A spin dryer is an appliance that can readily improve the energy efficiency in your laundry. A portable spin dryer like this one from Amazon, uses centrifugal force to dry clothes. The dryer was out of stock for a while, but it is now available again. Spin drying is much more efficient than electric tumble drying, in terms of energy use. Spin drying is also faster — it takes 2-3 minutes to get clothes to a semi-dry state. The drying can then be finished by hang drying the clothes or putting them in a tumble dryer for a few minutes. Spin drying is much gentler on clothes than tumble drying, it also removes mineral deposits and detergents, rather than baking them on. The spin dryer costs $229, which is much less than the previous spin dryer we featured, the Spin-X.

Update: I’ve been testing this spin dryer for a few months now, and it works quite well. It does make a bit of noise as it spins, but the noise is reduced if you load the dryer evenly. You have to get used to loading the dryer 2-3 times to dry a whole wash load. But many of my clothes come out of the machine practically dry – they are just a little damp to the touch.

You can buy this centrifugal clothes dryer from Amazon for $229.

Drying clothes with centrifugal force is efficient and quick. The centrifugal dryer Spin-X rotates at 3300 RPM (revolutions per minute) — using 1420 G forces. Most washing machines only spin at 500 RPM.

The dryer removes a quart of water from clothes using the same amount of energy a regular clothes dryer uses in the first 15 seconds of operation. In other words, the dryer uses 25WHr for a 3 minute spin.

The Spin-X dryer holds 10 lbs. of wet clothes per load.

Available from Spin-X dryer for about $540.

See also this centrifugal clothes dryer from Amazon for $229.

The T3 Tourmaline Featherweight weighs 13 oz. but is perhaps the most effective hair dryer available. It’s made of crushed tourmaline crystal.

Tourmaline emits negative ions and infrared heat when pressure is applied to it. These phenomena are known as “pyroelectric” and “piezoelectric”.

For heating, the dryer uses infrared heat and a ceramic heater coil, along with an 1800 watt motor.

The infrared heat is better for drying hair, because it dries the hair shafts from inside rather than heating the surface.

The manufacturer claims that the negative ions also break up water molecules into smaller sizes on the hair surface, making them evaporate more quickly.

There is also a setting to release an ultra high dose of negative ions for damaged hair.

It’s available at here for $200. A travel-sized one is also available here and here.

This is a hand dryer, made by Excel,
that uses 80% less electrical energy than similar dryers. It uses
a high velocity fan to dry hands faster (10-12 seconds) by blowing the
water droplets off the hands.

Hand
dryers are more efficient than paper towels in public restrooms. Paper
towels have a higher annual cost, use energy to transport, create paper
waste, require maintenance to keep them filled, are often sources of
mess in restrooms.