Warm and Fuzzy (Properly venting dryers)
The things people will do to “save money” continue to amaze me. The subject this time is dryer vents from electric dryers. I have recently seen two configurations of a similar theme. One was a plastic “lint trap” and the second was a vacuum cleaner bag taped around the end of the hose. Both were great ideas from the Internet.
If you stop and think about it for a moment you will realize that your electric dryer is pumping out heat that goes outside. Of course, you are paying for this heat and you home is usually dryer on the inside during the winter, right? So this makes it a good idea to filter the lint out of the air and exhaust that nice warm air into your home, right?
Not so fast! Several concerns come to mind if you think a little deeper.
A bag over the duct? This has to reduce airflow and gets worse over time. You have to run the dryer longer to dry the same clothes. As the airflow slows, the lint will begin to settle in places closer to the blower and the heater element and will leak out any small gaps in the system. If it’s heat you’re looking for, this fire hazard could really warm things up!
Most of the other plastic devices (lint traps) blow air across water to get the lint out of the air. They then discharge that warm moist air into your home. Take a few minutes and weigh the wet clothes going into your dryer and then the dry clothes when they are finished drying. The difference is water!
Homes are designed to handle some water vapor from normal living. Since modern homes have less air leaks, they can handle less moisture inside. Excessive moisture in any area of the home typically condenses on cold exterior surfaces, frequently in places you can not see it. Take a long hot shower and leave the vent fan off. Water will drip down the bathroom walls. Boil water on the stove and leave the range vent off. Water drips off the bottom of the range vent. Now, vent your dryer into the laundry room. That water load in the air went somewhere! Check the walls in the laundry room, look at the insulation over this area, or the underside of the roof decking. See how much water is running down the windows and doors nearby. Moisture does not magically disappear, it just moves around. Mold and wood destroying fungi can’t live without it!
Cold air holds less moisture and many homes get dryer during the winter. Adding a little moisture here and there is no big deal. Adding a much larger amount from a dryer that runs for hours can cause huge expensive problems!
Until someone comes up with a cheap way to capture the heat from the dryer air, mine will go outside. I’ll add moisture to my home, if needed, with a humidifier controlled by a humidistat.
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