Time to explain my testing methodology. And for more pics. For a consistent drying load, I will be using the shown dozen cloth diaper liners. For the squeamish, this picture is of them clean but stained. I should note how much whiter these would be if I could line dry them outside in the sun to naturally bleach them. Alas, due to trees, weather, and HOA covenants (grrrr) I have to dry them inside. I've got my scale in the mail that will now be my scoring apparatus. The standard testing time will be 60 minutes. The mass of the liners before drying minus the mass after will give me the water removed.
To start, I tested the liners in the standard tumble clothes dryer. Diaper manufacturers recommend the low temperature setting (about 125 degrees F). The beginning mass was 1433 grams and the ending mass was 762 grams for water removal of 671 grams. The completely dry mass of the liners is approximately 730 grams, so the tumble dryer almost gets the job done (95% of water removed) in 60 minutes. But the cost is in the ridiculous amount of electricity it consumes and the conditioned air it sends outside.
Tonight I tested hanging the liners inside as shown. With no air movement and my house at 78 degrees F with high humidity, I didn't expect much from this low energy method. The water evaporates into the air, and the AC must eventually remove it. The starting mass was 1415 g and the ending mass was 1360 g for a total of 55 g water removed. Not that impressive, only 8% of the water removed, but I wanted the data for comparison purposes.
For the next cycle I will be thoroughly testing the dehumidifier dryer. I hope to find the right combination of conditions to increase the drying capability to near that of the tumble dryer.
