New ultrasonic drying technology uses 70% less energy and dries clothes in 20 minutes - no heat required!

Credit: US DOE

The topic of washing and drying clothes might not be nearly as sexy as, say, renewable energy and Tesla cars, but it's an important one, considering that 80% of households in the U.S. use dryers which account for approximately 4% of all residential electricity consumption.

In an attempt to cut down on utility costs and benefit the environment, a number of eco-minded consumers have begun using clotheslines to dry their clothes. However, if the ultrasonic clothes dryer turns out to be as effective as researchers are predicting, environmentalists will no longer need to rely on clotheslines to dry their clothes – an exciting prospect, indeed.

TreeHugger relays that scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), with support from the US Department of Energy's Building Technologies Office and GE Appliances, have been working on a prototype of an innovative clothes drying technology that could shorten drying time to an astounding 20 minutes. In addition, it could reduce the amount of energy used for each load by a whopping 70%!