Korea Shows Home Energy Smarts

May 28, 2008 · Print This Article

What would a country would look like whether nearly nobody had an electric clothes dryer? You might imagine a a landscape of colorful underwear flapping in the wind to dry. Or possibly public would be strangely composition wearing damp clothes.

In six months of living in South Korea, any sign of clothes dryers has eluded me. So bring on the airing undies and the soggy bottoms, right? Well, despite having no — or at least relatively few — clothes dryers, Koreans are both perfectly dry and dignified, with seldom so much as a scrap of clothing hung to dry in view of the neighbors.

The view might seem a little strange in the United States, but air drying clothes as they do in Korea is environmentally wise, economically smart, and practical too.

How much energy do clothes dryers use?

The average clothes dryer uses amoung 1.5 and 5 kilowatts, according to the U.S. agency of Energy. After the home water heater, that’s more than any other common household appliance. To get an view of what that means, a dryer with poor energy efficiency uses more than a…

refrigerator
microwave
flat screen TV
ceiling fan
desktop computer and monitor
radio
36 inch TV
water bed
laptop
coffee maker
and a small aquarium

… combined!

And that’s assuming that all of the above items are at the bottom of the energy efficiency range. To use more energy with a without device, you’d have to plug in a personal underwater treadmill. ($15,000. No joke, they sell them.)

Is it practical to air dry clothes?

Before you say that your house is too small for a drying rack, I can promise that the average Korean home is much smaller (with no garage) and fits a drying rack just fine. An area with a window works best. Most Koreans keep their clothes drying racks in small, windowed indoor patios, which are common features of Korean houses.

Now, whether you don’t happen have a charming Italian patio in the countryside with a clothes line, never fear. Air drying clothes can still be for you. For about $10, you can get a natural wood clothes drying rack, which even folds up for storage when you’re not using it.

For some samples, take a look at Bed, Bath and Beyond or Linens ‘n Things.