Your Dryer Could Make Electricity Too

dryer1 appliances
Clothes dryers throw off waste heat that could be a useful form of energy –if it could just be harnessed. Even enough energy to run half of all your household appliances.

Co-generation; sometimes called combined heat and power (CHP) is already starting to be used by factories and data centers to save energy by creating both heat and power.

But until now, low heat has not been harnessed in creating electricity. Most existing technologies are efficient only at temperatures above 400 Â°F, and a lot of waste heat just isn’t that hot.

But Ener-G-Rotors has just developed an innovative new technology that one day might have your clothes dryer supplying half the electricity in your house as well, and cheaply enough to deliver a payback in two years.

They initially plan for commercial use but also hope to target consumers with a one-kilowatt system.

That would be enough to supply half their electricity. Check your utility bill to see your total kwh used in the month: if it is approximately 500 kwhÂ per month, a two-kilowatt system isÂ enough to supply your electricity needs.

Ener-G-Rotors says “Our technology is more efficient and simpler than anything else out there right now,” he says. “There aren’t many technologies that are going to work here. And we think we have the lowest cost of any of the technologies out there.”

So imagine getting half your electricity from your dryer…with help maybe, from that other energy hog – your fridge.

From MIT
Photo by Olivia Megalis

Tags: Appliances, electricity, Ener-G-Rotor, energy efficiency, Green, power, waste heat to power

8 Comments so far to “Your Dryer Could Make Electricity Too”

mandrill Says:
January 24th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
Erm… perpetual motion machine anyone?
How can a clothes dryer, which is consuming alot less than half the electricity you use in your house then be made to supply half of it? You can’t get more out that you put in, basic thermodynamics. It may be that you get half of the power used by the dryer back in which case its simply a more efficient dryer, nothing more. what you’re suggesting this device is capable of sounds to me to be nothing short of magic, involving the suspension of quite a few laws of physics.

I’ll believe it when I see it.
Nate Says:
January 25th, 2009 at 11:11 am
What mandrill said.
Susan Kraemer Says:
January 25th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Combined -cycle heat and power is quite common. Many companies make electricity from waste heat, such as (to quote my Massachusets Institute of Technology source).
“And it will face plenty of competition as the market heats up, Taylor warns. A crop of companies, including larger players such as United Technologies, which makes aircraft, aerospace systems, and air conditioning, and smaller companies such as ElectraTherm, are also pursuing low-temperature technologies–and they already have systems installed.”

Here are their links
http://www.utc.com/utc/home.html
This Electratherm website explains it well:
http://www.electratherm.com/

What is new here, is capturing much lower heat. (And the dryer can be run on either gas or electricity: it’s the heat that is important).
You are utilizing the waste heat being thrown off by the dryer.
Spuffler Says:
January 25th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Vaporware. The company is still ‘developing’ the product, does not have a product.

It is really nice to have someone ‘looking’ for new technology, but nobody is going to benefit today from the efforts which hope to produce something ‘eventually’.
Susan Kraemer Says:
January 25th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Conversely: in order for you to benefit ‘tomorrow’, this company needs to do some R&D today. That’s not vaporware, its an essential step.

If nobody ever ‘looked’ for anything new, we would not have ‘developed’ the use of fire yet.
Generating Your Own Electricity Says:
March 7th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Nice post
It will help you slash your electricity bill by 80% or even eliminate it completely!
Get instructions to make solar power and wind power at home. Use this guide to make a power producing solar panels and reduce your electricity bill
If you are interested in learning exactly how to generate power and reduce your bill then this is the perfect resource for you!
Corey Says:
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:43 pm
This is a great idea, as tumble dryers use a tremendous amount of energy.

You can use spin dryers such as at http://www.laundry-alternative.com instead of or to complement conventional tumble dryers, as they are about 100 times as energy efficient.
Marlene Says:
May 11th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
I'm ready to test one.