I know I have seen some products out there that direct and filter the air from your dryer so it can be blown into the living space in your house to suppliment the heat. I would really like to do this but am wondering if any of you have installed systems like this, what brands are best, any pros/cons, etc… thanks in advance
upnorthframer
“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance!!!”
Replies
There are threads on this in energy/ heating by people wanting to try it. Maybe search for them and ask if they did it.
Very controversial subject,most are strongly against introducing moisture into the house. Of course this can only be done with electric dryers and not with gas.
Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.
I understand wanting to use that heat that goes out the wall but this is not the best idea. Never do this with a gas/LP dryer due to exhaust fumes. Electric dryers are safer for this. I would never do this unless you heat 100% with wood. The moister it puts in the house is way more than most houses can handle. Wood heat is so dry that it will dry alot of the moister from the dryer. Still not a good idea.
Russelll,
"Welcome to my world"
Huntdoctor: "Wood heat is so dry that it will dry alot of the moister from the dryer."
Junkhound: "Moisture in the winter is NOT a problem."
Myth: Wood heat is dry heat.
Reality: Indoor dryness in the heating season is due to excessive air exchange (heating outdoor air and lowering the relative humidity), and wood stoves require make-up air which contributes to excessive infiltration.
But any leaky house will be dry in the winter. The solution is NOT to introduce additional moisture (which can create localized mold problems), but to reduce infiltration by sealing leakage points. This will save more heating energy than you're going to reclaim by venting a dryer indoors.
Any new house built to today's standards will be tight enough to have a moisture problem in the winter, unless there is controlled ventilation, and adding moisture from any source will almost guarantee condensation and mold.
Edited 1/20/2008 11:54 pm ET by Riversong
It's a myth that a humidifier is going to cause mold problems. Mold problems are more likely in a "tight" house.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
Well, I, for one, am glad we cleared that up! ;-)
It's a myth that a humidifier is going to cause mold problems. Mold problems are more likely in a "tight" house.
Then you've never been in an old house with a damp basement or crawlspace with mold literally dripping off the joists and penetrating into the wall cavities.
Either a leaky house with a significant moisture source or a tight house with normal use can have moisture problems, including condensation, wood warpage and rot, insect infestation, and mold. Excess humidity also accelerates the outgassing of formaldehyde from building materials and furnishings, causing seriour indoor air quality issues.
In that old house a humidifier won't make any difference. If you have moisture "dripping off the joists" then the relative humidity is already 100%.Obviously, any house with a "significant moisture source" (leaky roof, leaky shower, extremely damp basement, etc) is at risk for mold damage and rot, regardless of how well sealed it is.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
Well stated.
Say it however you will. Do however you will. My recommendation is to exhaust dryer vent to the outdoors. Just my opinion.
Russell
"Welcome to my world"
Just remember when the time comes "I told you so!"
We have an electric dryer and we don't vent it out in the winter. No problem with to much moisture!
I have to wonder about the "to much moisture" being put into the air from the dryer? Our winters are pretty dry and I doubt if we did twice the laundry that we do that we could run the risk of high humidity.
We have a humidifier on our furnace and it still kicks on occasionally so I'm not worried at all about the moisture.
Doug
I suspect it has to do with whether you're doing 3 loads a day (two kids in diapers) or 3 loads a week (1-2 adults).
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
(It is an interesting idea, though, for a backup in case the furnace breaks down.)
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
I suspect it has to do with whether you're doing 3 loads a day (two kids in diapers) or 3 loads a week (1-2 adults).
I doubt it really matters but........
I'd have to see the numbers on it to believe other wise. I've been letting the dryer vent to the inside for every year that I've had an electric dryer(in the winter). That goes for when I had three young kids and now that I have just one, no diff. Never had a problem with to much humidity in the house in the winter.
Doug
"No problem with to much moisture! "You mean none that you know of yet.
Some of those repairs I have done were hidden problems for years before they showed up. You've been in your house for what, two years?
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Piffin
I'm sure you think you know the problems here in Iowa with running the dryer into the house and the humidity that it produces but my guess is that you don't.
Yea, I've been in the house that I currently live in for less then 6 months but what about the house that I spent 20 years in growing up, the other house that I lived in for almost 10 years and the other house that I spent 8 years in and............
Apparently you're not aware of how dry the conditions are here in the midwest during the winter months but I have never had a problem with humidity(in the winter). We have a humidifier on our furnace, I had it checked by a competent HVAC guy when we moved in, works properly, set to what he thought it should be set to according to our conditions here in Iowa. Why would the humidifier kick in if it were reading to much humidity?
How much water do you think there is from a load of laundry? I doubt that there is anymore then the amount that people used to put in all the coffee cans and set down in their register ducts to add humidity to the air or the amount that the pans of water that are set on the radiators hold.
There are some pretty simple signs of to much humidity and I don't ever see them, Not to mention the humidity sensors.
Doug
One of the problems I'm having is the air is so dry my skin is dry and chapped and I go to bed at night scratching and can't sleep.I don't have a humdifier but I've thought about running the vicks humidifier you use when you are sick with a stuffy nose.Something else I could do would be boil water or not run the exhaust fan when I shower.My mom exhausted her dryer inside for a year or two and did not seem to have any problems.
When I was in college, a lot of guys would use those Vicks-style vaporizers to humidify their dorm rooms. The problem was there was no way to control them, they were either on or off...those guys would turn them on, go to sleep, and when they woke up in the morning it was like a jungle in their room. :)
fixit
You might go out and buy one of those cheapy humidifiers that you put right by your bed. AT least you wont wake up with a sore throat and dry nose.
Probably buy one for under $40. Well worth it for the comfort that you'll get. Keep the filter clean though.
Hell this time of the year I never turn on the vent fan when I take a shower, doesnt even fog up the mirror the damn air is so void of any moisture!
Doug
I lived in west Texas and high mountain Colorado, both of which are drier than Iowa, Doug. I know what you are talking about there, and about the fact that your hot air heat system is more drying than my comparable hydronic radiant heat.But what you miss is that a dryer dumps ALL the moisture it dispels into one location whereas all the examples you make of the humidifier and tin pots on registers spread humidity evenly around the house. The problems I've seen and repaired have invariably been withing a span of radius from the point of origin.I suppose there are some few homes and families where you can do as you do, but for most, it is extremely poor practice that will result in damage to the house.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
What you're saying is that it's important for the dryer air to be dispersed vs stagnating in one area. True. In most cases it suffices to simply bring the duct out to a point from behind the dryer, but other arrangements are needed in, say, an unconditioned basement.The damage cases mostly occur, I'd guess, when a dryer is simply shoved against an outside wall, with no provision to handle the air.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
Maybe I should have been more specific. I do live in the far northern region of Wisconsin. My house has hydronic heat with no humidifier. It does get extremely dry inside. In fact I see substantial shrinkage in the t & g paneling on my ceiling (up to a 1/4" of movement)
My dryer is in a closet with a louvered door with the vent pipe going up 1' then a 90 degree turn to a 10' run which goes straight outside. The vent pipe is in condition spaced and the dryer is surrounded by conditioned space. My plan was to simply disconnect the vent pipe at the 90 and place whatever product is out there to filter the air before going into my house.
I'm yet to hear any specific products by brand name or web site that are designed for doing this? I know there out there.... and i'm not overly concerned about too much moisture. I'd at least like to try it and see how it performs before knocking the system... Any help would be appreciated.
upnorthframer
"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance!!!"
There are several products of this sort -- you might check HD et al for something. Also any better hardware stores.Or you can jury-rig something. The important points:
1) Don't overly restrict airflow.
2) Provide some sort of lint filtering.
3) Don't just dump the air into a confined space, but allow it to mix with house air.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
A number of you both brilliant and intrepid individuals have most excellent points to your arguements. One thing however that I should like to point out. One must rely even ever so slightly upon a degree of the not so common sense that we have been afforded. Riversong has a great deal of both professional knowledge and practical work-related experience. However in any situation there are multiple parameters that are not always in direct obserable evidence. I have a particular situation where an immense basement space of some 5000 sq feet plus is rank with 8 different mold types. In a building that was built in 1892. There just happen to be the precise conditions present to provide a near perfect enviroment for these nasties to proliferate. From what I have gathered in the minute bit that I have observed here is a near unprecedented posibility for tremendous dissemination and learning from a host of earnest, well intentioned, and well informed people. Allow us to both grow and learn from one another.
Well, I'd observe that in your situation the presence or absence of a dryer isn't likely to make a bit of difference. You get mold in situations like yours due to lack of air circulation and dampness rising from the masonry/earth. Plus the occasional plumbing leak.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
This is all very basic.
If your house is dry and you are having to add humidity.... where is the humidity going? It is obviously leaking out with the heated air, and if it cools enough the humidity percipitates out, hopefully not in your walls and attic. The hopeful part is rarely the case but hey, that's what dreams are made of.
That's the way it works.
Unless someone has come up with another theory.
Yes, the humidity leaks out. The walls and ceilings are not impervious to moisture, and there are air leaks at windows and doors (and hopefully not too many other places). A really tight house won't need added moisture in most cases (and may actually need dehumidification in winter), but your typical home isn't anywhere near that tight.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
keep repeating that same thing over and over and you'll convince yourself that you're right.
I think you missed your calling Piffin!
I give up, You cant argue with someone that has convinced himself that he knows it all?
Doug
Thanks sweetheart;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Have vented 2 dryers inside (both are in the basement) for over 30 years, no moisture problem and am in the Seattle area where outside humidity is 90%, still dry in the house. Moisture in the winter is NOT a problem.
Use a solar powered dryer in the summer.
Look at a psychrometric chart: 40F, 90% humidity outside, heat that to 70F inside and the RH is dowm tp 30%. Even dryer in colder/drier climates in the winter.
For 50% RH, need to add 0.003 pounds of water per 15 cu ft of air change. Calc that out for typical house of 15000 cu ft and one air change per hour, you need to add more than 2 quarts of water an hour to exceed 50% RH. Could just about run one dryer continuously in the winter.
Setup in use is about 4 ft of smooth ducting to an old furnace plenum with standard furnace filter to trap the leftover lint. Old plemum located under the laundry table.
My house seriously needs moisture in the winter. The static is unbelievable, and the wood makes noises as it shrinks. The dryer provides supplemental moisture and heat, no problems at all. I also put an inline flapper in the line after the diverter to keep drafts out. I removed the flapper door from the vent hood because lint would build up and hold it open.
Check out a condensing dryer. They usually only come in smaller models but they take the moisture out of the clothes and the by-product is a bit of warmer air on the output of the condenser. Kind of like an air conditioner in reverse. They circulate the cooler ambient air in the house through a condenser that removes the water and then it is drained. This process results in some of the heat being transfered to the inside. The upside is there is no hole in the wall where heat goes in the winter, or where rodents can enter. The down side is there is a bit of a heat footprint into the house in the summer, but it is dry heat as opposed to moisture rich dryer vent.
Do a Google search for "Condensing dryer" Bosch makes a good one.
Don't do it!
I have done countless repairs to homes where the excess humidity caused problems from warped doors to mold and rot, condensation in attics that looked like roof leaks....
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And they were all caused by dryer exhaust?
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
No - not every home repair I ever did was caused by dryer exhaust , but the ones I refer to here were. When you have mold, rot, or condensation clustering right where the exhaust is dumping and you get rid of the excess moisture by changing that situation it is pretty easy to be firm about it.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I don't understand how dryer exhaust into the living space caused condensation in the attic.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
"I don't understand how dryer exhaust into the living space caused condensation in the attic."
The stack effect (warm air is more buoyant and rises) causes warm, moist air to rise to upper levels of the house. If there are passages into the attic, through a poorly sealed hatch or unsealed utility penetrations (as is almost always the case), then moisture will find its way into the attic and condense on cool surfaces, possibly raining down on insulation, framing, and ceiling finish.
I was putting up some pre-fab condominiums at Mt Snow years ago, with unvented propane heaters in the basements to heat each unit during construction. When I opened the attic hatch to check on something, it was snowing up there under the roof.
But that has nothing to do with dryer exhaust, it has to do with poor (or, in this case, incomplete) construction. You seal the ceiling and ventillate the attic to prevent condensation in the attic. Or if you don't don't blame the dryer for the damage that results, since cooking can put more moisture into the air than the dryer produces.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
"I don't understand how dryer exhaust into the living space caused condensation in the attic."you don't eh?How slow should I take you through this then...?Stop me if I confuse you...Moister, warmer air in the living space is wetter and warmer than the drier cooler air in the attic in winter.Systems try to seek equilibrium, so heat energy moves from warm to cold and moisture moves from damp to dry.We build trying to insulate and provide vapour barriers to prevent that movement.Nothing is perfect ( well, except maybe for closed cell foam) so heat and moisture do escape the living area, more in some houses than in others.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
If you haven't sealed the ceiling and ventillated the attic enough to prevent dryer exhaust (exhausted into the living space) from causing attic condensation then don't blame the dryer (or the humidifier, for that matter).
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
New houses done right are fine for sealing, but of the housing stick in this country, only maybe 4-5% is sealed like it ought to be. I deal with reality as the calls come in, not theoretical perfection.But let's suppose you have one that is hermetically sealed as tight as you'd like. Now you have mold growing in the corners of closets or under the refer and dryer.One call I got was a "Why is my house smelling so bad?"
It was a modular factory constructed very tight home.
But the dryer vent had either come loose in shipping or it had never been hooked up. Three years of lint and dryer exhauyst had left a green slime and....
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I can assure you that our 1976 house is nowhere sealed tight (otherwise the humidifier wouldn't run all the time), but there's never been condensation in the attic. And I can say the same of homes built in the 40s and earlier.It's not rocket science. If you're leaking moisture up into the attic you're also leaking heat, and when the temp is 10-20 below outside you're kinda jealous of who gets the heat.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
Regardless of any other issues, I couldn't deal with the dust/lint all over the place. I had one of the filter systems (it was top of the line 25 years ago, I am sure they have improved), and it was still a mess, and a pain to keep up.
It's pretty dry where I am, and we have used from 100% to 20% wood heat that dries things out a lot, so we need the heat and the moisture, but I am happy to run extra heat, and my central humidifier and put the dyer exhaust outside.
Rob
Hey, did I mention this was a controversial subject? <G>
Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.