H2O dryer from Miele running at Höltje Hotel for last five years

Five years ago, this technology was new and Gördt Glander one of the first Miele clients to adopt it: The junior boss at the Hotel Höltje in Verden in north-west Germany invested in a H2O dryer from Miele and a co-generation plant to produce electricity for his hotel. The tumble dryer is heated using hot water from the plant's storage tanks, a by-product of the electricity generation process and a source of free energy. It is a decision Glander has never regretted.

'The dryer is a fantastic piece of equipment, and I would never buy any other machine', says the hotelier today. As the tanks provide a plentiful supply of hot water, they also feed two Miele washing machines with load capacities of 7.5 kg and 14 kg. This results in further savings, enabling Gördt Glander to come closer to achieving the goal he set himself years ago: 'We want to make savings in two respects: by cutting our running costs and by reducing the burden on the environment. And all that despite the fact that at least 200 kg of laundry has to be washed each and every day – including guests' laundry'.

The machines are permanently in operation, at least ten times a day, and also the Miele flatwork ironer fires on all cylinders. Bed linen for 62 rooms, table cloths and serviettes for the restaurant: all laundry is washed on the premises in this 4-star hotel. Prior to conversion to the new technology, high electricity bills were the order of the day. 'We were paying around € 70,000 a year, with our old dryer alone costing around € 3,000', Glander remembers. From that perspective, the H2O dryer has already saved around € 15,000: 'We recuperated our costs long ago'.

The hotel owner recognised a trend early on which is now growing in significance on a worldwide scale. Alternative heating methods are gaining ground, replacing electricity as the conventional power supply. Consequently, Miele offers its H2O dryers in a variety of sizes ranging from models with drum volumes of 325 to 800 litres. Financing and leasing arrangements are available for these and other Miele laundry machines.

Although not in use at the Höltje Hotel, heat-pump dryers also provide valuable services in other hotels – wherever the objective is to significantly reduce energy costs. These machines feature a closed-circuit system which extracts heat from the hot, damp air from the drum for re-use in the drying process. This technology is on board model PT 8203 WP from the SlimLine series which is designed for installations where space is at a premium: With a width of only 71 cm, this machine can be installed in confined spaces. This is facilitated by a new heat-pump module which is now fully integrated into the dryer itself. With a load capacity of up to 10 kg and a drum volume of 200 l, this model complements the existing range of Miele commercial heat-pump dryers now catering for loads of 6.5, 10 and 13 kg of laundry. And there's another important benefit: Thanks to their good sound insulation, SlimLine dryers are extremely quiet in operation, producing sound emissions of no more than 63 dB(A).

(553 words, 3,250 characters incl. spaces)

Company profile: Miele is the world's leading manufacturer of premium domestic appliances including cooking, baking and steam-cooking appliances, refrigeration products, coffee makers, dishwashers and laundry and floor care products. This line-up is augmented by dishwashers, washer-extractors and tumble dryers for commercial use as well as washer-disinfectors and sterilisers for use in medical and laboratory applications (Business Unit Professional). The Miele company, founded in 1899, has eight production plants in Germany as well as one plant each in Austria, the Czech Republic, China and Romania. 2016/17 turnover amounted to approx. EUR 3.93 bn with sales outside Germany accounting for 70%. Miele is represented with its own sales subsidiaries and via importers in almost 100 countries. The Miele company, now in the fourth generation of family ownership, employs a workforce of around 19,500, 10,900 thereof in Germany. The company headquarters are located in Gütersloh/Westphalia, Germany.