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Ultra-low-energy consumption ultrasonic clothes dryer

energy.gov

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Re: Ultra-low-energy consumption ultrasonic clothes dryer

#161

Post by Cerium »

david-given wrote: post #134
willyt wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once both my kids wet the bed every night for a week. 3 loads a day. Even on a sunny day in Scotland a duvet won't dry on the line in 1 day.

Years ago (on Mull), I saw someone selling drying tents: basically, a large tent with open ends and clotheslines inside. The shape apparently draws air through the tent. They said that even on cold, wet days, clothes dried quickly because of the air movement, and of course, no energy consumption. Never, ever seen one since, and a quick web search for 'drying tent' shows up nothing but kit for pot growers.

I've seen indoor ones with fans. Looked like a fabric armoire with a box fan underneath. It blows air through the clothes to dry them faster.

Re: Ultra-low-energy consumption ultrasonic clothes dryer

#162

Post by sten »

Cerium wrote: post #159
ComputerGuru wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lucky you. Try doing that in Chicago or Miami and your clothes will stink like holy hell thanks to the humidity.

If you use an air conditioner, you can do it the Chinese way. In humid cities people hang their clothes near the AC exhaust, since it is "free" hot air. In a super humid city I've seen clothes dry that way in only a few hours.

Is this really free? Doesn't it just lower the efficiency of the AC unit?

Re: Ultra-low-energy consumption ultrasonic clothes dryer

#163

Post by robert_tweed »

david-given wrote: post #134
willyt wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once both my kids wet the bed every night for a week. 3 loads a day. Even on a sunny day in Scotland a duvet won't dry on the line in 1 day.

Years ago (on Mull), I saw someone selling drying tents: basically, a large tent with open ends and clotheslines inside. The shape apparently draws air through the tent. They said that even on cold, wet days, clothes dried quickly because of the air movement, and of course, no energy consumption. Never, ever seen one since, and a quick web search for 'drying tent' shows up nothing but kit for pot growers.

This would also solve the other problem that stopped me drying things outside in Scotland: the garden tended to attract a lot of birds. I won't go into details, suffice to say the results were less spectacular than I had been led to believe.

Re: Ultra-low-energy consumption ultrasonic clothes dryer

#165

Post by detaro »

sten wrote: post #162
Cerium wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you use an air conditioner, you can do it the Chinese way. In humid cities people hang their clothes near the AC exhaust, since it is "free" hot air. In a super humid city I've seen clothes dry that way in only a few hours.

Is this really free? Doesn't it just lower the efficiency of the AC unit?

Why would it lower AC efficiency? It doesn't use the exhaust air for anything. (Obviously you shouldn't block it)

Re: Ultra-low-energy consumption ultrasonic clothes dryer

#166

Post by iamatworknow »

djrogers wrote: post #155
jostmey wrote: post #151

I want to see a study done on such a devices safety. The sound waves it emit are able to desiccate clothing. What is the effect of these sound waves escaping the device? Would it desiccate living tissue?

Probably the same ultrasonics hat are used in humidifiers. Hint, they don't travel far.

They mention that in the video.

It also mentions that they're thinking of creating a tumble/drum dryer with these piezoelectrics. As opposed to a traditional tumble dryer that spins to aerate the cloths, I think the spinning motion would instead be required to pin the clothing against the piezoelectric lined drum (though I imagine it would need to stop and change direction periodically in order to expose different areas of the fabric to the drum wall).

Re: Ultra-low-energy consumption ultrasonic clothes dryer

#167

Post by bpicolo »

tgb wrote: post #70
bpicolo wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looks like they calculated the optimum as ~500-600 Hz? That's in human hearing range too.

That's definitionally not ultrasonic, so I don't think that's the relevant frequency.

You're right that it's not, it's just what the paper says :)

Re: Ultra-low-energy consumption ultrasonic clothes dryer

#168

Post by Arizhel »

cmdrfred wrote: post #139
StephenConnell wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take operating costs into account also.

And time lost waiting for a new one to be delivered, disposal fees...

Don't forget delivery and installation fees too. They don't deliver them to your house for free.
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