Korea Shows Home Energy Smarts
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What would a country would look like if almost nobody had an electric clothes dryer? You might imagine a a landscape of colorful underwear flapping in the wind to dry. Or maybe people would be strangely content 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 idea 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.
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How much energy do clothes dryers use?
The average clothes dryer uses between 1.5 and 5 kilowatts, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. After the home water heater, that’s more than any other common household appliance. To get an idea 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 single 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, if 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.
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