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Comment by Animats

2 days ago

"Last year, for the third year straight, heat pumps outsold furnaces in the U.S."

Now that's a major development not mentioned much.

Heat pumps have both improved quite a bit, and become cheaper due to sheer volume.

10 comments

Animats

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matwood  2 days ago

I recently bought a heat pump dryer and it's pretty cool. No exhaust vent, just water drain. It also doesn't need the heavy duty power plug since it pulls so much less electricity than a typical heated air dryer.

  • pjc50  2 days ago

    Ah of course - it can recycle the heat. Hot air going out a vent is wasted energy that you've paid for.

  • markus_zhang  2 days ago

    I don’t know this thing exists. I need to take a look and maybe buy one when the current one breaks down. What brand did you purchase? Thanks.

    • matwood  2 days ago

      I have an LG. They look to cost a premium in the US above heated air one. They also seem to be gentler on clothes since they pump in warm dry air vs. super heated air.

      4 replies →

    • jpk2f2  2 days ago

      I used to have a Bloomberg heat pump dryer when I lived in a historical apartment. I was fairly happy with it, only real downsides was that it did take longer to dry compared to my prior electric and gas dryers, it tended to pickup a musty smell, and it was relatively complex and difficult to repair compared to a simpler dryer (had some minor failures over the years). Upside was the efficiency and not needing an exterior exhaust.

      Been a number of years since then, so I'm sure they've improved even more and are hopefully somewhat cheaper.