Lbear
 Veteran Member
 Posts:2721

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12 Mar 2014 12:48 AM |
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LG will be releasing a ventless heat pump clothes dryer this summer: Consumer Reports LGit will sell for around $1,500 and is 50% more efficient than a standard dryer. Not to be confused with a condensing dryer which is a different technology. |
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Alton
 Veteran Member
 Posts:2153
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12 Mar 2014 02:31 PM |
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But how long will it take to dry a typical load of clothes? |
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Residential Designer &
Construction Technology Consultant -- E-mail: Alton at Auburn dot Edu Use email format with @ and period .
334 826-3979 |
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Lbear
 Veteran Member
 Posts:2721

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12 Mar 2014 03:29 PM |
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Posted By Alton on 12 Mar 2014 02:31 PM
But how long will it take to dry a typical load of clothes?
From what I have read, it takes about the same time as a gas dryer, depending on how high the setting on the gas dryer is. The heat pump versions are much faster to dry than the condensing models. In Europe they have been around since 1997 when the Germans (Electrolux) developed the first one. Sixteen years later, there are now over 25 heat pump dryer models in Europe. Here in the USA (besides the upcoming LG model) we have ZERO models. |
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Alton
 Veteran Member
 Posts:2153
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12 Mar 2014 04:23 PM |
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Thanks Lbear. I had the time confused with condensing models. |
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Residential Designer &
Construction Technology Consultant -- E-mail: Alton at Auburn dot Edu Use email format with @ and period .
334 826-3979 |
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Lbear
 Veteran Member
 Posts:2721

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13 Mar 2014 01:00 AM |
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Posted By Alton on 12 Mar 2014 04:23 PM
Thanks Lbear. I had the time confused with condensing models.
Condensing models take a really long time but the heat pump are drastically better. What's nice is that the heat pump units are ventless so that helps with not having to punch another 5" hole in your wall. The USA is 15 years behind the energy curve of Europe. They get the better products and technology, we lag behind the technology when it comes to energy efficient homes. It's slowly starting to change but SLOW is the key word. I plan on getting a heat pump dryer so I will let you know how they work compared to my old gas dryer which I will leave behind. My new home will not have any natural gas, it will be 100% electric. |
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Alton
 Veteran Member
 Posts:2153
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15 Mar 2014 05:30 PM |
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Lbear, Please do share your future experience with heat pump dryers. I bet there will be several people on this forum that will benefit by your sharing. |
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Residential Designer &
Construction Technology Consultant -- E-mail: Alton at Auburn dot Edu Use email format with @ and period .
334 826-3979 |
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whirnot
 Basic Member
 Posts:186
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24 Apr 2014 12:36 PM |
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That is good news! I was hoping it would be soon. My installation is about 2 years away. |
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rlsmith017
 New Member
 Posts:35
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06 May 2014 12:24 AM |
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When do you plan on purchasing the dryer? I'm also interested in your experience. Roger |
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Roger |
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NelsonL
 New Member
 Posts:14
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07 May 2014 09:56 AM |
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I'm with Lbear. I plan on purchasing one as soon as they are available. A big plus for this model is it's large size and capacity. We currently have a condensing dryer which usually does a great job, and it does take a little longer to dry clothes, but the big issue we have is its small size at 24" wide and only 4.2 cuft capacity which is small for a dryer. Because of the small size sometimes bedsheets get tumbled into a tight ball that of course doesn't dry and you have to be careful how much clothes are loaded into it especially if you are doing a load of permanent press clothes. The new LG model DLHX4072V has the more efficient heat pump technology and has a large capacity at about 7.4 cuft. |
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rlsmith017
 New Member
 Posts:35
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22 May 2014 10:54 AM |
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I checked with LG today: no release date yet for the US product. Roger |
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Roger |
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Lbear
 Veteran Member
 Posts:2721

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06 Jun 2014 02:05 PM |
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EnergyStar will now include clothes dryers: GBAPer the article:"Heat-pump clothes dryers, developed in Europe in the mid-1990s, are
one type of energy-efficient dryer likely to make the Energy Star list.
Manufactured by a number of companies, they can reduce energy
consumption over standard models by as much as 50%, according to a report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 2010.
The dryers extract latent heat from the air and pump it into the
clothes drum. Warm, moist air that exits the drum goes through a lint
screen and an evaporator, and the water is removed, the Berkeley Lab
report said. Instead of venting the air to the outside, as would be the
case in a conventional dryer, these models circulate the warm and now
mostly dry air back into the drum.
Some models don't have to be vented to the outside.
Heat-pump clothes dryers haven't been widely available in the U.S.,
although the Lawrence Berkeley report said there are 25 models available
in Europe. They're also more expensive than conventional models: a Consumer Reports article notes that one LG model will be here by mid-summer at a cost of $1,500 to $1,600." |
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White37
 New Member
 Posts:1
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04 Sep 2014 11:11 PM |
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According to the manual that I downloaded from the LG US support site, it looks like the new US bound LG heat pump dryer will require a vent. The announcement for the new Whirlpool heat pump dryer mentions that it is ventless. Hoping I can use the Whirlpool in my super tight house since the LG is now out of the question. |
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Lbear
 Veteran Member
 Posts:2721

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04 Sep 2014 11:54 PM |
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Posted By White37 on 04 Sep 2014 11:11 PM
According to the manual that I downloaded from the LG US support site, it looks like the new US bound LG heat pump dryer will require a vent. The announcement for the new Whirlpool heat pump dryer mentions that it is ventless. Hoping I can use the Whirlpool in my super tight house since the LG is now out of the question.
If going with the heat pump dryer, one might as well go with the ventless design. Looks like Whirlpool would be the better choice. Not having to punch a 6" hole in the wall and have a R-0 hole that leaks air 24/7/365. I've seen the dryer vent hoods with self-closing doors but they are mediocre at best and still leak air when not on. |
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jonr
 Senior Member
 Posts:5341
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05 Sep 2014 10:43 AM |
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In the summer, the last thing I'd want to do is retain all that heat and humidity. |
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Lbear
 Veteran Member
 Posts:2721

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05 Sep 2014 02:48 PM |
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Posted By jonr on 05 Sep 2014 10:43 AM
In the summer, the last thing I'd want to do is retain all that heat and humidity.
We are talking about a ventless heat pump dryer. There is no humidity/moisture that is released or retained in the room. A ventless heat-pump clothes dryer WILL NOT add any significant amount of moisture
to the room. They have been using them in Europe for over a decade now without any issues. As far as heat goes. It's contributing only what the unit puts out in electricity. Like anything (TV, refrigerator, computer, etc) there is some heat being put out but a gas/propane or electric dryer puts out A LOT more heat into the room than a ventless heat pump dryer would. I currently have a gas dryer and it puts out a ton of heat into the room when it's operating. Not to mention, a gas or standard electric dryer is stealing your conditioned interior air and siphoning it out the wall. That's a waste of energy. The 6" hole in the wall that a vented gas or electric dryer requires leaks air 24/7/365 and is a 6" R-0 hole. |
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Lbear
 Veteran Member
 Posts:2721

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07 Sep 2014 06:27 PM |
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Here is the press release from Whirlpool about the ventless heat pump dryer coming to the USA: Whirlpool Dryer"Compared to typical dryers that use large amounts of energy in the
form of venting hot, moist air, the Whirlpool brand HybridCare™ dryer is
a ventless heat pump dryer that uses a refrigeration system to dry and
recycle the same air. HybridCare™ technology has the capability to use less heat than
vented dryers. The ventless dryer technology will allow consumers in North America to reduce their carbon footprint and the estimated $4B in wasted energy attributed to dryers .
As a ventless technology, HybridCare™ does not require an outside
vent, allowing the consumer to install it in more locations throughout
the home. The HybridCare™ technology dryer will also match select front
load washers of the currently available Duet series, making it a logical
choice for consumers desiring greater levels of energy savings.
Whirlpool will begin shipping units to select U.S. markets in Q4 2014. It will expand to other U.S. markets and Canada in early 2015, generating excitement among some major utilities. "Whirlpool Corporation
has been a great partner with us as we work together to advance dryer
energy efficiency. Dryers are the next frontier for significant energy
savings in the home, and innovations like the heat pump dryer are a key
technology to unlocking these savings," |
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rlsmith017
 New Member
 Posts:35
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08 Sep 2014 08:03 AM |
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It looks like LG has finally released their vented heat pump dryer: http://www.appliancesconnection.com/lg-dlhx4072v-i374227.html I'll be very interested in the reviews. Roger |
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Roger |
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Lbear
 Veteran Member
 Posts:2721

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08 Sep 2014 10:49 AM |
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Posted By jonr on 05 Sep 2014 10:43 AM
In the summer, the last thing I'd want to do is retain all that heat and humidity.
As per Whirlpool: "Whirlpool brand HybridCare™ dryer is a ventless
heat pump dryer that uses a refrigeration system to dry and recycle the
same air. " Defined by fellow blogger: Key words "refrigeration system".....ambient air is dehumidified by
the refrigerant coil, heat is generated by the condenser and a back up
heating coil in the dryer, both recycled. Two phase change
vapor-liquid-mixture to superheated-vapor evaporator. So the conclusion is that it will NOT retain heat and humidity within the home. |
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jonr
 Senior Member
 Posts:5341
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10 Sep 2014 03:10 PM |
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As you say earlier, all of the net heat generated IS retained, which isn't true of vented models. A possible solution to that (for any type of dryer) would be to put it in a sealed closet with intake and exhaust vents. Any comparison of heat pump dryers needs to include actual operating costs - in my NG case, it would never pay for itself. |
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wyogold
 New Member
 Posts:2
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23 Sep 2014 05:56 PM |
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I was really interested in the LG dryer, but one of the big selling points to me was that I thought it was ventless. Can anyone explain to me what the point is of having venting in a heat pump dryer? If heat is recovered from the spend air, and that air is dried, why exhaust it to the great outdoors? I am a bit bummed out, I really liked the LG dryer until I realized it has a vent, as I wanted to replace the existing vented dryer which exhausts into the dryer cabinet, as there is no connection to the outdoors. Dammit! |
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