I have a washer and dryer in downstairs bathroom and in winter I feel it is stupid to vent it outside while the furnace is working hard on both heating and humififying whole house. Will it do damage if I disconnect the outside vent and send the output (through the old pantyhose filter) into the house?
fyi, Home Depot (and probably any hardware store) sells an inexpensive kit for this that we use. It connects to the end of the dryer's output tube and filters the lint. It works well, and does save on heating.
Probably not a good idea. First it violates code in most areas. Second if it is a gas dryer there are gas fumes going into the house. Third the moisture it generates will be very localized and could allow mold growth. fourth, it will put a lot of lint into the house, as some lint will still get through both the dryer lint filter as well as your homemade filter. I have seen it done, there has always been a lot of lint around the discharge. Seems like a good idea, but it is not.
Stretch
Really?
CO detector: $30. If it's not a gas dryer, you get only heat.
Added humidity is generally good in the winter.
Add an A/C filter (or a part of one): $1.00
Conversely, how much lint does one see at the usual discharge outlet?
Total cost to handle any downside problems: $31.00. Savings on heating bill: unknown, but not insignificant.
First, do not consider this for a gas dryer. Second I don't suggest it for an electric due to problems that have been reported, including: too much interior moister build up, dust - lint, odor, reduced dryer efficiency due to clogged filters or recycling moist air back to the dryer.
I wonder if it would be cost effective for some company to produce a heat exchanger combined with a small circulating fan for recovering that heat? The fan could be switched on by a thermostat so that it only ran when the hot air from the dryer warmed the unit up.
About 25 years ago I installed one of those commercial units which had a manual flap valve for directing the hot exhaustair into the house when desired (Electric dryer, no gas danger.) It did blow a lot of lint into the room, even with a filter bag over the outlet. I wan't impressed enough to get another one when we moved up to our next house.
Jeff
No offense, but you really shouldn't be trying to make "educated" guesses, Stretch. Most of your response is pretty far off the mark but not all.
That's odd; not here in NY. Didn't in Chgo when I lived there. Doesn't in Buffalo, NY. How/why would it violate code?
: Second if it is a gas dryer there are gas fumes going into the house. True, maybe ... but most gas dryers I know of and it's been a long, long time since I've seen one, vent the gases up the chimney and still shoot the clothing heat out the dryer vent hose. I seriously doubt any dryer dries the clothies in the combusted air of the gas flames. They use a heat exchanger, same's a furnace, the few that are around. That'd sure make the clothes smell great, wouldn' t it?
: Third the moisture it generates will be very localized and could allow : mold growth. Probably not since he's trying to distribute this around the home. A dryer's also a low duty-cycle appliance - and just the blower on most dryers would push the air well past any doorway - they generate quite a breeze.
fourth, it will put a lot of lint into the house, as some : lint will still get through both the dryer lint filter as well as your : homemade filter. Not necessarily, not even most likely, although I'd suggest one of the units made for that purpose instead of homemaking one, if it can be afforded.
I have seen it done, there has always been a lot of : lint around the discharge. Same here; and quite successfully at that. I DO admit to a very fine dust though, which settles in a white sort of mist in the general area of the dryer so it does generate some dust. Nothing of any consequence though if you normally clean your home.
Seems like a good idea, but it is not.
Seems like a good idea, and it CAN be a good idea. We use it whenever the temps go down near zero or below (farenheit). : : : Stretch Yup, you did stretch just a bit, there
Pop :
This question comes up often and one of the answers is *NO* if it's a gas dryer. Gas ovens/stove tops 'vent' into the house. What's the difference in the fumes from 3 hours of turkey roasting or some time drying clothes with each appliance venting into the house? I know the turkey smells better... Fumes is Fumes. Bake a cake for for an hour (or whatever) or dry clothes for an hour? I'm not saying that venting the gas fired dryer into the house is a good thing, I just want to understand the rational of those who say don't do it. Thanks.
I've noticed the clothes will dry faster on less humid days than when it is raining. So I suppose if you were to vent the dryer into the house, the dryer intake air would be very humid and the dryer would have a difficult time drying the clothes.
Basically you would be recirculating the moisture; out the dryer, then back in again.
Yep. Besides lint, there is some out gassing of some of the non-natural fabric. If antone in your house is slightly allergic, that allergy will come out FAST.
CO detectors sold inth e box stores are UL 2039 detectors. Read their alarm points. Something like 30 ppm for 8 hours before thay alarm?
True, but not like that....
AC filter? I thought the OP wanted heat? If you mean the blue filters, they ain't worth spit....
Quite a bit. You should see where an AC unit is close to the dryer vent.
But medical bills and funeral expenses may be higher.
Can you name one?
Nick
Actually, he's pretty close.
While I can't quote the codes, it's in there. How well do you know the mechanical codes? We have to, it's our job,
You are wwwaaaayyyyy behind the times. Go to a store and look at one. Even the big commercial jobs vent everything through one pipe.
The great smell is fabric softener sheets. Gas dryers don't apply flame to the clothes, just to the barrell of the dryer.
Not at all...
I can.
I believe you will find that the usual dryer will use more fuel in that hour or a day's use than the typical stove.
Simply find places to hang you washed laundry in your home, as I do.
This saves the cost of drying them and adds humidity to you home in the winter! I live on a farm and can hang my laundry outside on a clothes line in the summer.
- udarrell - Darrell
Steve IA wrote:
Bill noticed:
That's true outdoors, especially when it is raining :-)
I don't think so.
The drying rate should be proportional to the difference between the vapor pressure at 100% RH at the dryer temp, say 130 F with Ps = 4.53" Hg, and the vapor pressure of house air, eg Pa = 0.299 for 70 F at 40% RH or 0.449 at 60% or 0.748 at 100%, which is much smaller, so the house RH should make little difference in drying time. Clothes that dry in 20 minutes at 40% RH with Ps-Pa = 4.23 might dry in 20x4.23/(4.53-0.449) = 21 minutes at 60%.
OTOH, they might dry in 20x4.23/(0.748-0.299) = 188 minutes (3.1 hours) in
70 F air at 40% RH and 20x4.23/(0.748-0.449) = 283 minutes (4.7 hours) in 70 F air at 60% RH, with the help of a fan. At 100%, they would never dry, theoretically-speaking.They might dry in 2 hours (120 minutes) in a house with 70 F air at 60% RH if 120 = 20x4.23/(Ps-0.449), so Ps = 1.204 "Hg = e^(17.863-9621/(460+T)), which makes T = 84 F, with a Holmes HFH111 1500W compact heater fan ($12.88 at Wal-Mart) set to 84 F in a closet, in series with a humidistat that turns it off when the closet RH drops to 60%.
Nick
Which one? Chapter and verse.
Nick
Regardless of the drying rate, Mr. Science, you will be breathing lint and the byproducts of combustion.
You're a strange heatman;
"HeatMan" wrote in message news:9i%df.14139$ snipped-for-privacy@bignews4.bellsouth.net... : : "Pop" wrote in message : news: snipped-for-privacy@usadatanet.net... .... : > "Stretch" wrote in message : > news: snipped-for-privacy@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com... : > : Probably not a good idea. First it violates code in most : > areas. : >
: > That's odd; not here in NY. Didn't in Chgo when I lived there. : > Doesn't in Buffalo, NY. How/why would it violate code? : >
: : While I can't quote the codes, it's in there. How well do you know the : mechanical codes? We have to, it's our job, I don't know the "codes". I call the Code Enforcement office or, in the rural area where I am now, stop in and talk to them. Unlike most people, I don't consider the code people enemies; they're just educated messengers who interpret the codes, just as I used to do with CFR's. : : > : Second if it is a gas dryer there are gas fumes going into the : > house. : > True, maybe ... but most gas dryers I know of and it's been a : > long, long time since I've seen one, vent the gases up the : > chimney and still shoot the clothing heat out the dryer vent : > hose. : : You are wwwaaaayyyyy behind the times. Go to a store and look at one. Even : the big commercial jobs vent everything through one pipe. Sorry, at Sears, 6 miles from here, I looked at one last night, then I went over to Howland Pump and looked at one there, a commercial set of three were on the floor. ALL vented to a chimney. All 4 vented the drying area separately. All 4 used a heat exchanger but it took they guy at Howland to tell me that about the Sears one, although it obviously did. : : > I seriously doubt any dryer dries the clothies in the : > combusted air of the gas flames. They use a heat exchanger, : > same's a furnace, the few that are around. That'd sure make the : > clothes smell great, wouldn' t it? : >
: : The great smell is fabric softener sheets. Gas dryers don't apply flame to : the clothes, just to the barrell of the dryer. Makes me wish I had one so I could see if it would set off the CO detector. I know it'll set off the CO2, but I think it's heat & humdity did that; the pipe separated. : : >
: > Seems like a good idea, but it is not. : >
: > Seems like a good idea, and it CAN be a good idea. We use it : > whenever the temps go down near zero or below (farenheit). : > : : > : : > : Stretch : > Yup, you did stretch just a bit, there : >
: : Not at all... : : I'll believe you guys if you can find/quote a verifiable source where it's in the code, any residential code or code that applies to residential. We're not really playing the commercial game here.
Pop
Err, my kenmore gas drier vents it all through one pipe. Its a few years old. I wouldnt want the exhaust from the unit blowing into my home. I like less carbon monoxide in my air.
If you like more, why not use the oven to heat your home too???
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