Market transformation for clothes dryers: lessons learned from the European experience

Panel: 2. Energy efficiency policies: What delivers?

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Authors:
Christopher Granda, Grasteu Associates, USA
Eric Bush, Topten International Services, Switzerland
Christopher Wold, Collaborative Labeling and Applicance Standards (CLASP)

Abstract

The European market for clothes dryers is undergoing a major transformation. Highly efficient heat pump clothes dryer technology was introduced in 2000, and currently there are more than 80 residential heat pump dryer models from 18 different manufacturers available in the European market. Switzerland has led the way on transformation of the dryer market through the adoption of a new minimum energy performance standard (MEPS) that restricts the market to models that use highly efficient heat pump technology. With the successful introduction of heat pump clothes dryers in Europe, clothes dryer stakeholders have been working to recreate the same success in North America.

Heat pump clothes dryers have the potential to deliver substantial energy savings in North America. Recent product testing indicates that European heat pump clothes dryers are 50-60% more energy efficient than existing conventional electric dryers sold in North America. The Super Efficient Dryer Initiative (SEDI) was formed to bring together energy efficiency program providers, dryer manufactures, governments, utilities and other stakeholders to support large improvement in dryer energy efficiency based on the European experience. In 2012, SEDI collaborated with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to implement an ENERGY STAR Emerging Technology Award (ETA) program for highly efficient clothes dryers. The ETA is designed to recognize heat pump clothes dryer technology and promote its introduction in North America. Several manufacturers are now ready to introduce a heat pump clothes dryer into the North American market and the announcement of an award recipient is expected soon.

This paper will further describe the actions SEDI and other clothes dryer stakeholders have taken to introduce this technology to the North America market. In addition, this paper asses the energy saving potential of highly efficient clothes dryers utilizing recent laboratory testing and field data.