Patent ID: 8356423

Claim:
A household appliance comprising: a drying chamber for drying wet articles; a process air loop for circulating process air to dry the articles; and a heat pump comprising: a heat transfer loop containing a heat transfer fluid to be circulated through the heat transfer loop; an evaporator heat exchanger for transferring heat from the process air into the heat transfer fluid by evaporating the heat transfer fluid; a liquefier heat exchanger for transferring heat from the heat transfer fluid to the process air by liquefying the heat transfer fluid; a compressor for compressing the heat transfer fluid and driving the heat transfer fluid through the heat transfer loop; and a nozzle for decompressing the heat transfer fluid, wherein the heat transfer fluid has a critical temperature above 60° C., a nominal heat of vaporization at boiling point of at least 220 kJ/kg, a GWP index of less than 150 and a lower flammability level of at least 0.1 kg/m 3 .