POLL: Heat Pump Dryers

[mrb627]

Ponder this...

#1 If Speed Queen released their stack dryer as a dual hp machine, would you consider one?

#2. If owning a heat pump dryer meant the government might ease up on washer energy restrictions, would you consider purchasing one?

Just interested in hearing what it would take to sway other Americans towards hp dryers...

Malcolm

 

[henene4]

Not US, but HP

Me, owning an HE HP WP build EU dryer for a few months now, I really can only pledge for the HP technology.
The drying is just different. "Heat" is no longer the main drying factor, its "moisture". The air is just incredibly dry in such machines. And you can't call it "heat" any longer either. Temperatures NEVER exceed 150°F. Usually, you run at 130-140°F.
Still, cycle times only increase by a maximum of 25% while saveing MORE than 50% of energy. Shrinking practicly dosen't exist any more and funny enough, I recognize less wrinkels in heavy items like jeans, if there ever are any.
Only 2 down sites: There is no effective cool-down phase any more as there is practicly no air exchange with the room. That has no effect on creasing as the temperature is quite low anyway, but if you leave the clothes for more than 20 minutes, the residual steam in the drum condenses back into water so clothes feel damp again. A short drying cycle helps and it only happens on lower drying levels with bigger loads, but still anoying.
And, second, the additional heat pump filters. Cleaning them takes quite some minutes if you do it right and you usually have to do this every 5 cycles or so. Drives me crazy on long washdays.

 

[mrb627]

25% Time Increase?

Is that in Euro-Time? Meaning, 25% longer than a similar European Dryer? That might equate to 45-60% longer than an American dryer...

Malcolm

 

[henene4]

We went from 1:30 to about 1:45-150 on a heavy 6kg towels load, spun at 1400 rpm.
But keep in mind: This is on a machine that only uses about 1.5 kWh on such a load and has a tiny heat-pump at 1kW. Industrial machines have twice the power at least and the dryers for home use in the US all have booster heaters cutting of the heating up. (BTW our dryer takes a good half hour to heat to about 120°F.)
Fun fact: If I have a simmilar load and spin it at 1400 rpm or 1600 rpm, our dryer takes the exact same time. Can you figure out why?

 

[mrb627]

Extraction Effectiveness

There may not be a lot of water extraction difference between 1400 and 1600 rpm spins. Especially if it is a short burst to that speed at the end of the spin phase. ( And of course some machines claim 1600 but may not actually get there if fuzzy logic detects the load doesn't meet the balance specification )

Best proof would be to weigh the difference between the same load spun at the different speeds.

But thanks for the clarification on the dryer timing. Wonder how the USA machines will perform...

Malcolm

 

[pulsator]

This is my personal opinion.

Honestly, I'm chomping at the bit to get my hands on one. I dry everything on low heat anyway so I'm used to longer drying times. Depending on the mode you use, the WP heat pump dryer isn't that bad at all for drying times (provided you use an HE washer with a high spin speed I assume).

On Normal:
Speed mode: 53 minutes
Balanced mode: 68 minutes
Eco mode: 83 minutes

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[logixx]

How big is the load size for the times listed in the manual? AHAM standard 8 lbs. or more?

 

[warmsecondrinse]

1. Yes, provided the washer had a water heater heater and the dryer cost no more than a comparable vented electric.

2. Yes, but the price would have t be in line with conventional dryers.

 

[frigilux]

Funny, I had no problem adjusting to longer cycles on front-load washers or dishwashers, but the notion of adding 20-30 minutes to drying time makes me apoplectic. However...I know how this will play out: Curiosity will eventually get the best of me and I'll have to try one.

I like the Whirlpool format of allowing for conventional drying (when in a hurry) or heat pump mode when time isn't of the essence.

Had already decided my next front-loader would probably be a Whirlpool or Maytag...so I'm already halfway there, LOL. I'm assuming the heat pump model will be offered by Maytag at some point.

 

[henene4]

"Conventional" Mode

The main problem is the heating time. A heater heats air almost instantly.
A heatpump in a dryer condenses moisture from the air in the almost air tight system at temperatures below room temp. The heat is than recycled by almost 100%, adding the energy the compressor emmits in form of heat.
As mass has been removed out of the system in form of the condensed water, but the level of energy stayed about the same, temperatures rise. These higher temperatures than allow more water to be removed out of the system in the same time. This of course is quite time-inefficent. (BTW this actually means heating in a heatpump dryer is an expotential graph!)
The modes just change the amount of heating that is done by the heater. I guess the point of switching to just heatpump will be temperature dependent.

 

[mrb627]

2 In 1

I would probably be okay with the extra time required with a stacked set. At least you wouldn't be back to waiting on the dryer to finish for the next load...

Malcolm

 

[jerrod6]

Henene4

 

You just said  temperature dependent.  So my laundry is 63F and my rinse water is 37F does this mean a heat pump might dry faster or slower?

 

[henene4]

What I ment were the Speed, Balanced and Eco modes of the Whirlpool model thats going to be launched in the US soon.
I wanted to say that for example on Eco, the conventional booster heater they integrated might drop out once 70°F have been passed, on Balanced the temperature might be 90° and on Speed the point of switching of the heater could be 110-120°.
I played around with rerinsing a load of laundry at about 86°F, spin it at 1400 rpm and check if the load drys faster, but I could not recognize any difference in drying time to our usual 40-50°F we get out of the tap. Maybe I have to retry with 104°F and 1600rpm to see if it is faster.

 

[appnut]

I view as about equal time between the longer dryer cycles and typical washer times for cycles that use the heater and extra rinse---allergen, whites, heavy duty, kids ware.  Anywhere from 1.5 to 2 hours.  Add steam for stains treat and it can go up to almost 3 hours with sanitize.  My DC Maytag dries a huge towel load in about 50 to 60 minutes max.  And 'm talking bout 13 sets of thick, large towels.  So doing multiple loads in a day, dryer sits for about 1 hour or so.  So longer HP dryer times wouldn't bother me. 

 

[mrb627]

Whirlpool Version

It appears the Whirlpool version of the HE dryer is gonna fetch $1900 without the pedestal. YIKES! Doubt they will sell many...

Malcolm

 

[pierreandreply4]

longer drying time kinds of annoys me the max i am willing to set the time is 40 minute or 35 minutes of drying time

 

[BoschExxcel]

You wouldn't like European dryers then...

My Bosch condenser takes an hour for a full 7kg load of darks on low heat. That's pretty good for a condenser.

I'm afraid you will have to get used to waiting a little longer for your laundry. We have in the UK!

 

[logixx]

$1900?

AjMadison is selling it for $1500.

 

[henene4]

Whirlpool sets 1799$ as retail price on their web site.
They claim 73% energy savings. I'll try to figure out how long it takes that dryer to "save back" its additional cost.