What is more green a gas or electric clothes dryer?

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Generally, natural gas appliances are more efficient than an electric appliance because the fuel is being combusted at the site of use, as opposed to energy that is generated by combusting natural gas or coal at the power plant and then transmitted over electrical lines and losing energy along the way. That said, if your electrical power mix is "clean", or if you are powering the electric clothes dryer with a solar panel or wind turbine, that is of course cleaner.

If you want to try to calculate:

amount of energy used to do the load (kWh or therms) x carbon footprint per kWh (varies by location, usually between 0.5 - 1.5 lbs per kWh) or therm (12 - 14 lbs per therm) = the carbon footprint for doing the load.

Here's another thought: depending on the time you use an electric dryer, the carbon footprint can change. For example, where I live, during the night the grid is mostly wind powered, but during peak hours, they fire up the natural gas power plants. So if I do an electric dryer load at night, it's much "cleaner" than if I do it during peak hours....Show more

such extremely some incorrect solutions, yet a pair that are suited. you're able to desire to get a 4 prong dryer receptacle and a sparkling twine for the dryer. The code demands 4 prong receptacles now. once you have 3 prong, you have 2 hots (black, purple) and a impartial (white). The physique of the dryer is linked to the impartial. once you place the 4 cord cable on the dryer, its 4th cord would be floor (eco-friendly). do away with the relationship interior the dryer of the physique to white and connect the eco-friendly cord to the eco-friendly screw. Your cable is 10-3 with floor, that's right. Have a enable and inspection, or get an electrician to do it....Show more

a great number of incorrect solutions, yet a pair that are good. you could desire to get a 4 prong dryer receptacle and a sparkling cord for the dryer. The code demands 4 prong receptacles now. once you have 3 prong, you have 2 hots (black, pink) and a impartial (white). The physique of the dryer is hooked as much as the impartial. once you place the 4 cord cable on the dryer, its 4th cord would be floor (green). do away with the relationship interior the dryer of the physique to white and connect the golf green cord to the golf green screw. Your cable is 10-3 with floor, that's right. Have a enable and inspection, or get an electrician to do it....Show more

If you electricity is produced by burning natural gas, the gas dryer would be more green since there would be more gas burned to produce the electricity to dry the clothes because of the not 100 percent efficiency of conversion from gas to electricity, loss of electricity in transmitting it to your house, and the inefficiency of converting electricity to heat....Show more

Depends on what generates your electricity.

I found one estimate:

"one load of laundry will require 4 kWh of electricity or 18 cubic feet of natural gas.

Electricity generation produces approximately 600 grams of CO2 per kWh. Thus, drying one load of laundry will generate 2.4 kg of CO2.
If you use a gas dryer, things are somewhat better. A cubic foot of natural gas produces 55 grams of CO2. One laundry load produces 1 kg of CO2."

http://kradak.com/index.php?u=ArticlePage/detail/21

but I'm a little skeptical of the numbers; they don't quite jive with what I found from http://cdiac.ornl.gov/pns/faq.html for kWh & cubic ft gas to CO2 translations.

My advice - hang-dry your clothes and you won't have worry about it. You'll save a ton of energy & money, too. I line dry in the summer and it cuts my electric bill by 1/3 to 1/2....Show more