And how will my cat react to this thing? Something with enough sonic energy to vaporize a significant volume of water is probably loud enough to wake every animal in the area.
Ultra-low-energy consumption ultrasonic clothes dryer
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Re: Ultra-low-energy consumption ultrasonic clothes dryer
#12A bit puzzled why GE needs government funding to do research -- they make a lot of money already. The idea sounds pretty neat but I wonder about longevity of the piezeoelectric transducers. A clothes dryer needs to last at least 7-10 years, minimum. A resistive heating element is about as simple as you can get, and it's cheap to replace if it does burn out.
Batteries don't last this long, why does a dryer have to? it's not all about longevity ...
Batteries are also (relatively) cheap and easy to replace.
If my dryer was $50-$200 and could be carried in one hand, I'd be (grumpily) okay with it only lasting 2 years.
Re: Ultra-low-energy consumption ultrasonic clothes dryer
#13It's not the fastest clothes dryer, but I often use one that runs on fusion in outer space.
For apartment goers (or those that live in uncooperative climates) the reliability of such a system is a bigger problem than the speed.
But for those that can use it, it is indeed a great system.
Re: Ultra-low-energy consumption ultrasonic clothes dryer
#14And how will my cat react to this thing? Something with enough sonic energy to vaporize a significant volume of water is probably loud enough to wake every animal in the area.
...This is a great comment I'd not have thought of.
Re: Ultra-low-energy consumption ultrasonic clothes dryer
#15And how will my cat react to this thing? Something with enough sonic energy to vaporize a significant volume of water is probably loud enough to wake every animal in the area.
Not to mention warm clothes is like 80% of the benefit of the dryer ;)
Re: Ultra-low-energy consumption ultrasonic clothes dryer
#16A bit puzzled why GE needs government funding to do research -- they make a lot of money already. The idea sounds pretty neat but I wonder about longevity of the piezeoelectric transducers. A clothes dryer needs to last at least 7-10 years, minimum. A resistive heating element is about as simple as you can get, and it's cheap to replace if it does burn out.
And the longevity of your clothes.
This is the main reason.
The difference in the longevity of my clothes -- same exact articles, same brand, same material, thickness, size and stitching -- from switching from a "hotbox" dryer to condensation dryer was initially amazing. No more did cuffs and collars start to crack and fail, nor did my shirts slowly develop small tears.
The latest (2014 is when they really started to hit the market) heat pump dryers dry clothes even cooler still, albeit since they're new tech they're quite a bit more expensive right now.
In Europe, a "condensation dryer" is so common, they're just called a "dryer", with no differentiating term. Additionally some countries (Switzerland I think) I believe don't even allow hotbox dryers anymore (and their needed conduit and vents) as part of fire/building code. Condensation dryers simply have a high quality lint filter (that truly does trap it all) and vent to atmosphere, since they just use a heat exchanger.
All while using far less electricity than simply heating things resistively.
Re: Ultra-low-energy consumption ultrasonic clothes dryer
#17And how will my cat react to this thing? Something with enough sonic energy to vaporize a significant volume of water is probably loud enough to wake every animal in the area.
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Re: Ultra-low-energy consumption ultrasonic clothes dryer
#18It's not the fastest clothes dryer, but I often use one that runs on fusion in outer space.
For apartment goers (or those that live in uncooperative climates) the reliability of such a system is a bigger problem than the speed. But for those that can use it, it is indeed a great system.
Can you put your clothes on a fire escape? Or in your bathroom (works great if you have a bathroom with a window).
Re: Ultra-low-energy consumption ultrasonic clothes dryer
#19> At the end of the project, appliance manufacturers including GEA will be ready to invest in this technology and commercialize it. This will result in the U.S. becoming the leader in the clothes drying industry and generate new jobs and innovative applications of the technology.
Pretty sure as soon as China is aware of this idea (if not already), they will have something in production and out the door faster and at a much larger scale than the US. Could someone explain why innovative ideas like this have to be published before they're actually built?
Re: Ultra-low-energy consumption ultrasonic clothes dryer
#20And how will my cat react to this thing? Something with enough sonic energy to vaporize a significant volume of water is probably loud enough to wake every animal in the area.
Not to mention warm clothes is like 80% of the benefit of the dryer ;)
I didn't realize this, but yes, this is absolutely true. I wonder how many people would actually be willing to pay a premium on having their clothes warm when coming out of a dryer.