![]() ![]() A small room can dry several loads for about 1kWh, all of which is retained to heat the house and furthermore in a room you can dry ANYTHING, not just clothes! Makes quite a good sauna too if you want one - hot and humid when the process starts. A Bosch one boasted it only used 2kwH per cycle for a single load. None of the others seemed to be thermodynamically efficient some merely heated cabinets with water-cooled condensers: what a waste of heat and water. My Swedish is nil so couldn't determine how that small wardrobe worked. I looked up the suggested links to proprietary drying cabinets. Obviously in a dry climate drying on a washing line is ideal, but often it's a rare option for many people. We set our room next to the small laundry room on the same floor as the bedrooms to minimise transport of clothes. You don't need a timer as the dehumidifier (if properly set) will switch itself off when all is dry, providing the room is pretty airtight. A small domestic machine is adequate for the 8ft x 6ft insulated room. Set the the humidistat to max extraction rate (but not 'continuous'). Once you have those in place, the actual size of the dehumidifier isn't critical - it may just take more time to dry. The speed of evaporation and the efficiency of the dehumidifier are both critically dependent on air temperature - so insulation and airtightness are critical. The latent heat absorbed by of evaporation is liberated on condensation from the air, so there is no net gain or loss of energy from that source. Small dehumidifiers have a fairly low wattage (exact consumption will depend on operating climate), and that needs to raise the air temperature as high as possible to get rapid evaporation AND rapid condensation by the dehumidifier. You need a well insulated room for maximum drying efficiency, unless you are prepared to input additional heat. Those short of space might consider modifying their bathroom to dual purpose. Lots of possibilities - including a a vent which is time-controlled to open at 6.30am to heat upthe bathroom on cold mornings before you get up! With careful design, it might be possible to build a 'heating window'' into the party wall, to regulate the temperature in the drying room and export surplus heat to the bathroom. Recommend a drying room is located next to a bathroom as the waste heat will help keep the bathroom warm. Energy consumption: probably under 1kWh per night - but remember that ultimately this merely heats the house and not wasted - whereas a tumble dryer exhausts to waste outside. Clothes dry in a few hours, room temperature rises to around 30C or higher - gives very efficient climate for dehumidfier and ALL the heat (inc latent heat of evaoporation/comdensation) remains in the house!. Small dehumidifier runs overnight on off-peak elec when drying required. My son followed my scheme in his new house.8ft x 6ft room lined with plasterboard backed with 40mm foam insulation. ![]() A couple of years back I floated the idea of a building a drying room for clothes: a small insulated airtight room/cupboard with a small dehumidifier. ![]()
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