Was thinking about how bad tumble dryers are for the environment before, SPECIFICALLY tumble dryer that vet the damp warm air outside the home via exhaust pipes. This hot air is being directly pumped into the world and warming the globe. We have a global warming crisis and it's our duty to cool down the earth. If we took simple measures and used the hot tumble dryer air to heart out home and not hear the earth this would have a significant effect on global warming. Also speaking of heating our homes. It would be beneficial to use open fires and wood burners. The challenge is retaining the heat from these fires in our home (not allowing it to escape) but expelling the smoke! This can also be achieved by clever ducting. With the hot air trapped in our home and not exausted into the atmosphere it will drastically reduce global warming. The main benefit from these fires is the smoke! If enough homes use them it will create a think layer of smog around our cities! This smog will act as a blanket, and shield us from the sun!!! Which will in turn cool the planet and reduce global warming.
As for your dryer, using the heat more wisely might make a difference in how much fossil fuel gets burned to warm your clothes plus home - so good idea! It might reduce your utilities bill a little. Pumping warm damp air into a house isn't great for the life of a house. resistance to mold, etc., I think, so I'd suggest thinking about that. The problem of global warming is claimed by science to involve the balance between arriving heat from the sun and departing heat to outer space. If we slow heat leaving Earth, Earth will warm - there is no other place for the heat to go. I've never heard from any scientist that a blanket of smog would block arriving heat or that it would change the rate of heat leaving Earth. Smog is at low altitude. When smog absorbs solar radiation, that heat hasn't left Earth. So, not so sure here. Also, smog is known to lead to significant health problems that end up raising the cost of healthcare that we all pay.
Here's a trick to reduce your drying time by almost half... Throw a large clean dry towel in with your wash when it goes into the dryer. I'm not sure but I think what it does is provide more surface area for evaporation and it certainly does significantly cut the drying time down
I use a clothesline when the weather is favorable but don't really fret using the dryer otherwise. I have been told that if you use a woodstove, you get rated on your homeowners and they will deny coverage unless you have had a professional inspection. cleaning of the chimney every year. I couldn't use one either way because the smell of woodsmoke irritates my sinuses so bad I get thrown into migraine land if I am around them too long.
In significant cities, there are laws on when one can build a wood fire, banning new construction from including a fireplace and restricting use except when it is a necessary source of heat. That can also block the installation of new gas appliances, too. In some particular situations, the law includes dependencies on current weather conditions. I have an app on my phone that notifies me when I'm not allowed to use my fire pit outside. I wouldn't have invested in that had I known local laws when I moved here!! It's probably even somewhat socially unacceptable.
Why even use a tumble dryer? If it's cold enough for heating the house dry the clothes next to the heating system which is beneficial to health. Air in houses in winter tend to be too dry health-wise due to heating and advice is to place cups of water to evaporate. If it's warm outside, dry clothes outside. Admittedly, there usually is a couple of months in the year when drying is difficult in the in-between times
So the supposed global warming garbage has now moved from CO2 to water vapor and hot air. How appropriate.
I imagine that clothes dryer exhaust have about the same impact on global warming as my tears for the future of humanity have on sea level rise.
The waste heat is insignificant. It's one-and-gone. It's the CO2 created to make the heat which will keep warming the earth for centuries. No. They're bad about making particulates in the smoke. That's not good for breathing. Fireplace inserts or wood stoves will burn wood much more cleanly.
This thread makes me want to add two stroke oil to the gas tank of my four stroke motorcycle.... It won't hurt the engine at all it will just belch unnecessary smoke.
My grandmother kept all her valuables in the dryer. She said that it isn't like anybody breaking in would ever think to look there. She hated the thing. I always heard that she only used it once before going back to hanging things back on the line.
