Dryer Help

[whtyger97]

My DH and I moved into our first house in August. We're trying to get a feel for the bills, but our electric is higher then we would like, and it actually went up this month compared to last, anyway we're wondering if the culprit is the clothes dryer, its an old Kenmore Advantage Model number - 66831 on the mannual and on the actually dryer it has the longer 110.86683120. Neither the manual or the dryer itself has a date on it. I tried calling Sears/Kenmore but they didn't have any info listed for it in their computers. I don't need any exact date, just like a half decade range would make me happy, like early 60's late 70's etc.

We're trying to gauge how energy efficent it is based on its age, is that even possible? Does anyone have any suggestions? We're really trying to decide if looking at an energy efficent unit to replace it would be worth the likely savings in electricity.

 

[clh2]

Just an idea here - can you call the electric company and find out what the previous owner's KW usage was?

In addition to the electric dryer - electric heat is also pretty expensive.

Now my opinion - if you have natural gas in your home - why not have a plumber pipe over to the dryer and get a gas dryer? We find them to less expensive than electric dryers.

 

[whtyger97]

Thanks for the suggestions
I don't think calling the electric company for the previous home owners usage would really help, because there are to many variables. I also don't think they are likely to give out this info.

I think there is a gas line by the dryer already, so getting a new gas one is an option. My DH bought a gadget to measure how much electricity something uses, but you cann't attach it to a 220v line, so we cann't tell how much the stove and dryer use.

 

[mickman1962]

An electric dryer will use more electricity then anything else in your house. Especially with an older washer that doesn't have a high spin speed to get out most of the water first get a gas one and don't look back

 

[Cheap-n-Dale]

Also make sure that the duct to the outside is clear. When we moved in to our new home, we inadvertadle blocked that flexiable ducting and dramitically reduced the efficiency of the dryer.

 

[missyc]

Originally posted by Cheap-n-Dale
Also make sure that the duct to the outside is clear. When we moved in to our new home, we inadvertadle blocked that flexiable ducting and dramitically reduced the efficiency of the dryer.

Funny to hear that. Just last Wednesday my girls were VERY late for school because their clothes wouldn't dry! It took over 2 hours to dry the load. Never happened before and hasn't happened since. I went outside where the dryer duct blows out and it was completely clogged up with a bunch of lint. Never realized it would make such a difference.

And BTW, FPL gives out info on previous owners/renters electricity usage. You can call and give the adress and they'll tell you what the bill was for each month to help you decide if it may fit in your budget. Of course you have to figure in all the variables, but it can help.

 

[luvsTink]

Hmm, I tbought refridgerators and de-humidifiers were the biggetst electric consumers?

Anne