazil the first Dryer was launched late 60's and up to today it was never a big success like it is in the U.S.
Thanks to our "Hell's branch weather", even clothes poorly spun or just squeezed dry very fast in a line so everybody think the same, why will I spend money to buy an expensive machine, then spend more money to run it if it takes longer than the line?

It's obvious that some regions have colder weather so there the dryers are much more popular.

Gas dryers (Liquid Petrol Gas)are cheaper to run almost in the whole country but for some reason they weren't as popular as the electric models because they were always much more expensive than electric ones.

They were always 110V in almost the whole country, 220V in some cities where the power supply is 100% 220v

During the 80's and until today the most popular kind of dryer is the static dryer, that's hung on the wall. It has a flexible plastic or fabric chamber and clothes are hung. Those machines are very helpful during the winter (our winter is usually very short and not so cold) or when one needs to dry one or two garments in a hurry (they are faster than a tumble dryer in this case). The only problem is the clothes hard as sand paper after dry.

Tumble dryers started to become more popular a few years ago when LG launched their washer/dryer combo. These machines are a huge success here.

Electrolux launched the Ecoturbo Electric dryer (It's the same Frigidaire Affinity) 1st generation and recently they changed the model, the drum is bigger, but the design is the same. It's price is almost 120 american dollars more expensive than other models of tumble dryers, usually compact) (it costs around 750 dollars)
It's the first dryer that has a 4 prong plug (110v, 110v, neutral, ground) and this kind of plug is so rare here (it was used only for commercial appliances) that Electrolux had to remove the power cord and it's delivered and installed for free by the authorized service. (so they can check the wall outlet too to see if the phases are mounted ok as an inverted phase could blow the control board)

Brastemp (Whirlpool) launched Duet gas dryer and now Duet Black gas dryer (It's the same Maytag EPICz in the U.S.) It's an excellent dryer, but the price is outrageous (like everything from Brastemp) The dryer costs around 3500 dollars.

We don't have any kind of dryer products in Brasil. The manufacturers say brazilians don't use dryers enough to compensate launching dryer sheets, dryer bars, dryer "dry cleaning systems" etc.

Lint fires are very unusual here in Brazil. Most of the people don't vent their dryers as most of the people dry less than 10 full loads per year. Thanks to it, the dryers last almost forever here and it's common to find 30 years old dryers in mint condition. Our weather also helps to avoid condensation on the walls, the dryers dry really fast and the lint spreaded everywhere isn't a big problem as the dryers aren't used so much.

To compare and make my local weather more understandable: The summer in Miami is a little bit colder than spring in my region. Our summer is almost like a pyrolitic oven. LOL

If I wash a load at night and don't unload the washer, by the morning it's going to be 80% dry.
Washing sheets in a 800RPM top loader is great. The air flow during the last spin is enough to dry 60 to 70% of the load. I can even see those dry areas. Most of the times, the dryer takes longer than the line to dry light items like sheets and shirts.

 

[foraloysius]

Overhere in the Netherlands we have huge resources of natural gas, almost every house is connected to it.

There are hardly any gas dryers on the market here anymore. Except for the Huebsch (see link). But I have never seen one of those. Miele had a gas dryer for a while in their line of dryers, but apparently these didn't catch on.

Actually most dryers sold on the Dutch market are condenser dryers. And the heatpump dryers are getting more popular. Those types can only be made as electric dryers ofcourse.

In a lot of households the washer and dryer are placed in a bathroom, so a gas line is usually not available there. Besides that I think it's forbidden overhere to have gas appliances in a bathroom.

http://www.gaswasdroger.eu/

 

[donprohel]

Italy

In Italy clothes drier are considered a sort of "exotic" device (and quite anti-ecological). I have never seen a gas drier in Italy, maybe Miele sold them, but with little success. Driers on market are electric and mainly condenser, for easier installation.

Electricity is expensive (or the country is poor, depends on the point of view) and the maximum allowed power for a house is normally 3 KW.

Houses usually have a space in the bathroom for a washing machine (60 × 60 cm - 24 × 24 in, which is the standard in Continental Europe, not only for appliances but also as the base size for furniture).

There is almost always a (sometimes small) balcony to line dry clothes outside, although sometimes condos regulations does not allow "exposing your dirty laundry" where it can be seen. Some condos have a common space to line dry.

 

[hoover1100]

Natural Gas

Almost every home in the UK is connected to natural gas, except for in Northern Ireland and in extreme rural areas.

Apart from deep in the country and in Northern Ireland, the vast majority of homes have gas central heating and hot water.

Gas hobs are common, and to a lesser extent so are gas ovens (most people I know have fan assisted electric ovens now), even if they have a gas hob.

In Northern Ireland, there is no mains gas (at least that's what I've been told by my Northern Irish flatmate), so most houses either have oil heating, or have propane tanks.

Matt

 

[nrones]

Serbia (and countries around)

Dryers are foregin things here...
If people are drying their clothes in machine, then they are usually having a washer-dryer. People buy a washer-dryer, or a dryer if they must to, because they either don"t have balcony, or their balcony is looking on a street with 1000cars, so it is making white clothes black literally.

Some of them are rather buying a washer-dryer in one rather than separatley, because they say it"s easier to put in dry and dirty, and in sometime later get out dry and clean Know it"s a wrong theory but people seem to be really creative..

People would probobly buy dryers if they actually needed them too. Here weather is good enough most of the year, so everyone is hanging their clothes from March till November, and they rather won"t spend their money for 3 months of usage. In the winter, they are mostly hanging their clothes inside (i.e. hallway) on the thing like on the picture - these are most popular here.

For example in my case (I have dryer) I started hanging out clothes this year in beginning of March, and as far as I remember, I stopped with it last year in very late October

 

[dj-gabriele]

In Italy - Another point of view

Maybe that was the situation some years ago but now clothes dryers are becoming more and more common place (compared to the past)!
I'd say that more than a house in ten has one. Heat pump dryers are being pushed aggressively by sellers, especially now that the Aqualtis heat pump dryer came out.
Also washer-dryers are quite widely sold and I'd say that Candy is market leader here, the Alisè line of machines is the first I remember!

Still many think (with reason) that using a mechanical dryer is an expensive and not environmentally friendly way to behave. Electricity in Italy is the most expensive in the OECD because the country is poor of natural resources (imports account for 85% raw energy) and must import between 10 to 25% of electricity from France because of the stupid referendum abolishing nuclear power!

Anyway, gas dryers are sold only as a special item and no "big" brand has them anymore, the preferred kind as "donprohel" said is the condenser one.
I've never seen or met anybody that has a "laundry pair" American style but only a stacked set with washing machine and dryer on top of it but the majority have dryer and washing machine of different brands.
Things may change as dryers become more commonplace.

Anyway, again I must say that all over the coast of Italy and the southern regions, a dryer is virtually unneeded, where my parents live, even in January clothes spun at 1200 rpm dry in less than 2 hours because of the constant strong wind! In summer you can just hang them and take back most of them after half an hour, way quicker than the quickest of the dryers.
Another thing is in the north, cities like Bologna or Milan or Turin have colder weather than say London! And dryers are a necessity if one doesn't want to dry indoors.

Said that, methane is piped all over the country except minor towns and remote areas so, in theory gas dryers would be way better than expensive electric ones!

 

[brisnat81]

In Australia, 99% of our dryers are 240v 10 amp, which limits them to 2400watts, they are usually 60cm x 60cm square or smaller. Clothes spun at 1600rpm take 90 to 120mins to dry.

Condensor dryers arent popular here and neither is venting. In most instances the dryer just vents straight into the room its located in, and you just crack a window open for ventilation.

I've removed the condensor from my miele dryer and just run it as vented these days. With our hot humid summers, it could take 3 plus hours for it to dry a load of clothes. There just isnt always enough temperature differential to condense the moisture.

My Miele dryer has a drum volume of approx 120L or about 4.2cubic feet. I can just fit a full load from its matching washer, but only just.

Speed Queen is the only domestic American dryer available on the market here now, Maytag is no longer available.

I only use the dryer when I'm feeling lazy or in a hurry, otherwise we've got a full size line in the garage and another outside. On a sunny day, I can have washed and dried 5 loads of washing by about 2pm, just with the clothes line. That is pretty normal behaviour here, unless its raining or damp, you just peg it out and let natural convection do its thing.

 

[ronhic]

I use my dryer weekly for towels and underclothes - I like them soft against the skin without conditioner...

 

Other than that, I line dry.

 

From my machine spun at 1200rpm, and in a much dryer climate than Nathan, sheets are dry on the line in about 45 min in summer with no breeze and well under 45min with one....

 

Those same sheets in the dryer in an Australian dryer take about 45min in summer and just under an hour in winter....

 

If you told people you 'tumble dry everything', you'd be just about crucified in this country....even if you lived in a flat! Even in winter and wet weather, my mother frowns upon it...

 

[launderess]

Speaking Only For The One Country Am Really Familar With

France,

If one has the room and can afford it, then it's one of the electric Euro dryers (condenser of course). For most however there is the age old French laundry day ritual, draping wet laundry over every available surface, indoor clothes lines, drying racks,out door balconies or railings, and so forth to dry.

The above applies to mostly those living in cities/urban areas. Obviously living in the country and or a private house one would have other options.

 

[foraloysius]

I tumble dry almost everything. Due to my asthma I don't line dry a lot inside. Outside drying is very limited here. Only in the summer it's sometimes possible to get laundry dry within one day. Dryers here run on 230V here with a max. of 16 Amps. I never timed the loads I dried.

 

[launderess]

And Furthermore

Given the small (ok cramped, *LOL*) size of many urban French apartments, you are only going to find 5kg or so capacity washers anyway. Doing laundry then requires planning, and most certainly isn't the once a week or two week event as in the USA.

You simply do wash as it is ready, usually early in the morning or late at night, drape/hang things up to dry and either leave for work/shopping/etc or go to sleep.

King sized beds are rare in French apartments, so linens then to be either twin, or full/matrimonial (aka queen), so you aren't bothered by hanging large linens to dry.

Of course you can simply skip all this palaver and haul the lot down to a laundromat.

One reason for lack of dryers, even in French homes that could well afford one is the dear cost of electric. Given many apartments in France (especially those in older buildings), by code have cross ventilation due to windows on either side, drying does not take long as one might think.

 

[foraloysius]

Ofcourse in Paris the "lavante-séchante" toploaders are very popular. Only 45cm wide and washing and drying in one machine. A friend of mine had one like that when he lived in Brussels in a small apartment. I loved that Brandt machine.

 

[brastemp]

Here in Brazil our common dryer are compacts vented like the european models. In most of cases eletrics. We have just one model of gas. I have one and I love cause eletricity in Brasil is expensive. People don't like or don't have habbit to use because our country is very hot and the clothes dry really fast. In general dryers are interesting for apartaments and storm season. In general the houses have no support to American Model Eletric Dryer, BTW, we have only electrolux affinity and the Electrolux assistance requires an unusual instalation with an exposed circuit Switch installed out off the wall. If you desagree they don't give the power cord.

 

[haxisfan]

The 2 countries I know have been covered!

Are collapsible clothes airers allowed? Nice topic here… I just wanted to spill a bit of my personal experience with drying clothes… swearing to keep it as short as possible

I was living with my parents up to 1996 in a southern Italian island where hardly any1 bothers with separate clothes dryers (but washer-dryers are somewhat popular) due to the milder climate (however, it’s not always so) and in my case also due to the availability of an enclosed outdoor space with washing lines. My first personal encounter with a tumble dryer (electric) was when I moved to the UK. I was renting a room in a house provided with such machine, but nobody was using it and I decided to join the fun and spread my wet laundry over the radiators and the stairs handrail.

When I moved into my own house some time later I was given a compact tumble dryer by a friend but for some reason I kept using my old methods for several years to come: radiators and handrail! Till 1 day, urged by the presence of others, I decided to give it a go: it didn’t work! Although that wasn’t enough to make me through in the sponge… I went out and got a full size electric vented tumble dryer and I can frankly say that I have been bewitched by this appliance and I can’t do without!

Only recently I stopped using the dryer to dry a load right out of the washer… let’s say it’s my little vendetta against the electricity board since my capped prices expired last year, they had been fixed since 2005… and then… all of a sudden… ka-ching, big time… big bill! I have an unused room in which I can put clothes airers in without troubling any1… although I recently got a dehumidifier (uses much less electricity than a dryer) for obvious reasons.

My obsession for the tumble dryer is still alive and kicking… I haven’t managed to give up the softness and finish of tumble-dried laundry… so… my clothes go straight there after hanging on the airer even for just a short burst on low heat. Also they fold much easier that way and don’t need ironing ;-)

 

[passatdoc]

240V dryers outlawed by city ordinance where I live

I live in an area where virtually all neighborhoods are connected to piped natural gas. It costs roughly four times as much money to dry electrically versus with gas (caveat: this is a high cost area for electric power, some parts of USA have electricity priced at half of California prices). Most domestic dryers are offered in otherwise identical electric and gas models. Typically, the gas version will cost $30-60 more than the electric model, but the cost differential is quickly erased by the much lower cost of natural gas here. Outside of the heating season here (November-March), my gas bill is typically $8-11 per month, covering cooking on a gas range (hob + oven), gas tank water heater, and gas dryer (and gas barbecue on the patio). Half of the bill, about $5, is the "fixed system" cost that the gas company charges for maintaining its physical plant....and only $4-6 is actual gas usage.

 

Because electric generating capacity here is limited (maxed out), many cities now forbid new homes to have a 240V supply in the laundry area, to encourage people to use gas instead of electricity. If you move in with an electric dryer, your choices are to buy a gas model or rip out the wall to install 240V. Oddly, there is no rule against 240V cooktops and ovens in the kitchen, even though most homes are equipped with gas. Sometimes one sees a gas hob but double built-in electric ovens. I myself have an Frigidaire 30" gas range (five burners plus a large single self clean oven); behind the oven is a gas pipe and a 120V outlet. If I wanted electric cooking, I would have to rip out a wall and run another electric circuit in the wall to provide a 240V outlet. The only 240V outlet I have in the entire house is in the laundry area: the house was built a few years before the no-240V rule was enacted in mid-1990s. Since I have always used gas dryers, that outlet has <span style="text-decoration: underline;">never </span>been used.

 

As I understand it, our electricity arrives at the electric meter in 240V, but is converted to 120V at the meter. Where a 240V outlet is required, two circuit wires are joined together (in parallel, I would assume) to provide 240V. US 240V are radically different in appearance from continental Europe or UK plugs.