# I just had interesting thought



## crazy_dan (Nov 23, 2008)

started a load of clothes in the dryer, got on the computer and in a few min. I was feeling cold which was kinda weird since I was sweating a few minutes ago in the bed.
here is what I did since getting up 
went in to kitchen which is where the stove is opened the air up to get it ready for a reload
looked out at the thermometer and it was about 16 outside so I reloaded the stove
put the clothes from the washer in the dryer and started the dryer
got on here for a few min and noticed my feet were really getting cold

that is when it hit me our electric dryer vents outside this old drafty house and wondered how much air it draws did a little google search 150 CFM did a little math and every load of clothes pulls every cubic foot of air out of my house no wonder my feet were getting cold 

so I reached a solution in my head to get one of those lint traps for venting the Electric clothes dryers in to the house, the goals of this are 
1. keep the heat in the house
2. add humidity to the house (we/the wife runs a humidifier) so I am thinking this may very well get rid of this thing.

Do you see a problem with this? 
I have an electric dryer and the house was started in 1856 and added on to a few times so it is FAR from being air tight.


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## Joe Buck (Nov 23, 2008)

good idea let us know how how that works for yea.


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## ansehnlich1 (Nov 23, 2008)

Here in Pennsylvania we just built a home and it is against code to vent a dryer into the living space of a home, into the attic, into the basement, or into the garage. There are strict codes regarding the venting setup, including how much flex pipe may be used, I think it was no more that 6 feet of flex, and how many elbows the vent pipe may make prior to exiting the home.

Your case may be different, but this ole' boy ain't ventin' his dryer into his home.


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## cmonSTART (Nov 23, 2008)

I can't say it's never crossed my mind.  Let us know how it works.


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## stanleyjohn (Nov 23, 2008)

I once noticed the humidity and heat build up in my home in the winter and found out the vent hose on our dryer fell off and all that heat was not leaving the house.It will add a good amount of heat into the home but i don't really know if there are any health hazards to doing this!Ditto on it being a code violation.MY wife rarely uses the dryer these days except for the coldest or bad weather outside!shes a close line addict.Here's an idea!!How about designing a vent hose with radiator fins so the dryer still vents to the outside but some of the heat will be vented inside.


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## MadTripper (Nov 23, 2008)

I'm not sure on your setup but I wonder if you could attach some form of cold air feed and whether it would make a difference.  For instance, open a vent to your attic so air needed would be pulled from that space when in use but closed during nondrying times.  I'm not sure how a dryer pulls air, in other words is it randomly from all over the machine or is there one input somewhere.  If there was an input, you could simply hook another vent which would pull air.  Our laundry room is pretty small and has a door.  Our attic access is also in the laundry room so if this idea proves to make sense, I might be doing some retrofitting.

Neat thought!

Tripper


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## crazy_dan (Nov 23, 2008)

The wifes mom and dad also vent inside their house with their clothes dryer, and their house (3 side earth-contact) is a lot newer and more airtight than mine. So I will give it a whirl and I can always put it to venting outside if I need to.


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## Shari (Nov 23, 2008)

*DO NOT* vent a gas dryer into your home!  *That is a no - no!*

We have an electric dryer so we do vent into our home.

There a no codes here against venting an ELECTRIC dryer into a home - I've done it for years but only during the winter as I love the increase in humidity at that time of year.

Picture this:  Snuggle in for family night at home with a nice fire glowing, homemade brownies just baked & being served and the dryer adding humidity to the house.  Doesn't get any better than that!

Shari


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## Backwoods Savage (Nov 23, 2008)

We've done it in the past, but only with an electric dryer. Also, we used our dryer very little. 

I would definitely say it might also depend upon the size of the house and where the dryer is located. And for gosh sakes, WATCH THAT LINT. That is a great fire starter, so be very careful if you see a bunch of lint gathering. 

As for my wife, she hates using the dryer and really fights it. I'm the only one who will use it here. The wife prefers to just use the heat from the wood stove to dry her clothes or hangs them on the outdoor solar dryer whenever possible.


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## MadTripper (Nov 23, 2008)

Glowball Worming Bustierre said:
			
		

> MadTripper said:
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I went through your links but didn't find anything directly related to this topic.  I did find some interesting info on bringing outside air to a woodburning stove which was an idea I was planning on experimenting with but I don't really see the point after reviewing one of your links.  While houses certainly need to pull air from the outside, I don't believe that anyone ever considered a dryer to be an integral part in that need.  With that being said, designing a closed loop induction and ventilation system for a dryer may just help keep some of the heat in your home, especially in an older home where replenished air isn't an issue. 

Edit:
Since there are two different topics being discussed here, I wanted to add that I don't mean to vent your dryer into your home.  I am more concerned with both pulling and venting the dryer air on the outside of a house.   

Chris


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## LLigetfa (Nov 23, 2008)

I've seen houses destroyed by mold, mildew, and rot because of too much humidity.  A house leaks in both directions.  Cold air infiltrates if there is a negative pressure inside caused by consuming appliances and by what's known as stack effect.  Leaks also let out humid air due to stack effect.  That humidity then condenses on the cold side of the insulation.  That is why most modern homes have a very well sealed vapour barrier and air to air heat exchangers.  It is said that one unsealed electrical outlet can condense up to six gallons of water into the wall over the course of the winter.

I would never vent a dryer inside a house.  The money you save in heat probably won't pay for the damage it may cause.


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## Cedrusdeodara (Dec 19, 2008)

I just happened upon this thread, but I completely agree with LLigetfa, the previous poster, you should never direct vent ANY drier into a home.  You can rot the roof of your home from the inside.  Think about it, how much heavier is a wet load of laundry compared to a dry load?  I don't know off hand, but if it is say about 8.3 lbs., than that is a full gallon of water that you are sending from your dryer into your home every time you dry.  It will find the 1, 2, 3, or even 10 coolest spots along the exterior of your walls inside of your siding, or more likely your attic, before it decides to condense.  Do this every day for say, a year, and rot will occur.  We are not talking about a small amount of vapor.  

Just not worth it.


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## SlyFerret (Dec 19, 2008)

How is the humidity from running a clothes dryer a few times a week going to cause all this terrible rot, when people run humidifiers all winter long in an attempt to put a little moisture BACK into the house when running their stoves 24/7?

-SF


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## karl (Dec 19, 2008)

Just pull the vent line to the dry loose from where it exits the house and put a piece of panty hose over and let if blow the warm air in the house.


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## Cedrusdeodara (Dec 19, 2008)

ummm, lets see quick google search:

http://www.askthebuilder.com/714_Clothes_Dryer_Venting.shtml

http://www.naturalhandyman.com/qa/qaclothesdryer.html

This stuff is common knowledge, I won't waste any more time on it.  Vent where and how you like, just trying to point you in a direction that doesnt damage your home.


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## Hogwildz (Dec 19, 2008)

I stalled one on my dryer.
Got rid of the flex pipe & ran solid. Runs down into attic, put a "T" at end of the the vertical drop, one end goes outside the basement wall, the other end 4' pc of stsright and the vent box with filter on end. Puts heat in unheated basement,
its so dry here the moisture won't make a dent, plus dehumidifier in basement anyways. The rest goes out the vent to outside. Works ok. Dryer don't run enough to really do much.  Maybe a couple days on weekend. But figure I'll take the free heat in the basement when it is running. Clean the filter about once a week. Just glad to get rid of the flex which always collects a ton of crakp and that is more of a fire hazard than anything.


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## rob bennett (Dec 19, 2008)

There are a pile of articles and pictures in fine homebuilding about what happens to the inside of walls when you do this.  The pictures usually have wood with holes in them and black fuzzy stuff all over the inside.  Building science, home inspection magazines and on and on and on. 

the water condenses inside your walls. If you are running an OAK and you have to pump water into the interior, where is the water going? Its moving outside through the walls, around the kick plates past the electrical outlets.  

Then again I really do like the smell of my detergent....


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## Techstuf (Dec 19, 2008)

If you happen to have a high RPM washer, your clothes will be MUCH lighter and quicker to dry in the first place.  I highly recommend one to those still using the inefficient beasts of yesteryear.  Second, if you are interested in saving money by not paying the utility company to blow air that has, essentially, been heated thrice, once by the stove and once by the dryer, and then the cold air coming into the house to replace the twice heated air that's being blasted outdoors......

Simply dry them on a retractable line not too far from the stove.  It's worked for us for years.


We sometimes give ours a quick tumble with a dryer sheet to soften 'em up.


Peace,


TS


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## gpcollen1 (Dec 19, 2008)

I vented mine to the garage and stopped after two loads of laundry.  Too much moisture at one time and it all condenses on the coldest spots.  Just a bad idea.

NOW - how about just hanging your clothes to dry in the house - in the room with or near the stove??  So it takes a day - it is better than running the dryer right?  How is that for GREEn?!


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## Backwoods Savage (Dec 19, 2008)

Yup. That's what my wife does.


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## crazy_dan (Dec 21, 2008)

well some thoughts after venting dryer in the house for a while.
1. Not as bad as everybody says. I have a huge 4'X8' single pane window about 10' from the dryer and if we do 2 loads only a day that window does even get condensation on it.
2. The house does not get frigid when running the dryer

A side note/question
What is the difference from letting clothes hang and dry in the house vs using an electric dryer vented in side? forget the electric used the same washer is going to leave the same amount of water in the clothes and if they dry inside the the same amount of water vapor is released in the house. It kinda seams like 6 one way 1/2 dozen the other.


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## awoodman (Dec 21, 2008)

A heat extractor from the vent to heat water....Just a thought


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## Redox (Dec 22, 2008)

awoodman said:
			
		

> A heat extractor from the vent to heat water....Just a thought



The problem with a heat reclaimer is going to be condensation.  The air leaving the dryer is going to be close to saturated through most of the cycle.  If you remove the heat, you will get condensation.  This will pick up lint and then clog the vent.  I have had to clean out too many dryer vents running through cold crawlspaces.  

Most houses will need humidity in the winter to keep things comfortable.  I have experimented around and found that one load a day into a ventilated space is not too much, but we tend to do laundry in batches of 4-5 loads at a time.  I've thought about an automatic damper, but I doubt that it would do much most of the time.  I'm keeping it outside for now.

Chris


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## itworks (Dec 22, 2008)

I vent my electric dryer into my attached garage. The vent hose in the garage is aimed into a 5 gallon pail that has a couple of inches of water in it to collect all (hopefully) the lint. I've been doing this for 3 1/2 years without any problems.


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## smokinj (Dec 22, 2008)

itworks said:
			
		

> I vent my electric dryer into my attached garage. The vent hose in the garage is aimed into a 5 gallon pail that has a couple of inches of water in it to collect all (hopefully) the lint. I've been doing this for 3 1/2 years without any problems.


I do the same but only when i need the moisture.


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## TreeCo (Dec 25, 2008)

crazy_dan said:
			
		

> A side note/question
> What is the difference from letting clothes hang and dry in the house vs using an electric dryer vented in side? forget the electric used the same washer is going to leave the same amount of water in the clothes and if they dry inside the the same amount of water vapor is released in the house. It kinda seams like 6 one way 1/2 dozen the other.



I can see there being a difference. The dryer is going to put the moisture in the house in about 45 minutes Vs. 8 or ten hours for clothes hanging to dry.

As was suggested earlier.....pantyhose work well as a filter for the dryer lint.

We dry most of our clothes in an unheated sun porch. Takes a couple of days for my work jeans but time is not an issue.


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## Highbeam (Dec 26, 2008)

TreeCo said:
			
		

> crazy_dan said:
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I agree that there is a difference. The bigegst one is the introduction of airborn lint and dust. None of that gets blown around from hanging clothes.


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## Latent (Jan 2, 2009)

One additional (green) idea would be to use the dryer durring the day time to gain on sunlight factor. Cfm replacement based on infilteration air for the dryer would be better if warmed from the sun. Go outside and place your hand over your vent outlet and that will tell you of the cold air that must infiltrate into the house to replace dryer air. I do exercise our pellet stove dryer, my wifes exercise bike located next to the stove. The bike also can be used for a boot dryer also.


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## reaperman (Jan 13, 2009)

I did this in my old trailer house each winter for 10 years.  I too simply put a nylon stocking over the vent tube and welcomed the humidity in the home.  Mainly because my woodstove kept the humidity in the house under 20%.  We were constanly getting shocks on the carpets and furniture.  

Now I've built a new home and still have a electric dryer.  I do have it vented outside, I no longer need the humidity in  the home due to the air to air exchanger.  But I did notice this winter as I lay in bed one night with the window above my head open a crack, how much air was being drawn into window.  I thought it was the wind blowing the air in.  Then the cloths dryer stopped its cycle and the air immediately stopped coming into the window.  I thought, wow, that dryer really pulls in the air.  Even though the bedroom and laundry room are on opposite ends of the house.  So what I have been doing since. is, cracking the window open in the laundry room when the wife starts drying cloths, and I'm able to shut the door in the laundry room to keep  the cold air from making its way into the rest of the home.  The air being drawn in the window is only about 4 feet away from the dryer, so most likely its the same air being used by the dryer to dry the cloths.


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## Redox (Jan 13, 2009)

Now THAT"S a tight house!  I hope to be there some day.   :roll: 

Opening the window is probably a good idea as long as your pipes in the laundry don't freeze.  Anything that exhausts from the house has to pull air in from somewhere, taking your heat with it.  My wife thinks I'm being anal about turning off the fan over the range as soon as major cooking is done, but that is a lot of air being sucked out of the house.

Chris


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## kenny chaos (Jan 13, 2009)

Redox said:
			
		

> I'm being anal about turning off the fan over the range as soon as major cooking is done, but that is a lot of air being sucked out of the house.
> 
> Chris





That's another whole story.  I never did understand the need for a rangehood.  Maybe you could put a stocking on it? :lol:


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