I’m building a new house, doing my best to seal everything, using housewrap, better windows etc.. Is there something that can be done to somehow divert the hot exhaust from the clothe’s dryer and harness the otherwise wasted energy? My house is just framed, nothing else done so far. My place will have an air exchange unit, but it can’t be used with the dryer.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Web links or pics would be nice also.
Andrew in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Replies
You don't want to run the air from the dryer by any kind of heat exchanger because of the lint in the air. I suppose you could surround the exhaust pipe to pick up the heat disappaited and bring that through the exchanger.
In the old days, they sold a diverter to send the exhaust air into the room or up and out the pipe. It potentially can add too much humidity and in the case of a gas dryer, some of the combustion exhaust I would think.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Dear Gringo,
Those dryer divertors can be purchased at most home centres. The extra humidity should be welcome in Edmonton, but make sure you clean the filter often as they clog up pretty quick.
You mentioned house wrap, here in Calgary the more informed builders are staying away from housewrap, especially for stucco applications. I heard that in BC housewrap is no longer approved under stucco. I have never used housewrap and probably never will. (I am not in the business of being a guinea pig)
As for better windows, they don't amount to a hill of beans unless the detailing around them is correctly carried out. I am a fan of peel n stick as this material can really be relied upon to keep the wind driven moisture away from the the structure, but again only if it is detailed properly.
You don't mention insulation, are you intending on going with 60's technology (fibreglass) or do you want to enter the 21st century? I suggest considering celulose and you are in luck as there is a great installer with whom I've had great luck and he does lots of work in Edmonton his name is Greg Chacalias of Chacare Insulations. He has a bit of an abrupt edge to him, but his work has been great and he knows what he is doing. I currently have two projects on the go with him. You won't believe the difference it will make going to real insulation versus fibreglass. With the wind in Edmonton, the celulose will really tighten up the house, (fibreglass leaks like a sieve).
Don't hesitate to post other questions as I am reasonably well versed in Cold Climate issues.
Good luck with your project
Alma Consulting, Calgary
Construction Consulting, Project Management
Had a similiar need in my laundry room which is separate from the furnace room. what I did was to run a straight section parallel to the foundation and then turned it out thru the rim about 15 feet away from the dryer, Wanted to go further but ran into the bathroom wall. It has made a difference in the warmth of a normally cold room. Just check with the dryer man. to see how many bends or linier feet the machine will push.
I agree with what the other's said; dryer exhaust air is too damp and dirty to be good for an indoor environment. Sure, some added indoor humidity is good, but a moisture pointload that is not exhausted out could result in mold. I've had one of those diverters, but don't really think they are practical.
Looking at it from a different angle, consider somehow supplying makeup air to the dryer room so that you won't be sucking conditioned air from the home's interior.
Those dryer diverters are horrible. They put lint everywhere despite the screen, and eventually you start to pull water laden air into the dryer thus defeating its purpose.
It might be easy to build a heat exchanger around the dryer exhaust pipe. Assuming the exhaust is a 4" rigid pipe, you could surround it with a 5" pipe that extends to the exterior wall. The 4" pipe would extend a foot or so beyond the 5" pipe. The 5" pipe would be your make-up air for that room. Don't know how much heat you could extract over a limited distance (say 10 feet), and there might also be issues of condensation within the 4" pipe if too much heat is removed. But already I'm thinking about trying something similar as I'm running out of other projects. ;-) I know this approach is used on some newer direct-vent gaswater heaters.
The low-tech, redneck variation...
On a previous house (built in the 1940's) the original dryer exhaust was like 15-20' away from the dryer. I made a short run straight up and out (~6'). I left the old line in place. I had a short piece of flexible hose that connected the dryer to the rigid ventline. It got so that I would alternate which vent I used. In the summer I would hook the dryer up to the short run. In the winter I'd hook it up to the long run.
Always seemed like the basement was a lot warmer when the dryer was running (on the long run). My current place does not have the luxury of all that room (no basement).
Mom had used one of those diverter deals for a while. It blew through a screen and into a small bucket of water. I never did like it. Seemed like it generated a lot of crap in the air... crap that you couldn't see, but would end up on her furnace filter. Blech!
jt8
too much?
In a tight house it might be too much humidity. I did it for years when we used an electric dryer. What I did was unfasten the dryer vent pipe from the outside vent, and run it into a pillowcase, fastening it on with re-usable zip ties. The pillow case would have a moderate amount of lint by the end of the season. For the summer, I reconnected it to the vent.
It's kind of grasping at straws. Suppose you use your dryer 2 hours a day -- 21 loads a week. At 40 minutes per load.
If it uses 3000 watts on the average, that's 10,000 BTU/hour. Your furnace is rated at something like 100,000 BTU per hour. So it will save about 4 minutes furnace operating time per load.
Numbers may be off, but you get my drift.
Congrats -- you've created, I think, five "zombie" threads today.
Scott,
I think maybe he didn't receive the BT welcome wagon tote bag with all the coupons and you know, the innerds of this smooth operation they used to call Breaktime.
But hey, at least he's trying.
And, I got a kick out of the rejuvenation of the "how do I dress myself thread".
The 70s answer was to put a pair of panty hose over the discharge pipe. Just don't forget it. My ex did that and after a winter she had a perfect pair of lint "legs".