Opinion
Europeans tend not to have clothes dryers, which, for us North Americans travelling for a few weeks from relative to relative makes for a frustrating wash day. We get our stuff washed, but then it can take a couple of days for the now-clean clothes to dry, depending on the location of the clothes line, often in a damp basement room -- or a hotel room.
TIP: To have clothes dry more quickly, buy quick-drying shirts and pants, which are not that easy to find. Try sports clothing stores.
So we were pretty excited when one of the relatives announced that they now had a clothes dryer. Hooray! Well, as can be expected in these times of energy efficiency, it was, um, underwhelming.
The dryer uses a heat pump to withdraw moisture from clothes, instead of adding heat to drive out the moisture. The moisture is collected into a condensation container (upper left in the photograph), from which you empty the water from time to time.
Pros:
- Energy efficient
- No need to drill a large hole in the wall for the hot, moist air to escape
Cons:
- Takes 3.5 hours to dry a load of clothes, instead of the usual 40 minutes we are used to
- Cannot use the dryer as a quick way to unwrinkle clothes, as it has no heat
The 3.5-hour duration is doubled to 7 hours, as European tend to have small washers and dryers, meaning it takes twice as many loads to finish drying a laundry job.
TIP: To get wrinkles out of clothes, put them in a North American-style dryer for five minutes, and then remove them immediately while still warm. The heat takes out the wrinkles. No need to iron them.
Well, not worse if you live where the cost of electricity is high. One of my daughter's has one In Oz and it's very cheap to run.
Posted by: Dairobi Paul | Oct 14, 2024 at 04:03 PM