[Greenbuilding] ENERGY STAR Clothes Dryers Program Launch

[Steven Tjiang]

Well said.
---- Steve (KZ6LSD)


On Sun, Jul 22, 2012 at 9:51 AM, <jfstraube1 at bell.blackberry.net> wrote:

> Sounds like a classic "the perfect is the enemy of the good"
> Eg Since hanging clothes outside to dry is perfect all efficient clothes
> driers are bad and should not be encouraged.
>
> When and if (big if) outside forces make the 90 million driers "non
> viable" we won't have to tell people to somehow dry their clothes outside.
> On the other hand, while we wait for this Armageddon to come, having
> efficient clothes driers (like the Danes and Japanese) that use 1/4 as much
> energy per load would be better than not having these.
> Seems to me people survived $4 gas, and folks in Europe live well with $8
> gas, so there may be a bit of life left in the system that makes people
> want the convenience of clothes driers.
> I am not an apologist for the fuels we burn and how many we do, but I am a
> realist about what makes a substantive difference. Increased standards for
> appliances (which start with Energy Star) have saved a huge amount in the
> last 20 years or so.
>
> Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
> Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.
> ------------------------------
> *From: * Reuben Deumling <9watts at gmail.com>
> *Sender: * "greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org" <
> greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org>
> *Date: *Sun, 22 Jul 2012 16:38:46 +0000
> *To: *Green Building<greenbuilding at lists.bioenergylists.org>
> *ReplyTo: * Green Building <greenbuilding at lists.bioenergylists.org>
> *Subject: *Re: [Greenbuilding] ENERGY STAR Clothes Dryers Program Launch
>
>
>
> On Sun, Jul 22, 2012 at 5:36 AM, Paul Eldridge <
> paul.eldridge at ns.sympatico.ca> wrote:
>
>>
>> There are roughly 90 million tumble dryers in the United States alone and
>> no matter how much we collectively hold our breath and stomp our feet (or
>> pontificate), they're not going to magically disappear.
>>
>
> This is the kind of argument I hear in discussions of when cars may no
> longer be ubiquitous. Invariably someone will say 'You're trying to take my
> car away!'  These kinds of statements betray an understandable anxiety
> about the kinds of changes that might be afoot, but also a misunderstanding
> of who's in charge. I'm not trying to take anyone's car or clothes dryer
> away. Personalizing this is absurd. The people who argue that we can't
> afford clothes dryers powered by fossil fuel or the grid, or that cars have
> no future aren't saying this because they want to ruin other people's fun
> or convenience. I believe we say this because it is our best guess as to
> what will come to pass, whether we want it or not. Pretending that this
> doesn't concern us, that consumers rule, that we're somehow exempt from all
> the limits others take seriously is ridiculous.  In the US we have gotten
> used to thinking we're in charge, that if we want clothes dryers well then
> we're damn well going to get (to keep our) clothes dryers. But what if one
> day we discover that we no longer call the shots, hold all the cards?
> Dryers aren't going to 'magically disappear,' but they might cease to be
> viable. Public opinion I think could easily shift when we realize the
> absurdity of thinking we need power plants and a complex grid and ancient
> sunlight to accomplish a task as simple as drying our clothes.
>
>>
>> According to Natural Resources Canada, electric dryers sold in 2008
>> consume, on average, 916 kWh a year.  That number is based on eight loads a
>> week, which works out to be some 2.2 kWh per use. As a two person
>> household, we typically run two loads of laundry a week -- 229 kWh/year.  A
>> TV set-top box (and there are reportedly 160 million of them in US
>> households) or digital video recorder could consume upwards of twice that
>> over the course of the year. Where are the pitchforks and torches?
>>
>
> The whole thing is ridiculous. Just because we keep thinking of new ways
> to use electricity doesn't mean older ways aren't discretionary, aren't
> something we can un-learn.
>
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