This document summarizes past and planned research on clothes dryer energy efficiency. It provides an overview of several studies conducted since 2011 to better understand dryer energy consumption and potential savings. These include field studies to monitor residential dryer usage, laboratory tests to evaluate modified dryers and emerging technologies, and planned future research like developing a field testing protocol. The objective is to target the most important research areas and facilitate information sharing to support improved dryer energy efficiency.

1. Super Efficient Dryer Initiative
Technical Session: Lab and Field
Research, Test Procedure, and ENERGY
STAR
14 November 2013
Washington, DC
and the California IOUs
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2. Session Agenda & Objectives
• Provide a high-level overview of past, current, and
discuss possible future research activity focusing on
clothes dryers;
• Highlight key findings from recent research activity;
• Identify important elements for assessing clothes
dryer energy performance;
• Present an overview of recent testing and research
conduced by the US DOE.
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3. Knowing What We
Don’t Know
• Unlike other residential appliances, there is a lot of
basic information about clothes dryers that we do
not know:
o How do clothes dryers perform in real world drying conditions?
o How do consumers use dryers?
o What is the range of energy usage characteristics of products on
the market?
We have tried to address some of these questions
through the following research activities
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4. Intro to Dryer Research
Since 2011, several organizations have
conducted clothes dryer research
Their efforts have resulted in:
o Better understanding of potential energy savings, including savings from
new emerging technology (ET)
o Increased knowledge of dryer energy consumption, as well as consumer
usage patterns
SEDI’s Research Working Group was created to:
o
o
o
o
Target the most important areas of investigation
Support the comparability of research results
Exchange best practices and expertise
Provide a forum for the sharing of research results
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5. Overview of Past
Research Activities
Baselining Dryer
Energy
Consumption
Field Research
NEEA/CA IOU
Testing
Assessing the
Energy Savings
Potential of ET
NRDC Study
CLASP Study
NEEA Field Study
&
FSEC Field
Research
Laboratory
Testing
Assessing the
Energy Savings
Potential of
Dryers
Dryer
Modification
CA IOU Testing
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6. Baselining Dryer
Energy Consumption
• NEEA conducted a field study in the Northwest to
collect data on dryer energy consumption and
consumer usage patterns
• NEEA and CA IOUs, in collaboration with Ecova,
tested several dryers with a modified test procedure
that more closely aligned with the type of drying
conditions measured in the field
• FSEC is monitoring the energy consumption of
clothes dryers and HVAC systems in several Florida
homes
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7. Assessing the Energy
Savings Potential
• CA IOUs, in collaboration with Ecova, modified two
conventional dryers to assess the impact on energy
consumption. Modifications included:
o Adding insulation
o Adding a heat exchanger
o Re-routing the air flow
• NRDC, in collaboration with Ecova, assessed the
impact of test load composition, fuel type, and
automatic termination on the energy consumption
of dryers
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8. Assessing the Energy
Savings Potential of ET
• CLASP, in collaboration with Ecova, compared the
energy consumption and performance of North
American conventional dryers and European heat
pump dryers
• Two additional (best in class) HP dryers are in the
Ecova test lab awaiting staff and budget, this testing
will be funded by NEEA
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9. Planned Future Research
• SEDI will develop a research protocol for field
testing (based on NEEA field test protocol)
• FSEC plans to conduct deep energy retrofits on
select homes, including the installation of 2013 ETA
winning dryer
• SEDI sponsors will conduct lab testing of current
dryers to DOE’s appendix D2 protocol to utility
savings establish baseline (necessary because D2 is
voluntary)
• SEDI sponsors will conduct field testing of the first
ENERGY STAR qualified products to determine real
world behaviors and savings
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10. Contacts
My Ton
CLASP
mton@clasponline.org
Christopher Dymond
NEEA
cdymond@neea.org
Chris Calwell
Ecova
ccalwell@ecova.com
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