I’ve known people that do it in the winter to save some extra heat, I dunno if they have mold problems or not but I decided to just try it for a load and see what happens. It certainly raised the entire house temperature by about 10 degrees to a cozy 73F, noticeably a bit more humid but it’s not really winter just yet.
but curious what the straight dope is if you use a dehumidifier in the room the dryer is in and use a dryer indoor filter?
I’ve never used a dehumidifier so not sure how effective they would be for forced evaporated air, anyone experienced with doing this?
I know people that also use humidifiers in the winter to prevent a dry throat in the morning and I know from experience those things can sweat the windows easily so is mold a guaranteed problem in both situations? If so then how long could you exhaust dryer vent indoors before mold starts to grow?
My household, we use the dryer for maybe 4 loads tops throughout the week, would it even matter?
The problem is the other chemicals. If you’re going to do that, you need to be very careful about what detergents and especially fabric softeners you use. I did it one Winter, I had a rental with a switch you could pull which would open up the dryer vent to the room with a screen to stop any lint from coming out.
I had to give up dryer sheets - a royal pain in the Wintertime as everything came out clingy. I finally started leaving it open for the first 30 minutes, then closing it and putting in a dryer sheet for the last 30. The humidity was welcome to me - I always hate how dry and static-y the house gets when the heat is on.
edited to add: never mind my comment about gas dryers, I missed it in the subject.
First off, don’t do this with a gas dryer, electric only.
second, the apartment I lived in previously had basement storage with utility hookups. I was required to use an indoor-vent kit, basically a plastic box with an inch of water in the bottom. Mold wasn’t really a problem, but dust/lint was.
Thanks. We just use Gain pods in the washer and a Gain dryer sheet. Whatever chemicals it has is probably on our skin all the time anyway. Maybe there’s an indoor air quality test kit out there?
Menards sell this plastic indoor vent kit and has this box but doesn’t seem to have a filter? It pushes air into the box and has some vent holes towards the top…not sure how it’s supposed to prevent lint from coming out, it just says it’s a “plastic lint reservoir”
Think I’ll give it a go this winter and get a dehumidifier for the utility room, if nothing else maybe the dehumidifier will come in handy during the summer.
The problem is that it’s localised to the laundry room, making it a sauna. If the dryer exhaust could be directed somehow to the central air system it might work OK, sort of.
We did it all the time in my house growing up. The house was built in the 1920s so there was plenty of air leakage in the winter and it would be naturally quite dry with radiators and no central humidifier. The dryer was in the basement and had a simple diverter to blow into the room rather than outside, and it actually aimed right towards the stairs to the first floor, so natural convection would help the heat filter up into the rest of the house. We used one of mom’s old stockings over the outlet to catch the lint. It looked a little funny, but the large surface area made it much more effective than a simple screen. The stockings also worked great for the washing machine drain hose, which emptied into the utility sink and would tend to clog the drain otherwise. Once they were all filled up with lint and such we’d just throw them away.
My parents have laundry lines strung across the basement and in the winter will air-dry clothes down there. With the forced-air heat, the clothes dry quickly. But unless you use fabric softener in the wash, they can be very stiff.
You can get an indoor humidity monitor for 10-15 bucks.
Generally, you’re at low risk to elevate the dry winter air to unhealthy levels. If you have good air circulation, you can avoid damp zones (close to where the warm dryer air is released).
Anyone paying attention and aware of the humidity levels can probably take advantage of the hot air quite safely from an electric dryer.
All I noticed at this point is that the windows condensate. But it really warmed up the whole downstairs, felt a tad humid but I suspect once winter actually hits it won’t be as bad.
I worried at first about mold but really, no more than what we use the dryer, I now don’t think it’ll be an issue.