Gas Dryers: What's the savings vs. electric?

[mk162]

maxie, if possible go longer on the chamber...we have a 12' chamber and i wish it was longer.  I will eventually add to it.

[Maff]

This is for all the gas dryer owners out there.  With another automatic on the horizon for us, we will be looking to upgrade our two electric dryers to a single gas.
My question is, how much did your electric bill drop when you switched from electric?  What is your average monthly gas bill?  Any advice or tips when shopping gas dryers?

Depending on the size of the dryer our typical cost is roughly 1.25 per hr operating cost in most states where the same size electric dryer is usually 3-3.50 per hr. most gas bills for our gas dryers is $300-$350.00 per month. average consumption is about 160,000 btu per hr.

How do the newer gas dryers compare in efficiency to older gas dryers? (maybe 10-20 years older) 
I occasionally see some pretty cheap ones out there on the used market, but wonder if they are going to burn way more in gas than it's worth...

[mk162]

most of the time it probably won't be worth it.  I think M&R changed the burners in the late 90's or early 2000's to a much more efficient style.  For the price of a dryer it's almost worth buying new or slightly used.

[IntegrityShirts]

I paid $900 for my late 80's precision vortex 60" dryer. It's going to take a lot of less-efficient gas use to make up the difference of a new dryer. Can the older dryer's burner assembly be updated to a more efficient design if/when they fail?

[244]

I paid $900 for my late 80's precision vortex 60" dryer. It's going to take a lot of less-efficient gas use to make up the difference of a new dryer. Can the older dryer's burner assembly be updated to a more efficient design if/when they fail?

Stay with what was designed for this dryer. There are a lot more changes than just the burner

[ZooCity]

I paid $900 for my late 80's precision vortex 60" dryer. It's going to take a lot of less-efficient gas use to make up the difference of a new dryer. Can the older dryer's burner assembly be updated to a more efficient design if/when they fail?

That's a good point.  We paid peanuts for the old electric we had and I did the math that if we kept it longer than 2 years it would no longer be a good deal to operate.  Anyone else could do the same with an older, less efficient gas model.  It's easy to scrape together a couple thou for the dryer and parts and if you have the spare time to play dryer tech you'll save a 30-50k up front purchase.  Not for everybody though.

Winston would be the man to talk to about upgrading older dryers.

[IntegrityShirts]

I paid $900 for my late 80's precision vortex 60" dryer. It's going to take a lot of less-efficient gas use to make up the difference of a new dryer. Can the older dryer's burner assembly be updated to a more efficient design if/when they fail?

Stay with what was designed for this dryer. There are a lot more changes than just the burner

Makes sense that there would be other changes

Yeah Winston has helped me multiple times completely free and I am forever grateful for that. He really is a great asset to this industry.

[IntegriTees]

Anyone have any experience with running a gas dryer off of a tank? I'm upgrading my radicure to a fourth panel and phase 3 to get a little more production out of it, but I'm wondering about my next purchase being a longer gas dryer. My shop is outside the city limits so I can't hook up to natural gas lines.

[Logoman]

I have a old National Gas Dryer (48 X 19) it runs all day every day M-F. My Bill last month was $168.

[californiadreamin]

Anyone have any experience with running a gas dryer off of a tank? I'm upgrading my radicure to a fourth panel and phase 3 to get a little more production out of it, but I'm wondering about my next purchase being a longer gas dryer. My shop is outside the city limits so I can't hook up to natural gas lines.

You will have no problem! Most burners on all screen printing dryers can be used with either Natural or Propane.
You have more BTU's per gallon in Propane Than Natural. Your Per Gallon Usage will Be Less than Natural, However
Natural is cheaper per gallon than Propane most of the time.  Pressure on Propane (WC Inches) will be Lower than
Natural, and can usually be adjusted in the field, with no problems!
winston

[LuckyFlyinROUSH]

72" sprint on 10 hours a day for 4 days (usually) is $300 a month in gas. Handles over 1600pcs an hour. Couldn't tell you electric savings as we added another press when we got it the dryer.

[pwalsh]

maxie, if possible go longer on the chamber...we have a 12' chamber and i wish it was longer.  I will eventually add to it.

Good advice on going for the longer chamber length to speed up production on those inks that require a longer retention time.  The attached examples you the theoretical maximum production speed for a gas dryer with an 8' long chamber and a belt width that allows two garments across the belt at retention times of 30, 60, and 90 seconds. 

[Steve Harpold]

The full answer:
Math is the easiest way to answer, (for many of you this is inconsequential due to the area you live in)
1. Natural gas/electricity is cheapest it's been in 10 years)
2. The poster who used Euros is a different situation entirely (though still cheapest in years but not similar to USA) 
3. If you gather these numbers I will post. A spread sheet you all can use to discover the real answer:
Electricity: cost per kWh
Electricity: demand charge
Gas: cost per therm (100,000 Btu)
Gas: delivery charge

Machinery:
Electric dryer
How many amps?
Voltage?

Gas dryer:
How many BTU's for the burner?
Electric (the part many people miss)
How many Amps (blower,extraction motor?)
Voltage?

Areas of the country where this matters:
1.  Those on LP Gas
1a.  Hawaii
2. South East
3. Northeast
4. California

The rest of the country energy is to inexpensive to make a large difference.   

[ZooCity]

The rest of the country energy is to inexpensive to make a large difference.

Steve are you positing that the "cost per cure" for electricity and gas is equal?  Didn't quite follow this....