BENTON HARBOR, Mich.–Whirlpool said it will produce 1 million Smart Energy clothes dryers by the end of 2011, as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Smart Grid Investment Grant program.
These appliances will be capable of reacting to signals from the smart grid by modifying their energy consumption, thus saving consumers money on home energy costs, according to a Whirlpool statement. The company’s 1 million dryers target follows up on its commitment that by 2015, all of the electronically controlled appliances that it manufactures will be capable of receiving and responding to signals from the smart grid. Whirlpool said that in markets where utilities offer variable or time-of-use pricing, these dryers could save a typical consumer $20 to $40 a year.
Use of these dryers could also increase the value of renewable energy resources such as solar and wind power, which are inherently variable due to weather, the company said.