The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) contracted with Kannah Consulting to better understand the real-world energy efficiency of consumer clothes washers. The research focused on washers’ impact on the energy use of the clothes dryer (drying energy). The project had two key objectives: 1) enable updates to regional unit energy consumption (UEC) and unit energy savings (UES) to reflect real-world conditions, and 2) develop a supplemental washer test procedure that is more representative than the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Appendix J2 test procedure.
The project team tested 12 residential clothes washers and two commercial clothes washers in the lab and conducted other technical research and analysis. Lab testing evaluated how drying energy changed with common conditions found in NEEA’s previous laundry equipment field studies: "Residential Building Stock Assessment Laundry Study” and “Heat Pump Clothes Dryers in the Pacific Northwest.”
