Tumble Dryer venting

[Bill]

About to buy an AEG vented tumble dryer and am considering the options for vertical positioning of the vent outlet through the nearby outside wall. Am using the Screwfix tumble dryer vent kit.

Two options, low down (30cm) or high up (2.5m) on the wall. The outside of the wall is onto the street, so I'm slightly concerned about the possiblilty of small animals (squirrels etc.) getting in (despite the vent louvres) or kids messing with it if it is low down. On the other hand, if it is high up then it looks more conspicuous (not really a problem), but more seriously is there a potential problem with condensation running back down the pipe? I'd have thought that so long as the dryer runs it's cool phase at the end to hopefully evaporate any condensation and also making sure that the wall vent is installed with a slight downward slope to the outside then there would be no problem.

If I went for the 'high' option then the total run length would be around 3.5m (as the vent outlet on the dryer is right at the bottom). I'm aware that this is slightly beyond the recommended maximum run length of most manufacturers (2.4m), but believe that this maximum is specified due to the friction against the air of the corrugated venting hose causing the dryer efficiency to drop off. I could run instead with smooth plastic pipe which should alleviate this if necessary.

Any thoughts, specifically about the condensation issue?

Cheers.

[Grunff]

Have you considered a condensing one? I *love* our Miele condensing drier - it's magic.

I don't have direct experience, but several people have posted about condensation in long vertical runs. Apparently as the warm, wet air hits cold air at the top, you get so much condensation that some of it can run back down.

Have you considered a condensing drier ;-)

[Ron]

Hi I have a tumble drier that was vented up through a window and it failed after 18 months. It was the over heat protector fuse. The repairman said that it was caused by having the vent too high and as the window faced west and it was very windy when it failed that was most likely the cause of failure. I now have it venting straight through the wall and the clothes actually dry 10 minutes quicker, or so my wife says. Ron

[sm_jamieson]

Buy a condensor box, or make one. The outlet vent goes into a "cold" box, so that it condenses. Could be little more than a square box. Would work better if surrounded by cold water, like a tin within a tin. Simon.

[Bill]

Yes, I've been toying between the two. Initially I'd plumped for a condenser, but have since been reconsidering vented for the following reasons.

Condensers are...

More expensive to buy (about 350 quid as opposed to 270 for the vented model I'm considering) Not (quite) as quick at drying. More expensive (a bit) to run Need to empty the water frequently (though I could get the drain kit for the model I considered) Need to clean out the condenser module sometimes. Noisier in operation

But the advantage is they are 'fit and forget' (optional drain kit notwithstanding)

Whatever I buy will be going in the garage, so any increase in ambient temeprature and /or humidity is not a problem.

My only direct experience of tumble dryers in the past has been 2 washer/dryers (useless at drying, I know!) and my mum's 25 year old creaky 'Servis' model. I imagine that efficiency has moved on since then.

I'd appreciate any feedback from anyone about how much slower or noisier (if at all) condensers are. I'm still willing to change my mind. The screwfix vent kit was only a tenner wasted if I don't use it!

Cheers.

[Army]

I'd agree with Grunff. We have a condenser dryer and have been very very happy with it.

Mike

[Grunff]

Our condernser is not at all noisy (certainly no noisier than vented models I've seen at friends' houses). It does a full load in 45-60 mins.

As for the slightly higher running costs, we have it installed in the unheated utility room, so for 9 months of the year the heat it dumps into the room is very welcome.

I have it draining to the nearby sink trap, so no emptying. I would buy another without hesitation.

[soup]

I would not appreciate a faceful (shinfull depending on height) of tumble dryer fumes so if your vent MUST be to a public street does it not have to be a certain height? If the dryer can be vented onto private ground, animal/insect interest is not a problem with the proper one way flaps (only time these flaps are open hot/moist air is actually coming out ). Condensation doesn't seem to be a problem with our set-up however the prevailing wind is not into the vent and ours (vents into the back garden) is only 10~20cm above the outlet on the machine.

Thinking out loud :- Will a small s bend in the hose not allow any condensate to gather and not travel back to the machine. This condensate will only gather over the last few "puffs" of the tumble drier and these "puffs" should be of virtually ambient moistness anyway so will condensate in the evacuation tube be a problem.

[Chris Hodges]

Bill wrote: So why are condensers more expensive to run - surely they recycle some of the heat into the incoming air via the condenser, which must be cooled by something?

[Rob Morley]

Make a cover for it from some chunky weldmesh or similar. A low vent with a short duct will be less hassle in the long term.

[Lurch]

On Thu, 06 Oct 2005 13:09:49 +0100, Bill scrawled:

AFAIK, you can't vent onto the street so that's the end of that plan.

[Paul Andrews]

Snap - I don't think I'd ever buy a venting dryer again. Not worth the hassle if you don't already have a vent in place. We don't have a drain kit for ours, but I don't find emptying the water a big deal.

Paul

[PeTe33]

Surely you can, as it would seem you can vent boiler flues onto the street (well, round here they do)

[Lurch]

On Fri, 07 Oct 2005 10:14:05 GMT, "Pet @

;¬)" scrawled:

Ah, well, there's what peeople _do_, and what they _should do_. I've had it before on a few occasions when venting extractors onto the street. As I say, AFAIK, I haven't checked but I've always taken it as that is correct. I could be wrong though....

[Bill]

Spoke to my local council building control department and they said 'Wherever you like mate, Its only hot air!'

Academic now anyway, since I've reverted to the original condenser plan and also installed the appropriate drain-out plumbing. Thanks for all the comments anyway!

[Mark Carver]

Well yes exactly ! What about all those 20 million+ cars emitting poisonous fumes 'onto the street' ?

[soup]

But it isn't is it? What about the moisture and all the chemicals (from soaps, fabric conditioner,dryer sheets etc),that off gas when heated. Am able to smell all the cra^w^w stuff that is vented from my drier (when the drier is running) from the other side of the garden wouldn't like to walk along a street and suddenly get a faceful of tumble dryer ventings. I do not like car exhausts either but I am led to believe that the MODERN engines output is strictly controlled viz-a-viz emissions so much so that the exhaust actually has less noxious chemicals than the air the engine inputs

[soup]

Thinking about it all traces of soap should/would be removed in the rinse cycle.

[Lurch]

On Sat, 08 Oct 2005 20:23:10 +0100, Mark Carver scrawled:

Applying logic to council rulings is not a wise move.

[David Hansen]

On Sun, 09 Oct 2005 11:41:42 GMT someone who may be "soup" wrote this:-

Feel free to connect a hose pipe from the exhaust pipe of a MODERN car to the passenger compartment and run the engine. If there are less noxious chemicals in the exhaust pipe than in the ordinary air then you will be able to tell us how much better you feel for the experience.