My washer and dryer are in a room entered through the garage toward the front of the house. The builder ran the dryer vent under the main living area (through the basement joists) all the way to the back of the home. It blows lint on a lower level window. I would like to make a shorter run to the inside of the garage. Any ideas what problems that might create? Can it, should it, be done?
Thank you for your input!
Replies
gas or electric?
You can always buy a product which will vent the dryer to your garage door vent. This will eliminate lint being blown in the garage as well as all the moisture and heat.
Product Available at: http://www.garagedryervent.com
Yo, ob
Why not answer the question of how in the heck is a dryer pumped out a garage door is anything to think about?
You might as well put the dryer on the front porch and let it fly.
no?
You do know there's no spamming bogus crap for free here, don't you?
thanks.
I don't think that you can do this with a gas dryer, It is possible with an electric as long as you don't mind having dust on everything in the garage. I had an interior vented dryer temporarily. There didn't seem to be any reasonable method of removing all of the dust before ejecting the air. You can collect most, but not all of the dust without some kind of HEPA air filter system. The other concern is condensation in the garage, you will get near 100 percent humidity levels. You would need to figure out if condensation is going to cause damage. If It were me, I would just figure out how to limit the existing lint problem. Rinsing the lint off of the exterior would be a lot easier that cleaning it off of every surface in the garage.
Sandalboy,
It is, in fact, electric. I think you're right. I don't see any potential problem with condensation, but I don't like the idea of lint blowing around in the garage. I think I will extend the run away from the window. I guess a few more feet of run to the pipe won't make that much difference. Glad I asked someone before blowing a hole through to the garage - that would be fairly typical for one of my projects.
Thank you!
tomthumb
Our electric dryers are vented directly into the basement (use an outside clothes line in the summer) during the winter when the house needs humidity anyway. Routed into an old furnace plenum with a couple of 16 inch by 20 inch air filters on the outlet, catches 99 % of the lint -- can't find any lint for the stray sawdust in the basement anyway. Just remember to clean or replace the filters once in awhile.
Should work just as well in a garage.
That's a thought. Thanks for the idea!
tomthumb
You know a woman's nylon stocking is a pretty good filter. Slap one on your current vent and see what happens.
Fire Wall
This would compromise the firewall between the garage and the house. It wouldn't be legal.
Mike
Maybe I just browsed over the spam link, but it looked like somebody likes to have their exhaust piped through the overhead garage door. Evidently you stick to the "steel" door with a magnet-over the hole/vent cap.
I'd guess if the flex hose was long enough, you really wouldn't have to disconnect it-just watch it roll up with the door.
The link is left up as a goofy example of the Ronco style dryer vent.
Maybe the poster will come back and challenge my observation?
Does anyone realize this is a 7 year old thread?
I wish Taunton would "lock" the threads after a couple of years. No sense having people dredge up these old ones.
Ron
The spammer picked it-we be just filling in the blanks and trying to draw his spam ass out of the hole............
And in some cases I agree on the old threads.............but-the info usually doesn't have an end and if added information is posted-or additional questions.........then it does serves it's purpose.
So I'm for keeping access as well as response to these antiques.
Just getting rid of the spam or calling it out is plenty for me.
It would be kinda nice if a warning message popped up on such an old thread, for the first 3-4 posts after it was zombified.
There is right up top........
a date/time line.
no?
I lived in a house for twenty years with an electric dry (why gas would make any differnece is beyond mean if you are talking about drier air and not exhaust air vented to teh guarge) and NEVER had a problem with dust, and NEVER noticed a mositure problem.
The dust? Must have had good filters. Mositure? I agree, it would seem to me you would be dumping a bit of moisture in the garage. But a garage is a big space and frequently opened via a large door to the outside. ANd then there is the spin cycle which is supposed to remove a ton of water before the clothe get to the drier.
I don't know. Never was a problem for us. I would likely try not to do it as it just on the face of it sounds like not the best solution. But it worked fine.
>>I lived in a house for twenty years with an electric dry (why gas would make any differnece is beyond mean if you are talking about drier air and not exhaust air vented to teh guarge) and NEVER had a problem with dust, and NEVER noticed a mositure problem."Drier air" is "exhaust air" With a gas dryer, if the unit goes out of adjustment (e.g., the flame starts impinging on the metal "chute" which surrounds it, the unit could start producing dangerously high levels of CO.Just because you haven't had a problem (that you are aware of, at any rate) doesn't mean no one else will, or that there aren't condensation problems inside the structure behind finished walls or whatever.My experience in inspecting thousands of houses is that many times the "rules" are broken without negative effect, but sometimes the same condition can cause major problems.A small example: in my area it is common to nail off the bathroom vent just below a through roof vent. 99 times out of 100, no problem, but that 100th time can be a major concern such promoting as mold growth in the attic.
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" "Drier air" is "exhaust air" With a gas dryer . . "
After my post I starting thinking about this. I live in an area with NG BUT NO ONE I KNOW has a gas drier! I ahve never seen one and only after posting here did I start to question how one was vented. I jsut figured there would be two vents, one for exhaust teh other for drier air.
Learn something everyday.
Why would condensation occur inside of a wall in this application?
SEcondly, why would it be more likily to occur in a garage venting application as you seem to be implying vs the outside venting application?
Moisture moves from wet to dry, heat travels from hot to cold.Amd water vapor condenses as it gets cooler.And water vapor moves through walls (especially at receptacle cutouts and other penetrations in the wall.)So, if you live in a climate with some degree of "cooler than the dryer vent tenps" and you dump warm, damp air into an interior space, some of that damp air is going to get into the wall cavities and, as it nears the cooler exterior, condense inside the wall.Same thing up in attics. (In my area, most attics which have mold issues are on a house which has a wet crawl space - the moisture moves up through the house an condenses on the roof sheathing which promotes mold growth.)Most homne owners (i) don't look in their atticw or (ii) wouldn't know what was going on if they did.
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Is the garage wall where the vent would penetrate fire rated? If so, I don't think you can do it and get away with it when it comes time to sell. Vented into the garage from the house would constitue a direct path for fire and not meet fire code.
My opinion, anyway.
"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Invictus, by Henley.
You say the current vent blows lint on a lower window? Is your laundry room upstairs?
If you run the vent to the garage, you better learn to like lint. It's gonna be all over the place - lol.
I once ran a vent to the garage for a lady who didn't want to pay to periodically clean her hard piped vent that went outside. I told her that it was gonna be a problem. but she insisted. About six months later, she called me back and I showed her how to use a panty hose leg as a secondary filter to keep the lint somewhat contained. I guess she got tired of cleaning the panty hose leg because I ran into her and her new hubby one day and she told me that she had made him clean and reconnect the old vent - lol
Re: venting dryer to Garage / indoors, if you are using any detergent in your laundry which contains phospates, you could be exhausting that into your air in the house and also raising the humidity in the house which will affect the air quality in the house. And also, remember, lint is very flammable .Just a couple of things to keep in mind.
IF IT WAS EASY, EVERYONE COULD DO IT!
We did it once in a Mobile Home we lived it. We bought a device filled with water that acted as a lint trap, think the drywall sander type. It was nice, easy, and helped during the hrating season. Sucked in the summer. Do a google.
If I were you I'd try it. If it doesn't work duct it out from there.
Edited 3/12/2006 8:24 pm ET by try50772
Not a good idea.
I think there is a air-tight fire rated vent cap but I don't think the inspector would like the idea because of potential fire spread and CO going into the house from the garage.
>>Can it, should it, be done?
Yes and no. Make that Hell no!
Most of the time there aren't problems, but sometimes there are and they can be significant and hidden (for awhile, anyway.)
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I've had to crawl under a couple of houses recently where the dryer ducting had come apart where it was routed through the floor joists. In both cases, the situation had existed for 2 or 3 years and the entire crawlspace and the attendant cobwebs were coated with lint.
It was also damp and musty with the scent of "Bounce" or a similar fabric softener..
And I emerged from the crawlspace looking like the Pillsbury Doughboy.
But, what you could do, if you still like the garage option, is get a vintage Studebaker, coat it with a soft adhesive, leave it there for a few weeks of clothes drying and Presto....you'll have a ride just like "Dumb and Dumber".
:-)
Not even legal here. CO is a big issue.
Dude, for the third time mentioned in this thread, the guy has an ELECTRIC dryer.
"A job well done is its own reward. Now would you prefer to make the final payment by cash, check or Master Card?"
Edited 3/13/2006 12:31 am ET by philarenewal
Dude, the issue isn't the type of dryer, it is the hole between the house and the garage. CO from cars running in attached garages gets into houses. In Canada, you are NOT allowed a hole between the garage and the house. The entry door has to be an exterior rated door. And the little flapper on most vents isn't real air tight. Plus there is the issue of fire rated walls.
I suspect building codes down there are similar.
Edited 3/13/2006 7:48 pm ET by rich1
You're right. My bad.
"A job well done is its own reward. Now would you prefer to make the final payment by cash, check or Master Card?"
no can do with a gas dryer... monoxide....
the high humidity sent into the garage will condense and ice sheet everything...
gitradge door will start acting funny or not at all...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
gitradge door will start acting funny or not at all...
a little off the subject, but it is always a good idea when installing a door opener (Or any other applicance with a circuit board) in an unheated space to pull the circuit board and spray it with clear polyurethane, that keeps any condensation off the board and avoids condensation type failures.
I know...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Where you live has an impact on what you have asked. Colder climates only dictate that the water vapor will condensate more quickly. No matter the climate, the question is about added water vapor to the house system when vented inside the envelope.
Every load your dryer dries will pump 1 to 4 gals of liquid water into the exhaust air as water vapor, and if you vent that into the interior, or attic, or crawlspace, or garage you will add that amount of water vapor to that space.
In my household (2-person) we average 10 to 20 dryer loads per week which equals about 30 gal of water x 52 weeks = 1560 gal of water vented outside of my house.
My question to your question is-- "Do you want to pump 1500 gallon of water into the inside of your (garage) house?"
The dryer vent needs to exit the house envelope! In all cases!
..............Iron Helix
EDIT.............. Oops...............Numbers are okay.
.UNITS should be QUARTS not GALLONS!
Thanks Junkhound.
Edited 3/14/2006 6:26 am by IronHelix
'10 to 20 dryer loads per week'!! for just two people??!! Dude you need to tell the misses that she doesnt have to wash the sheets and towells everyday.
Every guy knows you wait untill they get crunchy.
or change and wash clothes 4 times a day..Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
dryer vent needs to exit the house envelope! In all cases!
Wow, quite a generalization, as I've vented my ELECTRIC dryers into the basement for over 40 years with no problems. Note: we use a solar powered clothes dryer all spring, summer, and most of the fall.
Also, do you throw your clothes in the dryer without doing the spin cycle in the washer to get "1 to 4 gals of liquid water into the exhaust air as water vapor" per load?? Where did those numbers come from??
Sanity check. According to psychrometric chart, at 85 F and 100% RH, 4 ga of liquid water can be held in 70,000 cubic feet of air if it starts out at 50% RH at 70F. Typical dryer is about 150 CFM, that means a load takes over 7 hours to dry? Your numbers do not compute. Say typical drying time is actually 45 minutes, that calcs out to about a quart of water.
Now, let us say it is wintertime, 1 quart of water will raise 20% RH at 70 F to about ...will let others do the math on that one.<G> edit for a 2000 sq ft house, double check that raises your humidity to a more comfortable 32% RH?
Edited 3/13/2006 9:12 am ET by junkhound
I vent both loads a week, sometimes 3 to the indoors from my electric..Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Faulty memory chip!?
I'll see if I can churn them up!
.......Iron Helix
The numbers are okay---but
units should be Quarts...NOT Gallons!
Thanks junkhound!
Sorry for the SNAFU......Iron Helix
Edited 3/14/2006 6:22 am by IronHelix
Edited 3/14/2006 6:28 am by IronHelix
For the record, the International Mechanical Code, 2003 specifically states: "Dryer exhaust ducts for clothes dryers shall terminate outside of the building and shall be equipped with a backdraft damper." Most residential building codes reference this or similar mechanical code. I have never seen a code in which ANY exhaust stream was allowed to terminate anywhere except outdoors. There is no ambiguity here. There is no exception for electric dryers.
Venting your dryer any way that does not terminate outdoors, is illegal, and in my professional opinion, unwise.
The Codes are written such that the number of ways that people can harm themselves and others is limited. Some people always find justification for doing the wrong thing. By your choice you can join them or not.
Edited 3/13/2006 11:36 am by Tim
FWIW, I have heard (but haven't see myself) that there are "ventless" dryers, and apparently they are common in Europe.In my area I hear they've been used in apartment and condo complexes.
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"..that there are "ventless" dryers.." These are specifically mentioned in the Code, and are obviously excepted from the vent requirement. As with any appliance, following the manufacturer's installation instructions constitutes Code compliance, in most instances.
The venting of lint, moisture and some dilute vapors from detergent, fabric softeners, etc., into a living space, directly or indirectly, seems like a harmless act, and for the most part, and probably is harmless. I have to believe, that there is a reason such practices are prohibited and would not want to bet my health or that of may family on such a stupid and lazy shortcut as not venting a dryer properly. A great many of the provisions in the Codes are there because of specific histories of problems associated with doing otherwise, and many of those I am familiar with. I do not know the specific history of this one, though. The average person that is not familiar with these issues would see one electric dryer vented into a house and think "It's ok to vent dryers in the house". The reasoning given by otherwise intelligent individuals in this respect that it "adds heat and moisture into my trailer house, which I need anyways..", is dangerously close to making sense. Though, based on those that posted this nonsense, I have added a few more people to my list of "those who post BS in lieu of real knowledge".
The furnace manufacturers are pretty adament aboiut the coprrosive qualities of fabric softener in furnaces, so I agree with you, not a good idea.
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Look at the roof sheathing in the attached pic to see why you don't vent a dryer indoors...
Fighting Ignorance since 1967
It's taking way longer than we thought
Remember that dryer manufactures spec. total lingths of run for vent!
Traditional dryer water boxes not only create a high moisture environment in the garage which can lead to MOLD GENERATION on your stored items and even rust car parts, but they also cause a huge lack of efficiency in your dryer. With the dryer pulling in moist air it has a much more difficult time removing moisture from your clothes. This will lead to prematurely burning out the dryer heater element and also cause your clothes to either not fully dry or require a longer dry cycle, COsting you money ... NOT TO MENTION the pain of CLEANING MESSY LINT OFF THE WALLS around your dryer vent box!
SOLUTION: http://www.garagedryervent.com
Our product vents your dryer directly out the garage door vent
Requires zero modification to your home
Completely eliminates moisture and heat build up in your garage
Seals to your vent with magnets for easy connection and removal
Each unit is custom made to fit your vent size and dryer distance