Optimized drying based on washing cycle

Abstract

A group of laundry appliances includes a washing machine appliance and at least one dryer appliance. A method of operating the group of laundry appliances includes characterizing a load of articles in the washing machine appliance. The method also includes washing the load of articles in the washing machine appliance. The method further includes recommending multiple drying operations for the load of articles, such as in two or more dryer appliances of the group of appliances, based on the characterization of the load of articles.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of operating a group of laundry appliances, the group of laundry appliances comprising a washing machine appliance, a first dryer appliance, and a second dryer appliance, the method comprising:
 characterizing, by the washing machine appliance, a load of articles in the washing machine appliance;   washing the load of articles in the washing machine appliance; and   reserving the first dryer appliance and the second dryer appliance based on the characterization of the load of articles.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein characterizing the load of articles comprises measuring an inertia of the load of articles and determining a load size of the load of articles based on the measured inertia of the load of articles, wherein the first dryer appliance and the second dryer appliance are reserved based on the determined load size being greater than a maximum load size. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein characterizing the load of articles comprises determining a remaining moisture content of the load of articles based on spin cycle performance during washing the load of articles in the washing machine appliance, wherein the first dryer appliance and the second dryer appliance are reserved based on the determined remaining moisture content being greater than a maximum remaining moisture content. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein reserving the first dryer appliance and the second dryer appliance comprises providing a user notification on a remote user interface device and receiving an affirmative response to the user notification. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the first dryer appliance and the second dryer appliance cannot be manually reserved at the same time. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising verifying reservation of multiple dryer appliances is permitted prior to reserving the first dryer appliance and the second dryer appliance. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein verifying reservation of multiple dryer appliances is permitted comprises applying one or more owner-defined rules for reservation of multiple dryer appliances. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining a first recommended operating parameter for a drying operation of the first dryer appliance for a first portion of the load of articles based on the characterization of the load of articles and determining a second recommended operating parameter for a drying operation of the second dryer appliance for a second portion of the load of articles based on the characterization of the load of articles. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein reserving the first dryer appliance and the second dryer appliance comprises preselecting the first recommended operating parameter on the first dryer appliance and preselecting the second recommended operating parameter on the second dryer appliance. 
     
     
         10 . A method of operating a group of laundry appliances, the group of laundry appliances comprising a washing machine appliance and at least one dryer appliance, the method comprising:
 characterizing a load of articles in the washing machine appliance;   washing the load of articles in the washing machine appliance; and   recommending multiple drying operations for the load of articles based on the characterization of the load of articles.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising determining whether reservation of multiple dryer appliances is permitted, wherein recommending multiple drying operations comprises recommending reserving two or more dryer appliances of the group of laundry appliances when reservation of multiple dryer appliances is permitted. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising determining whether reservation of multiple dryer appliances is permitted, wherein recommending multiple drying operations comprises recommending multiple drying operations in one dryer appliance for the load of articles when reservation of multiple dryer appliances is not permitted. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein characterizing the load of articles comprises measuring an inertia of the load of articles and determining a load size of the load of articles based on the measured inertia of the load of articles, wherein recommending multiple drying operations for the load of articles is based on the determined load size being greater than a maximum load size. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein characterizing the load of articles comprises determining a remaining moisture content of the load of articles based on spin cycle performance during washing the load of articles in the washing machine appliance, wherein recommending multiple drying operations for the load of articles is based on the determined remaining moisture content being greater than a maximum remaining moisture content. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein recommending multiple drying operations for the load of articles comprises providing a user notification on a remote user interface device. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the recommendation of multiple drying operations comprises a recommendation to reserve multiple dryer appliances from the group of laundry appliances, wherein the recommendation to reserve multiple dryer appliances is provided in the user notification, further comprising reserving the multiple dryer appliances in response to an affirmative response to the user notification. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising determining a first recommended operating parameter for a first drying operation on a first portion of the load of articles based on the characterization of the load of articles and determining a second recommended operating parameter for a second drying operation on a second portion of the load of articles based on the characterization of the load of articles. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising reserving a first dryer appliance and a second dryer appliance of the group of appliances, wherein reserving the first dryer appliance and the second dryer appliance comprises preselecting the first recommended operating parameter on the first dryer appliance and preselecting the second recommended operating parameter on the second dryer appliance.