Which is more cost effective to dry clothes, Electric or Natural Gas?

[scoots]

Typically speaking, which energy source costs less per load to dry laundry, electric heat or natural gas?

Is there a website that will calculate cost per hour, if you input your kW hour price for electricity and cost per 100 cubic foot natural gas?

 

[eronie]

dryer

I prefer gas it's cheaper and way faster too.

 

[yogitunes]

GAS is usually the inexpensive choice to run......but it can vary by areas.....sometimes electric can be cheaper.....

GAS dryer pricing for the unit itself can add roughly 50.00 to the price over Electric

your mileage may vary....

 

[turquoisedude]

It really depends on what the costs of gas and electricity are in your area.  In my province (Quebec) electricity is still quite reasonably-priced;  it's very unusual to see a gas dryer for home use in the cities and suburbs around here.  However, a good number of laundries use gas dryers (the speed would probably trump operating cost there).  

 

 

[e2l-arry]

Growing up in Northern Ill.

The gas company always advertised that "Gas did the BIG jobs better. For Less!" Whether it was heating, cooking or drying. Natural Gas costs have risen considerable since then but so has electricity. The gap has gotten closer but I think on most areas gas drying is more efficient, economically speaking.

But I found the MOST economically effective way to dry when I went back to hanging out to dry last year. I bought a really good umbrella line dryer from Amazon. I didn't even put it in the ground. I use a heavy base patio umbrella stand right on my patio. You have to be careful what you buy though. My 1st line dryer was from Home Depot and it collapsed about the 4th time I used it. It was mangled and had to be trashed. Remember, I use a wringer washer so that's some heavy wet stuff when it's first hung out.

Larry

 

[twintubdexter]

I'd be a nervous old man if I had to do laundry with an electric dryer while two central air conditioners are humming in the background. I rebuilt many a vintage dryer as a young person and always tested them with wet clothes...because it was fun. The gas dryers always seemed faster, of course using clothes from a Frigidaire Unimatic or Rapidry 1000 was not the same as a load from a Kenmore. The fastest were the Norge gas dryers. My mom had one. I think that huge fan and the way they sort of "injected" warm air into the clothes were the reasons. Although I can't speak for all the vintage brands, Frigidaire Filtrators were among the worst. Very little air flow and high heat that turned your white sheets pastel yellow. I'm sure many members have these dryers and love them. Of course, a Norge with it's reverse air flow ended up filling your laundry area with leaking lint and moisture as the dryer's seals aged. All the wall paper in my mom's laundry room peeled off along with the paint.

I'm lucky that my house has both gas and electric for the dryer. Oddly enough there's 220 under the gas cooktop and gas under the electric wall oven.

 

[wayupnorth]

I think it would mostly depend on how much wash you have to dry. A few loads a week would not matter on either gas or electric. I prefer the clothesline outside too. But I have a friend that owns a chain of laundromats. All their dryers are propane or natural gas where available. They also loop the incoming water to the oil fired water heater over the tops of the dryers. He says his electric bill for the stores are all higher than the gas bills.

 

[ovrphil]

I remember when my mom converted from gas to electric drying, she said, "I like the electric dryer because I don't worry about the pilot light." We had to re-light it when it got windy outside. But she too said that the clothes dried faster in the gas dryer. This is a question, electric or gas, that can't exclude (as everyone points out)prices for natural gas. However, if you are able and willing to hang outside, it wouldn't matter if it was gas...as you're not using anything during the months when you hang out laundry.

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

Here in Southern California, while there are "all electric homes" in some areas, natural gas is the predominant "fuel of choice" for heating water, heating the home, heating the pool, cooking, drying clothes, etc.    

              

After being limited to a 220V dryer for about 12-14 years, I now have both gas and 220V dryers and much prefer gas because it will dry in less time and at a lower cost vs. electric.

 

Kevin

 

[whirlykenmore78]

GAS!

Is much faster and cheaper. I can't wait until I have a gas line in the laundry room.
WK78

 

[combo52]

I Will Wager That A Natural Gas Dryer anywhere In N-America

Will always be always be cheaper to run compared to the same dryer in standard electric vented format.

When comparing a Gas Dryer to an electric dryer this is the only comparison where both appliances are virtually 100% efficient, so you are enjoying the full cost difference between the heat value you get from gas or electric. This is never the case when comparing a gas water heater [ 70% efficient ] a gas furnace [ 80-94% efficient ] And a gas range is well less that 50% efficient in its use of fuel. There are many parts of NA where it is much cheaper to cook with electricity.

The other important comparison is the damage you do to the environment from using a dryer, unless 100% of the electricity you are using at your home is generated by methods that produce no carbon dioxide or other pollution a NGD will always be better for the environment because the heat is produced inside the machine so the amount of gas burned is just 1/3 of what typically would have be burned at a big power plant to produce enough electricity to run an electric dryer.

All that said there is very little difference in the operation of modern gas and electric dryers. There is little speed difference, reliability is about the same overall, Both are very safe if properly installed and maintained [ although I think we see fewer fires in gas dryers ]. gas dryers may be slightly harder on some types of clothing, but I have never seen any proof of this. Electric dryers with their very dry heat could be harder on cotton clothing if you even slightly over-dry items.

John L.

 

[washer111]

I'm not really sure here - it really depends on what your utility charges. 

 

IN Australia - either is pretty cost preventative. Most people hang on lines, because it is FAR cheaper (and they avoid laundry in wet weather). 

 

Electric resistance heaters operate at 100% efficiency. Gas is somewhere reasonably close. 

No dryer will be 100% efficient, due to losses of heat.

A gas dryer may run hotter, producing faster results, and more wear on the clothing. 

 

In terms of cooking, Electric is always better since you don't have an open flame heating up an entire house. Good in the Winter, maybe, but in the Summer it wastes electricity for cooling (and as John said this is bad for the environment, since most electricity is generated from Coal). 

I prefer Induction cooktops - which actually use magnetism to vibrate the electrons in your metal cookware. This is FAR more efficient than any stovetop (Around 84% efficiency), and produces no residual heat. Its also quiet, and non-polluting (Very important in the 21st Century with well-sealed homes, where a Gas appliance could make you very sick). 

 

[launderess]

For What It Is Worth

Commercial laundries round the world usually prefer other sources of heat (steam, gas, propane) over electric.

That being said when it comes to domestic use in the United States much depends upon local rates. Here in NYC believe natural gas dryers out sell electric, which makes sense when you consider the high cost of electricity. Persons we know with electric dryers are mainly in high rise buildings that do not have gas lines for laundry purposes. If you live in a rental there probably isn't much that can be done about that situation. However in a co-op or condo building suppose with the proper permissions long as there is a gas line (cooking) going into the apartment it might be possible to do something for a dryer.

IIRC from this group and readings elsewhere depending upon geographic location when utilities were rolled out the dominant and or sole player in the market had a major influence. That is if you lived where the Tennessee Valley Authority was rolling out *cheap* electric then it is likely most if not all appliances in a home would run on that type of power.

Know persons what would love to have a gas dryers and or even ranges but their area/street does not have service. Local gas company costs simply make it too expensive to run a new main not only to the street but to just one home, so they are stuck. If you can convince several neighbors to sign up for service then things re different. However if you live in a remote area where it is just your home for miles around, then you may never be able to get a gas company to give you service.

 

[alr2903]

Natural Gas Dryer here,  we were trapped with 100% electric in NOLA.  Gas dryers  IMHO,  do not dry quicker. The time savings comes from the rapid ramp up to "drying temp" much faster than electric especially with a large load of towels.  Natural gas is the main word here. If you are in a rural area with propane, go with the electric. Propane prices have really increased over the last few years. 

ALR

 

[a440]

I have always preferred Natural Gas Dryers.
For a couple of reasons actually.
From the vintage gas dryers to the modern, I love the design and engineering of a gas product. It is like taming the beast to me. I love to study the design and see it work in action. Not only gas dryers, but any type of gas product.
As for actual drying of items, I find gas dryers much softer. Softer in the sense of moisture left behind in the clothes. I find electric dryer items to be stiff and in the winter crunchy with static.
B

 

[kb0nes]

I'd be hard pressed to say that gas driers don't finish a cycle faster then electric. It seems to be a significant difference in my experience.

When we moved to Minnesota we came from an all electric home in Ohio, bring along with us a ~1970 Kenmore electric dryer. We used that for about 3 years before on a visit here, John swapped all the parts effectively making our dryer a gas model. This is about the best apples and apples comparison that you can get since it was the same drier, same blower and same ducting etc. I can't imagine going back to an electric.

About the only advantage electric has is that the dew point of the heated air is slightly lower since there is no moisture by products from combustion. But it doesn't seem to make up for the increased heat of the gas burner in ultimate drying speed.

In the coldest depths of a MN winter I wonder if electric might not become more cost effective provided the drier vents indoors. Pulling all that cold make up air inside only to have to reheat it may nullify the lower cost per BTU of the gas energy.

 

[supersuds]

This site has a handy calculator that lets you plug in your local rates and number of weekly loads in order to estimate annual costs.

http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/dryers.html

Using my approximate local rates -- 10¢/kWh for electric and $1.10 per therm for gas in summer -- 8 loads per week costs $137 for electric and $109 for gas. That's for the entire year. So in my case there's really not much difference unless I was doing a huge amount of laundry.

I haven't checked California electric prices, but from what has been posted before they impose a steep penalty for using more than a certain amount, so it's easy to see why Californians would avoid electric dryers whenever possible.

 

[washer111]

Sees the "MichaelBluejay" Link...

... And runs away SCREAMING!

 

I can't bring myself to take someone who advocates Cold-only washing, ditching A/C and dumping older appliances seriously. 

Doing either the former or the latter and mentioning it here on this forum is like committing a major sin/treason against appliances, Lol!

 

One way of reducing the costs of drying certainly would be switching between Outdoor and Indoor venting, depending on the season. 

Or, using a closed-circuit dryer that doesn't vent at all (Like a condenser dryer, perhaps?). Provided the moisture is removed from the air, this saves a massive amount of energy, in that, all your heated air isn't wasted to an outdoor area - where the indoor area must subsequently be re-heated or cooled, depending not the season. 

 

[arbilab]

Used both extensively, however with a fairly small number of machines. Gas made stuff smell burnt, probably the detergent scent overheating. In addition to the things that can go wrong with electric (motor, belt, timer, thermo, coil) gas adds two more I've had trouble with, igniter and valves. So I prefer electric.

As above, relative cost depends where you live and how utilities are apportioned.

One thing is absolute: The more water you spin out, the cheaper the task of (powered) drying. Just did a queen set in the (1300rpm) twintub last night. 2 1/2 min spin costs virtually nothing*. Put the whole shebang in a coinop electric set on LOW heat and it finished in TWENTY MINUTES.

The same load washed in the coinop Neptune FL (~800rpm) takes twice as long on max heat in the same dryer. No difference in dryer fuel is going to make up that difference unless one fuel is free. So to save on whichever fuel the clear choice is high spin speed. Also meets the 'carbon footprint' objective since the energy difference in spin speeds is negligee (sic).

* Since I made that assertion I'll do the math to back it up. Spin motor rated at 140W. 2 1/2min = 0.042hr. 140 x 0.042 = 5.83 Whr. 5.83 / 1000 = 0.006 kWh. .006 x national average electric 12c per kWh = 7/100ths of a CENT. Let's take a low 3000W dryer running 50% duty for 1500W and 20 extra min. 20min = 0.33hr. 0.33 x 1500 = 500 Whr. 500 / 1000 = 0.5 kWh. 0.5 x 12c = 6c for that extra 20min to dry the same load only wetter. Now the punchline: 6c / 0.07c = 857 times more expensive to remove the 800rpm water with the dryer than with the 1300rpm spinner.