I’ve recently heard of some fancy clothesdrying device called a “Condensation Dryer” which purports to not need to be vented in the way a standard clothesdryer does. Has anyone here ever used such a device? I’ve got a very awkwardly situated laundry room in the new house, and while venting the dryer into a container of water(?!) was deemed adequate by the previous occupants (with whom I do not share many ideas of what is a good thing to do to a house) I am reluctant to the extreme.
What are folks suggestions on how to have a clothes dryer if getting a vent run to the interior room with the hookup proves un-viable or prohibitively expensive?
Condensing dryers are pretty popular in Europe, judging by the names of companies that make them - Bosch, Siemens, Miele, etc. As you’ve already noted, they’re a bit on the fancy side and carry fancy prices.
The main issue is that they dump a bunch of heat into the laundry room. Great in winter, not so great in summer.
Indoor dryer vents do much the same thing, except they vent hot and humid air into the laundry room.
I’m less worried about heat in the summer since I discovered this awesome new technology referred to as a “clothesline” which should be able to alleviate a lot of my summer drying needs. It’s less practical during Winter in New England though.
I’ve had an LG wash-dry combo unit (model WM3431H) for the past 2 years or so and I love it. It was a couple hundred more than the equivalent stacked washer/dryer unit but I think I’ll make that up in energy savings since these units don’t continuously pump the hot moist air out into the environment. The energy guide tag for my model says:
Additional savings may be realized by not needing a dryer duct lint-snaking every few years.
Not sure what this is all about. These units vent NO air at all. The one in my condo does not raise the temperature in the laundry area, that I have been able to notice. These dryers keep reciurculating the same hot air within the unit. As the hot, moist air passes over condensation coils, the steam is drawn out and drains normally through the water discharge line.
Added benefit #1 is that this is a front loading machine so it uses much less water and only about a teaspoon of liquid detergent per load. Benefit #2 is that it washes and drys in the same drum so you don’t need to play the role of human backloader moving ten pounds of wet laundry from the washer into the dryer.
The thing you will need to get used to about condensing dryers is that they can take a long time to dry a load. As long as 4 hours for 3 pair of jeans or some towels. Lighter stuff takes between 2-3 hours. If you are the type that stands in front of your dryer tapping your foot waiting for something to finish drying, this machine is not for you.
But once I became comfortable walking away from the washer/dryer and just going on about my life while it does its thing, I felt very satisfied about my switch to a ventless washer/dryer combo.
I had one when I lived in NYC. It was a Bosch and was fine; I didn’t love it or hate it.
I never had to empty the condensation reservoir because there was never anything in it but I did have to pull out the condenser and rinse it out (wet lint, gross!) on a regular basis. I never had any problems with it at all.
Truthfully, the dryer was a lot better than the washer (Kids? You WILL have to learn to drain the thing beacuse of beads, pebbles or stickers.) it was maddening.
We use one here in Italy. As mentioned above, it’s slow, so you have to keep up with laundry if mother nature is not cooperating outside with the solar dryer. Yes, they do dump heat to the laundry room. Some cycles, it’s direct. Otherwise the entire dryer heats up on the outside and heats the room convectively.
It’s less practical during Winter in New England though.