Dryer heat recycling during winter

[revelations]

Has anyone done this? To me it never made sense to vent hot air outside of the house in the winter.

I understand that excess humidity could be an issue but we have a furnace humidifier working all the time now anyways (when the furnace is on). We also have hygrometers in the house to measure different areas.

The issue with lint and airborne particles would be managed with a big filter bag.

What do you guys think? Why arent homes being built with this from the start?

Here is what I was thinking:

[SJW]

It's been done. Saw a guy on the Shark Tank pitch this. Google it.

[Tomaz]

WE used to use one, but the issue was the lint and humidity. After one year of trying this system, I gave up as my house would smell like bonce sheets 24/7, windows fogged up, and I would be dusting every other day.

It seemed like a good idea, but it just wasn't a good idea for my needs.

[Seth1968]

LINT: By using an exhaust filter, you run the risk of overheating. Plus, the moist lint will clog the shit out of the filter, and weaken it.

MOISTURE: That's A LOT of moisture to put into a room in such a short time period.

On a side note, I was thinking of picking up a broken or cheap freezer, putting it in the backyard, and using that for about 5 months out of the year. Heck, If my fridge was on an outside wall, I'd retrofit an outside air inlet hooked up to a thermostatically controlled air pump.

[Abeo]

I'd rather recycle the heat by having an air-to-air heat exchanger, this could be as simple as a thicker 3 or 4 in OD aluminum pipe (or multiple 1 in OD pipes) and a fan blowing on it when the dryer is going. No interior air lint or humidity problems.

But you might run into problems with condensation inside the pipe, and lint build up.

[Seth1968]

Originally posted by Abeo
I'd rather recycle the heat by having an air-to-air heat exchanger, this could be as simple as a thicker 3 or 4 in OD aluminum pipe (or multiple 1 in OD pipes) and a fan blowing on it when the dryer is going. No interior air lint or humidity problems.

But you might run into problems with condensation inside the pipe, and lint build up.

I thought about that as well, but even with a heat exchanger, a large portion of the heat would still be going outside. Plus, you're now using electricity for the fan.

Seems to me, the whole idea of venting into the house isn't practical or safe on many levels.

[DeleriousZ]

We used to have a little valve that you could open that vented into our attached garage (parent's place) and it worked decently well to put a little heat into it (uninsulated)

[revelations]

Originally posted by Seth1968
LINT: By using an exhaust filter, you run the risk of overheating. Plus, the moist lint will clog the shit out of the filter, and weaken it.

MOISTURE: That's A LOT of moisture to put into a room in such a short time period.

On a side note, I was thinking of picking up a broken or cheap freezer, putting it in the backyard, and using that for about 5 months out of the year. Heck, If my fridge was on an outside wall, I'd retrofit an outside air inlet hooked up to a thermostatically controlled air pump.

We'd be looking at getting a filter that has a large enough surface area to not make a noticeable airflow difference.

The laundry room is in the main floor, at the centre of the house. There would be good air circulation out of the room.

We dont use dryer sheets, we also use unscented detergent as we prefer to not have unnecessary chemicals around the air and on our clothes.

[revelations]

Originally posted by SJW
It's been done. Saw a guy on the Shark Tank pitch this. Google it.

FOund it....its called the HEAT HELPER.



Thats a very nice solution however due to spacing limitations it wouldnt fit into our present situation but thats something I'd definitely have in a next house.

[urrforce]

Originally posted by Tomaz

I gave up as my house would smell like bonce sheets 24/7

we use downy sheet and i think the house smelling like them would be bomb lol

but i can also see how it would get annoying after a while but really come on who doesnt love the smell of fresh laundry? lol

[Kritafo]

my husband literally just talked about the gadget for this last night...I think he ordered it this morning.

[Graham_A_M]

Originally posted by revelations
Has anyone done this? To me it never made sense to vent hot air outside of the house in the winter.

I understand that excess humidity could be an issue but we have a furnace humidifier working all the time now anyways (when the furnace is on). We also have hygrometers in the house to measure different areas.

The issue with lint and airborne particles would be managed with a big filter bag.

What do you guys think? Why arent homes being built with this from the start?

Here is what I was thinking:

That precisely what I use. It doesn't catch ALL the lint, but it works damn good. Also, all the heat just goes back to warm the house, same with the humidity which is ideal for our ultra dry winters.

For the heat build up in the room, I just leave the laundry room door open obviously.

[carson blocks]

Next: A thread on how to burn the dryer lint in your furnace to save pennies on natural gas.

[digi355]

An old process engineer told me once that anything under 80c is waste heat and not worth recovering. Granted that was in commercial situations... But we were talking about heat exchanging my shower's water at the time.

Pumping pure dryer exhaust into your house probably wouldn't be worth it. The humidity would be concentrated, moving the heat from the laundry room to anywhere else would be inefficient and the lint would create maintenance no matter how you filtered it.

A cleaner solution would be heat exchanging your inlet furnace air (you could also run your furnace exhaust and shower water through it as well) or using a longer spool of dryer pipe that you could shut off when it's not in use. Or maybe dropping the line in your garage and finding a way to deal with the condensation?

Stuff like this interests me, keep us posted?

[revelations]

When the temps are stupid cold, the benefits are two-fold:

- no longer exchanging the already warm air INSIDE the house, for stupidly cold air outside

- no longer relying on the furnace to heat the house for the time that the dryer is on


In the summer you just vent outside as per usual Our furnace filter might have to be replace a little more often, but thats small pains for heat thats otherwise wasted.

[Seth1968]

Originally posted by revelations
[B]When the temps are stupid cold, the benefits are two-fold:

- no longer exchanging the already warm air INSIDE the house, for stupidly cold air outside

- no longer relying on the furnace to heat the house for the time that the dryer is on

The heat loss out the dryer vent is equivalent to about one forced air furnace register. Given that the dryer only runs at most a few hours a week, compared to 24/7 for the furnace, then what your proposing won't make any difference in your heating bill.

[masoncgy]

This sounds like a lot of effort for very little net gain.

It's even less interesting given where I currently live as I am fighting humidity problems for 6 months of the year.

[Seth1968]

Most heat loss will be through the windows, the ceiling, and skylights (if you have them).

The attic should have about R40 insulation.

You can't do much about the windows unless you install insulated shutters, or very thick drapes.

As for skylights, it's not that far of a stretch to say you might as well have a hole from your ceiling to the outside. Although there are ways to fix that major heat loss issue.

BTW- The dryer heat loss is nothing. Go on the roof and feel the major heat loss through the forced air furnace chimney.

[AE92_TreunoSC]

Manure in the basement is obviously a better solution.

[revelations]

Originally posted by masoncgy
This sounds like a lot of effort for very little net gain.

It's even less interesting given where I currently live as I am fighting humidity problems for 6 months of the year.

I lived in Nanaimo and Vancouver for 26 combined years. It would be totally unsuitable for that area where it is cold and damp for 6 months.

This would really pay off when its -30 outside and 25% humidity inside.