We live in a loft space and designed the interior so that our dryer is not next to our one single exterior wall. The dryer exhausts into our living space. (Now I know this was stupid but at the time it seemed like a great use of space.) Need something to filter the lint into the water drain.
Tried one of those water bucket traps, what a joke. Tried the long stocking trick, makes sure you get really fine lint into the living space. Built a box with a normal a/c filter and ran the outlet of the box into a HEPA air filter (just clogs the filters quickly). Tried to send the exhaust air down the washer water drain with a squirrel cage fan but the air flow is too much for such a small pipe and it dries out the trap. Excess moisture is not an issue for us since we keep the windows open year round (California is expensive, you don’t want to move here), it’s the lint we need to remove. Looking for suggestions.
There is a US made washer dryer all in one unit ($975) that filters the dryer exhaust through a water cooler and rinses the lint down the drain. I’d like to find something similar as an add-on unit. We could essentially give away our existing units and buy one of those for around $975 so any solution cheaper than $1K would be economical for us.
Help!
Kee
Replies
Have you tried a search on the internet for "lint filter" or something like that? I've seen a filter like you want in a catalog, but can't remember which company. But a search might turn something up.
It was a plastic box of some sort, with a washable foam filter in it. Don't really remember any other details.
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Thanks for the suggestion. A google search for lint filter turns up a gazillion pages listing various products that have lint filters. I will have to spend some time (OK with me) to read through all the hits to see if one talks about a lint filter add-on. What I want is something automatic that does not require cleaning after every load.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Kee
How far from the exterior wall is the dryer located? Is it a gas dryer?
Whether it is gas or not, the best bet would be to exhaust it. Some larger (say 5" or 6" over the standard 4") than standard vent pipe and a booster fan fan could be installed for a lot less than $1K, probably on the order of $300. Get help, no matter what you choose to have done.
Edited 6/19/2002 8:04:01 AM ET by Tim
It's an electric dryer and the exhaust vent right now is a 30 foot hose that snakes across our living area and extends outside an open window. Yep, kinda unsightly although our kid likes to play with the hot dryer hose when we are drying a load. The path for a hidden exhaust system would be around 57 feet. It is doable.
Not a bad suggestion. I wonder about the exhaust vent filling with lint. Is there some kind of "pig" that gets used to periodically clean the long vent?
Kee
Treat it like a waste line. Keep the run as straight as possible, put cleanouts wher you have to make a turn greater that 45 deg. Use sheet metal only where access is limited and be carefure how connections are made. Keep flex out of the picture. I've never heard of straight sheetmetal holding on to much of anything. With a booster fan, you can keep the velocity up enough to keep lint from settling out. There is a lint screen in the dryer (or should be) and anything that gets through the screen should pass through the rest of the vent.
I am opposed to not venting anything that is usually vented, like dryers and ranges. Even electric dryers. In the winter when heat and moisture are normally desirable additionns to an interior space, diverting the (electric only) dryer vent into the space is not all that bad an idea. Not venting a gas dryer directly to the exterior can not only create an uncomfortable environnment but can poison you.
Thank you for the advice. I did find a secondary filtering system company but their stuff is only for industrial use. The small air filter using water is 6 feet in one dimension. Treating it as a waste line makes sense especially since it will have moisture in it. Thanks, Kee
I would vent to exterior wall. I would add a booster fan.
See Fantech. A truly great company with great products:
http://www.fantech-us.com/dryer_boosting.htm
Get an in line filter after the dryer and about 5' into the trunk line. Should solve all your problems.
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1927
Boris, how's the dancing going? haven't seen you on TV lately.
Thank you very much for the Fantech link, useful information. Have not found a filter system that is for home use so it appears that exhausting outside is the best choice and a booster fan will be needed. Thanks, Kee