clothes dryer heat

 

Do you exhaust the clothes dryer heat back
into the house in the winter?

Would you be interested in building a DIY heat exchanger?

 

RickMerrill wrote


Nope, I line dry in winter.


Nope, because I dont use a dryer.

I dont use much heat in winter either now that I have
changed over to using a electric throw. Works very well.

 

wrote:

Me neither.  I don't want to risk mold and mildew even though moisture
in dry air is soothing to the skin, but I don't think the dryer is the
way to do it efficiently.

 


wrote:

Me neither.  I don't want to risk mold and mildew even though moisture
in dry air is soothing to the skin, but I don't think the dryer is the
way to do it efficiently.

I don't think whether it's "efficient" or not is the issue - the dryer
produces warm, moist air as the inevitable result of operation.  There may
be other, more efficient (in terms of electricity or gas usage, or the human
effort involved) ways of achieving this, but the dryer will continue to
produce it's output whenever it's used.  So it makes sense to use this warm,
moist air if you actually have a use for it.

My chief concern would be filtering out the lint - a nylon stocking or pair
of pantyhose or something similar lets too much of the fine particulate
matter through, into the air, where the occupants of the dwelling can inhale
it.

A heat exchanger would seem to obviate both concerns - dust and excessive
humidity.  A sizable fraction of the heat would be extracted from the
exhaust stream and dumped in the interior living space, while the dust and
moisture continue to be vented outside.

 




    No; why, you selling plans? Commercial dryer economizers are
available. Back in the dark ages they were advertised pretty regularly
in the more-with-less genre periodicals. I don't remember any, though,
that really were heat exchangers; they had/have lint filters and simply
use a damper to duct the dryer exhaust -- and its humidity -- into the
room.