5 ms·

I thought for SURE that was going to be one of those made up stats from stupid magazine... nope... seems like that's actually true!? That's WAY higher than I wo

I thought for SURE that was going to be one of those made up stats from stupid magazine... nope... seems like that's actually true!? That's WAY higher than I would've ever guessed.

namdnay 4y ago
I guess they're mostly using old dryers without a heat pump
gambiting 4y ago
You want a crazy stat? US uses more energy just for its AC usage, than the entire continent of Africa uses for literally everything combined together.
- wyldfire 4y ago
  It's probably more meaningful to compare energy usage per-capita. IMO it's hard to understand what it means when describing energy uses by land masses. 2020 US population 330 million 2020 Africa population 1.3 billion
refurb 4y ago
It's 6% of residential use. Residential use is 39% of all electrical generation. So driers are 2.3%. That number doesn't surprise me in the least. Residential electrical consumption is trivial if you don't include heating. So having an appliance use 5% of all home electricity seems pretty low?
- nonethewiser 4y ago
  I'm actually struggling to figure out the remaining 94%. I guess AC is like #1, fridge, tv/computer.... lights ... ?
  - ghaff 4y ago
    I would guess AC (on average across the US) is a big one. Electric heat where it exists and is needed, refrigerators/freezers, over/stove, washer and dishwasher often heat water some. With LED lights/monitors and a general shift to more mobile electronics, I imagine that sort of thing is pretty far down the list.
  - adgjlsfhk1 4y ago
    Oven, and stove are the major ones. Not everyone has electric oven/stove, but those consume way more electricity than a drier (because they are on more often). Microwaves, space heaters, and hair driers are also major power users.
  - deepserket 4y ago
    space cooling: 15.5% space heating: 15.2% water heating: 11.6% refrigeration: 7.1% lightning: 3.9% television: 3.7% computer: 2.4% other: 40.7% source: https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/electricity/use-of-electricity.php https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/electricity/use-of-elect...
    - refurb 4y ago
      I know it's an average, but I'm somewhat surprised that refrigeration is half of heating/cooling. I suppose gas heat offsets much of the heating requirement in some areas and some parts of the US have minimal cooling needs.
      - mminer237 4y ago
        If you include gas heating, heating alone becomes twelve times the energy use of refrigeration: https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/use-of-energy/homes.php https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/use-of-energy/homes.php
      - bombcar 4y ago
        Remember that we have a box that makes the inside cold inside a box that makes the inside warm (or cold) half the year in many places. I heat my house so that I can run a freezer inside the heated house to lower the temperature back down to what it is outside sometimes. It's not entirely efficient.
- BillinghamJ 4y ago
  There are commercial dryers to consider too
  - refurb 4y ago
    The figure is residential use. But sure, some commercial use would be dryers, but I assume compared to say aluminum ore electrolysis, it's pretty low.
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    I do not think I have ever seen an electric commercial dryer (hotels/laundromat/etc). The electric costs would be insane in comparison to gas.
    - bombcar 4y ago
      Here's one: https://unimac.com/product/tumble-dryers/industrial-tumble-dryers/120lb-capacity/ https://unimac.com/product/tumble-dryers/industrial-tumble-d... Bigger than that goes to gas or steam only. Note that if you're using that, you'd use an extractor, also (big centrifuge that spins the clothes so fast you can enrich uranium with it). https://unimac.com/product/washer-extractors/uw-series-high-performance-hardmount-washer-extractor/200lb-capacity/ https://unimac.com/product/washer-extractors/uw-series-high-...

I thought for SURE that was going to be one of those made up stats from stupid magazine... nope... seems like that's actually true!? That's WAY higher than I would've ever guessed.

namdnay 4y ago

I guess they're mostly using old dryers without a heat pump

gambiting 4y ago

You want a crazy stat? US uses more energy just for its AC usage, than the entire continent of Africa uses for literally everything combined together.

wyldfire 4y ago
It's probably more meaningful to compare energy usage per-capita. IMO it's hard to understand what it means when describing energy uses by land masses. 2020 US population 330 million 2020 Africa population 1.3 billion

refurb 4y ago

It's 6% of residential use. Residential use is 39% of all electrical generation. So driers are 2.3%. That number doesn't surprise me in the least. Residential electrical consumption is trivial if you don't include heating. So having an appliance use 5% of all home electricity seems pretty low?

nonethewiser 4y ago
I'm actually struggling to figure out the remaining 94%. I guess AC is like #1, fridge, tv/computer.... lights ... ?
- ghaff 4y ago
  I would guess AC (on average across the US) is a big one. Electric heat where it exists and is needed, refrigerators/freezers, over/stove, washer and dishwasher often heat water some. With LED lights/monitors and a general shift to more mobile electronics, I imagine that sort of thing is pretty far down the list.
- adgjlsfhk1 4y ago
  Oven, and stove are the major ones. Not everyone has electric oven/stove, but those consume way more electricity than a drier (because they are on more often). Microwaves, space heaters, and hair driers are also major power users.
- deepserket 4y ago
  space cooling: 15.5% space heating: 15.2% water heating: 11.6% refrigeration: 7.1% lightning: 3.9% television: 3.7% computer: 2.4% other: 40.7% source: https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/electricity/use-of-electricity.php https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/electricity/use-of-elect...
  - refurb 4y ago
    I know it's an average, but I'm somewhat surprised that refrigeration is half of heating/cooling. I suppose gas heat offsets much of the heating requirement in some areas and some parts of the US have minimal cooling needs.
    - mminer237 4y ago
      If you include gas heating, heating alone becomes twelve times the energy use of refrigeration: https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/use-of-energy/homes.php https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/use-of-energy/homes.php
    - bombcar 4y ago
      Remember that we have a box that makes the inside cold inside a box that makes the inside warm (or cold) half the year in many places. I heat my house so that I can run a freezer inside the heated house to lower the temperature back down to what it is outside sometimes. It's not entirely efficient.
BillinghamJ 4y ago
There are commercial dryers to consider too
- refurb 4y ago
  The figure is residential use. But sure, some commercial use would be dryers, but I assume compared to say aluminum ore electrolysis, it's pretty low.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  I do not think I have ever seen an electric commercial dryer (hotels/laundromat/etc). The electric costs would be insane in comparison to gas.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    Here's one: https://unimac.com/product/tumble-dryers/industrial-tumble-dryers/120lb-capacity/ https://unimac.com/product/tumble-dryers/industrial-tumble-d... Bigger than that goes to gas or steam only. Note that if you're using that, you'd use an extractor, also (big centrifuge that spins the clothes so fast you can enrich uranium with it). https://unimac.com/product/washer-extractors/uw-series-high-performance-hardmount-washer-extractor/200lb-capacity/ https://unimac.com/product/washer-extractors/uw-series-high-...