The paper discusses the finding of the investigation conducted to determine the feasibility of drying clothes using waste heat of a condenser of a typical split type domestic air conditioner used in high rise urban apartments. Tests were conducted in a drying chamber housing the condensing unit, wherein the waste heat rejected by the condenser was used for drying clothes. Drying of a batch of spin dried clothes took about 2 h compared to 2.5 h in a commercial dryer and more than 6 h for natural drying indoors. The drying rate for the test configuration was 0.424 kg/h compared to 0.319 kg/h for a commercial clothes dryer and 0.139 kg/h for indoor natural drying. The energy consumption was nil against 1.909 kWh/kg of moisture removal by the commercial dryer. Experimental results indicate the viability of developing an integrated air conditioner cum dryer suitable for humid tropical climates. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.