To offset the price of oil, I plan to supplement my furnace with electric heat next winter. I am thinking of running the outlet from my dryer into the house (when not drying clothes). Would this be efficient?
---MIKE---
New Hampshire
Sure, go for it. You'll go right to sleep, and all your heating bill woes will be solved. Forever.
Are you planning to run the 4" air vent from your dryer into the house to supplement your oil heat? This topic has been discussed in this group already so you might want to do a search to get info. I think that it is a general consensus that electric heat is not as efficient as direct fuel burning and consequently more expensive. This topic has also been discussed here. Probably your best bet is to cut your losses. Get low loss windows. Insulate the hell out of your house. Seal every nook and cranny.
snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net (---MIKE---) wrote in news:25973-485A5877-113 @storefull-3252.bay.webtv.net:
efficient and messy
Hi Mike,
As an alternative, I would recommend one or more portable oil-filled radiators that you can use to spot heat the areas that you occupy. The multi-wattage units provide greater flexibility and play nice with other loads that share the same circuit.
I have a small 400-watt oil-filled radiator that provides a steady, comfortable heat; it's all I need to keep my 9 x 12 den toasty warm on even the coldest days.
This one retails for less than $40.00:
New Hampshire
No it wont be efficent you will waste alot of money running the drum, it will be messy depositing dust, it will wear out the dryer fast. Just get space heaters.
New Hampshire
I think what you want is one of these
Hi, And dealing with the timer.
I think what you want is one of these
Mike buy a union suit and 55 gallon drum of Ben Gay (the one that gets hot for your body) apply liberally weekly, don the suit, cut it off in the spring bonus.. people won't be hanging around you so you can have the heat set very low
I use a sweatshirt or flannel to supplement my furnace.
Greg M
=EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD ---MIKE---
the humidity is a good thing, in the winter moist air makes you feel warmer at a lower temperature
=EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD ---MIKE---
Seems to be a lot of misreading of information here!!!!!
1) If vented into the house instead of outside, an 'electric' clothes dryer not full of damp/wet clothes will not put humidity into the house. With no damp clothes there is no humidity. 2) In fact a device was/is sold that allows one to divert warm/hot air from the outlet duct (when not drying clothes) into the room where the dryer is located. 3) There was/is also a heat/exchanger device incorporating a separate fan that while it did not divert the damp warm air from the dryer going outside claimed to recover some of that heat and blow it into the house. 3) The cost of oil (or gas) heating versus electric is a function of how much each fuel costs and the efficiency, under your weather conditions of the heating devices. In this part of Canada, for example, where most of the electrcity is generated by existing hydro power, electric heating is definitely proving much cheaper than say oil. We do not have gas (except bottled/ delivered propane which is very expensive). 4) BTW There are two rooms in our house that are mainly heated by by the other electrical equipment in therm. a) One is the approx 100 sq foot bedroom that contains two computers and some other miscellaneous gear. Several hundred watts from those. b) A row of six conventional bulbs in our smallish bathroom that keep it more than warm so that the provided 500 watt baseboard rarely cuts in. 5) One sort of doubts the benefit of chucking warm dry dryer air into the house without ducting it where it would best suit? Have not done a 'recent' study of the comparative costs (here) of oil versus electric heat. But with heating oil somewhere around one dollar per litre (that's $3.25 to $4.00 per US gallon, versus about 10.5 cents per kilowatt hour it is presently 'no contest' or a win for electric. Also individual room thermostats enable one to turn off rooms that get little use. We are hearing horrifying stories of older persons spending over $300 per month for oil and then have an electric bill as well. And this is a LONG winter here. And then there is my basement workshop wood stove only lit when am working down there! The stove also reduces the amount of garbage/trash put out to maybe one bag every three/four weeks!
Electric heat is usually expensive. I have seen electric dryers vent to the inside, although expect more dust in the house. Consider more insulation and perhaps a few IR photos of your house which will help determine where you are having heat loss.
Hi Terry,
The following table might help folks calculate the potential savings of electric heat versus oil. The left column is the operating efficiency of the oil-fired boiler (AFUE rating) and the second column is the number of kWh of heat obtained from each gallon based on this rating (net). The columns to the right are the breakeven points based on the cost of a gallon of fuel oil.
For example, if a homeowner has a new high-efficiency boiler (85% AFUE) and pays $4.50 a gallon, electric heat is more economical when electricity rates are 13 cents per kWh or less. In the case of an older, less efficient boiler (65% AFUE) and at $4.75 per gallon, electricity is less costly at up to 17.9 cents per kWh.
AFUE kWh $4.00 $4.25 $4.50 $4.75 $5.00 85% 34.6 0.1155 0.1227 0.1300 0.1372 0.1444 80% 32.6 0.1227 0.1304 0.1381 0.1457 0.1534 75% 30.6 0.1309 0.1391 0.1473 0.1555 0.1636 70% 28.5 0.1403 0.1490 0.1578 0.1666 0.1753 65% 26.5 0.1511 0.1605 0.1699 0.1794 0.1888
Additional savings by way of zone or spot heating would further enhance electricity's competitiveness vis-a-vis oil.
Cheers, Paul
I tried that. Dust wasn't a problem old pantyhose caught all the lint, but humidity/condensation was. Perhaps if I had a larger room to vent it into it would have worked.
I suspect the OP is trolling. No one would be dumb enough to use their dryer for heating.
How much monoxide does an electric dryer put out? Would it really kill him in his sleep? I'm so terrified, I'm going to put all my electric appliances outdoors. Save me!
You'd ought to call your utility company, and ask the price per therm for electric versus whatever dead dino remains you presently burn. I suspect the dino juice is cheaper. But, please do make the call.
The OP said he'd run the dryer at night, empty. In any case, during the winter, some humidity really is good.
I used a toaster once. Friend of mine had run out of propane. I brought over space heater, and also pushed the toaster every time I walked by it.
---MIKE---
I did a comparison with fuel cost here in CT. Electric at 17¢ is still higher in price until oil exceeds $5.30 a gallon. Plug in the numbers here
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