Kitchen Large Electric Appliances - Electric Clothes Dryer Question
Doityourself.com community forum was created to provide answers to all questions related to home improvement and home repair. Doityourself community can help you find information about how-to topics on small fixes to large remodeling projects. With comprehensive how-to content and expertly moderated community forums DoItYourself.com makes it easy to tackle even the most complex home improvement projects.View Full Version : Electric Clothes Dryer Question
steven15516
12-21-07, 10:03 AM
Is there any reason I cant use my electric clothes dryer to provide additional heat and humidity in my laundry room during the cold winter months by venting the warm air directly into the laundry room?
It seems like a crime to throw away all of that heat.
Am I crazy?
Why shouldnt I do this?
It seems like a crime to throw away all of that heat.
Am I crazy?
Why shouldnt I do this?
daddyjohn
12-21-07, 10:41 AM
Hi steven:
As long as it's electric you'll be ok. Howver, you'll be cleaning up a lot of lint and the humidity level will be quite high.
As long as it's electric you'll be ok. Howver, you'll be cleaning up a lot of lint and the humidity level will be quite high.
Gunguy45
12-21-07, 10:41 AM
Hi Steven,
Can you do it? Sure . Should you? Probably not. Adding that amount of humidity to your laundy room is asking for mildew and moisture problems. Also, a lot of lint gets past the dryer screen, and is now being blown outdoors. Do you want this in your house?
That said, I did this myself years ago in a house I was renting. The garage had been divided up to provide a workshop/laundry room and converted office. The office area was all finished and heated, workshop/laundry wasn't. I installed one of those plastic 4" deflectors in the dryer exhaust line, so I could vent it outside, or into the workshop/laundry area. After just a few uses, I noticed my hanging tools rusting, even tho they'd been fine for the year before. Also had a fine film of dryer lint all over, even tho i had a stocking over the outlet for a filter.
So, weigh the pros and cons carefully.
Best in 2008
Can you do it? Sure . Should you? Probably not. Adding that amount of humidity to your laundy room is asking for mildew and moisture problems. Also, a lot of lint gets past the dryer screen, and is now being blown outdoors. Do you want this in your house?
That said, I did this myself years ago in a house I was renting. The garage had been divided up to provide a workshop/laundry room and converted office. The office area was all finished and heated, workshop/laundry wasn't. I installed one of those plastic 4" deflectors in the dryer exhaust line, so I could vent it outside, or into the workshop/laundry area. After just a few uses, I noticed my hanging tools rusting, even tho they'd been fine for the year before. Also had a fine film of dryer lint all over, even tho i had a stocking over the outlet for a filter.
So, weigh the pros and cons carefully.
Best in 2008
mitch17
12-21-07, 01:03 PM
Never seemed worth the mess to me, but you can do it. Kits available at all the big box stores.
ecman51`
12-21-07, 06:25 PM
They actually sell a kit for doing this. At least they used to. Not the kind that just opens and closes a damper, but a kind that is a water trap for doing this. But you can make a better sturdier and stable one yourself.
The theory is to have the hose discharge into a pail filled with water. The hose dangles above the water, thru a hole in the lid. The lint then hits the water and much of the lint gets wet and is captured, while the heat stays indoors.
The trouble is, obviously you have already humid air staying indoors, and on top of the the exhausting humid dryer heat you add further humidity from the water in the pail.
I have built my own out of empty 5 gal. sheetrock pails. You hole saw drill a 4-4 1/8 inch hole in the center of the lid. Then you use like a 1 inch drill and completely swiss cheese the rest of the lid with enough 1 inch holes to at least equal the square inch area of the 4 inch hole, as those 1 inch holes are how the exhaust/heat gets out.
Mathematically this works out that the 4 inch hole is 12.56 square inches. So that means you need a minimum of 16 one inch holes (since 1 inch holes are .785 sq. inches each.)
Then you fill the pail partially with water. Then you snap on the cover with all the holes drilled in it. Then you stick an elbow or other 4 inch metal connector on the end of the dryer hose and insert it in the 4 inch hole. You don't want the duct IN the water; just dangling above it.
This will stop the lions share of the lint but not ALL of it. What happens is the heat dries out the sides some and that may fly out of the pail into the air. Also, I think some of the man-made fabric lint just bounces off the water. But all in all this is quite effective.
You will then have to be the judge as to if this is causing too much humidity and causing you to have to run the dryer longer as this humid air will recycle back through the dryer fresh air intake. It all depends on your situation; like how confined your "laundry room" is (better for open basements actually), how often you do clothes, how many people are in the house showering, boiling water on the stove, etc.
You'll have to be the judge and see if you think this is at least worth a try. If your windows start dripping with water inside, and they never used to, time to probably abandon this idea.
I was in a condo just the other day that has lots of people in it and my glasses fogged up and hardly unfogged till the longest time later. I felt like I walked into a sauna! They had towels soaking up water running down onto the window sills! Because I am alone, I come in my place when I get home and even in below zero weather my glasses do not fog.
The theory is to have the hose discharge into a pail filled with water. The hose dangles above the water, thru a hole in the lid. The lint then hits the water and much of the lint gets wet and is captured, while the heat stays indoors.
The trouble is, obviously you have already humid air staying indoors, and on top of the the exhausting humid dryer heat you add further humidity from the water in the pail.
I have built my own out of empty 5 gal. sheetrock pails. You hole saw drill a 4-4 1/8 inch hole in the center of the lid. Then you use like a 1 inch drill and completely swiss cheese the rest of the lid with enough 1 inch holes to at least equal the square inch area of the 4 inch hole, as those 1 inch holes are how the exhaust/heat gets out.
Mathematically this works out that the 4 inch hole is 12.56 square inches. So that means you need a minimum of 16 one inch holes (since 1 inch holes are .785 sq. inches each.)
Then you fill the pail partially with water. Then you snap on the cover with all the holes drilled in it. Then you stick an elbow or other 4 inch metal connector on the end of the dryer hose and insert it in the 4 inch hole. You don't want the duct IN the water; just dangling above it.
This will stop the lions share of the lint but not ALL of it. What happens is the heat dries out the sides some and that may fly out of the pail into the air. Also, I think some of the man-made fabric lint just bounces off the water. But all in all this is quite effective.
You will then have to be the judge as to if this is causing too much humidity and causing you to have to run the dryer longer as this humid air will recycle back through the dryer fresh air intake. It all depends on your situation; like how confined your "laundry room" is (better for open basements actually), how often you do clothes, how many people are in the house showering, boiling water on the stove, etc.
You'll have to be the judge and see if you think this is at least worth a try. If your windows start dripping with water inside, and they never used to, time to probably abandon this idea.
I was in a condo just the other day that has lots of people in it and my glasses fogged up and hardly unfogged till the longest time later. I felt like I walked into a sauna! They had towels soaking up water running down onto the window sills! Because I am alone, I come in my place when I get home and even in below zero weather my glasses do not fog.