OT-a contest..the most OT-dryer vents

[oldpotatoe]

How about this..I have an electric clothes dryer. New bathroom about 6 years ago(dryer in bathroom)..dryer vent relocated up wall, thru ceiling(dryer in basement)..and to outside. Seems the vent line(probably 30 feet of line) has become either holed or ripped or otherwise disconnected in the wall...Vent guy suggested an external 'lint trap/dryer vent'...for those that don't have an external dryer vent or has the problem I have..anybody use one of these? They work, room doesn't get way warm? Trying to save the $ of tearing up 2 walls and a big chunk of celiing..

Muchas gracias and I'll bet my OT is bigger than your OT...:D

[ColonelJLloyd]

Ouch. 30ft of dryer duct. . . . . . I've never used a dryer without an external duct and it sure would stand to reason that they heat up the room a lot.

[thwart]

We did this for a while in our last house, probably 25 years ago. It was 1928 vintage, the lovely old thing leaked like a sieve, all original windows.

Electric dryer, so no dangerous exhaust, but can your likely newer, and therefore much 'tighter' home handle that much extra humidity? In dry and windy Colorado, you may be OK. Especially in the winter.

[yngpunk]

How about this..I have an electric clothes dryer. New bathroom about 6 years ago(dryer in bathroom)..dryer vent relocated up wall, thru ceiling(dryer in basement)..and to outside. Seems the vent line(probably 30 feet of line) has become either holed or ripped or otherwise disconnected in the wall...Vent guy suggested an external 'lint trap/dryer vent'...for those that don't have an external dryer vent or has the problem I have..anybody use one of these? They work, room doesn't get way warm? Trying to save the $ of tearing up 2 walls and a big chunk of celiing..

Muchas gracias and I'll bet my OT is bigger than your OT...:D

If you do end up replacing dryer vent line, insist on rigid vent line, not the compressible kind. Will greatly improve airflow, reduce potential for lint build up and blockage, esp. if you are looking at a 30 foot run.

[carpediemracing]

Those lint trap vent things release a lot of humidity/moisture into the room, like a lot. Lots. Great for heating/humidifying your house in a dry winter, the exact opposite of what you want to do in the humid summers around here.

Is there a way to do a smaller vent through the current vent opening? Probably not code, I'm guessing, but a hard vent line is pretty strong once it's screwed together etc. I have all but a couple feet of our (externally accessible) dryer vent line made out of that stuff, with stainless screws holding it together. Flexible line so we can move the dryer around a bit. I've replaced the flex stuff a couple times already but the hard stuff is strong. Easy to clean also, if it comes down to that.

[vqdriver]

i don't think i understand what's happening.
the vent duct inside the wall is somehow compromised so no airflow to the outside. so you want to put an external dryer vent where? inside the basement?

fwiw, 30 feet is a long way for a dryer to push that air.

[Tandem Rider]

If the humidity don't getcha, the mold will.

The humidity will condense on cold surfaces (like inside your walls, under window trim) in the winter feeding the mold spores and starting the hostile takeover of your house.

[Bwana]

We used one at the golf course I worked at to clean the cart towels. It was terrible. Made the room crazy hot and humid and blew lint everywhere (even with the lint trap in place).

[yngpunk]

i don't think i understand what's happening.
the vent duct inside the wall is somehow compromised so no airflow to the outside. so you want to put an external dryer vent where? inside the basement?

fwiw, 30 feet is a long way for a dryer to push that air.

I think OP is considering something like this, which is essentially a lint trap and the hot and moist air vents into the room vs outside. The other option is a ventless dryer.

[Louis]

Some brainstorming:

Assuming your dryer can push the air 30', could they snake a second flexible hose through the existing path using the line that's currently there as a guide?

If your dryer can't push the air that far you could always add another fan to help it out.

[benb]

I have the exact same one pictured above. We were using it in the winter for a while. In our house:

- the dryer is on the 2nd floor. :rolleyes:
- vent goes into the wall near the floor and snakes up inside the wall :confused:
- vent exits where it blows right into the soffit vents :crap:

You can guess it.. it causes ice dam problems.

We have a condensing furnace (actually 2, we have a mini split setup :rolleyes: ) so humidity was not a problem. We were pushing down into the teens and lower 20s for humidity.. to the point we were getting sinus infections.

We had a baby most of this period so were running the dryer like crazy and the indoor vent can barely raise the humidity 1% in our house. Not really an issue.

We finally got a heat tape installation in fall 2015 so we don't need the indoor vent anymore but it did get the job done, it just sprayed lint all over our laundry closet. It was not enough to fully mitigate the ice dam issue in the worst weather but it did help.

We've incidentally got a whole house humidifier now to take care of the low humidity issue.

[Gsinill]

I think OP is considering something like this, which is essentially a lint trap and the hot and moist air vents into the room vs outside. The other option is a ventless dryer.

That's what we have. I think they also call it a condenser dryer.
And yes, lots of heat. Good in winter, bad in humid midwest summers.
Not bad enough to regret the purchase though.

[vqdriver]

Dude. Drywall is easy (ish).
Just replace the damn duct and do it the right way.
If youre not getting good airflow with the dryer alone, you can add an auxiliary exhaust fan at the exit point. Do this once and youre set for quite a while

Edit. This also allows you to route it out the side of the first floor, hopefully reducing the length of required ducting by a lot.

[pbarry]

I'd be happy to take a look at what you have going on Peter. There is usually more than one solution to a problem. No a huge fan of the inside vents, unless there's enough square footage for the humidity to dissipate.

[wc1934]

If the humidity don't getcha, the mold will.

The humidity will condense on cold surfaces (like inside your walls, under window trim) in the winter feeding the mold spores and starting the hostile takeover of your house.

This is what I was thinking. I would vent to the outside.

[witcombusa]

If you do end up replacing dryer vent line, insist on rigid vent line, not the compressible kind. Will greatly improve airflow, reduce potential for lint build up and blockage, esp. if you are looking at a 30 foot run.

THIS!
It could easily take 30% off the time it takes to dry a full load.

As for the 'interior' vents, it will at heat, humidity and lint to where ever it dumps out. In a dry climate like CO it may not be an issue with the moisture, but still adds heat and lint. I do it to add moisture to my attic space! And the (former) bats hate the lint so they leave too.... back outside where they belong. ;)

[johnniecakes]

Mrs. Cakes had me install lines in the unused portion of the basement. She does a load maybe every other day and hangs it in the basement in the evening before we retire for the night. In the morning it comes down dry and ready to be put away. She may use the dryer once a month or so if it is rainy for a few days. Just a thought.

[paredown]

Even though it will be a PITA--I would be inclined to replace the pipe with rigid, and use the proper alu HVAC tape on any joints. Patching drywall is not that hard--'specially if you can build wheels.:)

For soffit vents, there is one available made by Lambro that sits down from the soffit and is double ended. It doesn't 'solve' the condensation problem, but it does help mitigate.

[oldpotatoe]

Thanks all.....I had a new bathroom installed about 6 years ago. Dryer is in lower level, in bathroom, actually where the bedrooms are, not really a "basement"...gonna talk to the guy who did the renovation...rigid vent line for sure...not gonna attempt drywall....thanks all tho...

[saf-t]

If the humidity don't getcha, the mold will.

The humidity will condense on cold surfaces (like inside your walls, under window trim) in the winter feeding the mold spores and starting the hostile takeover of your house.


This. I've seen it more than once.

Dryers should be vented to the outside, and with the shortest possible vent run. Their exhaust fans aren't really designed to overcome the air resistance of a 30' run- the longer the run, the less efficient drying you'll have. And use solid duct- the flexible stuff adds a lot of resistance to airflow.

[45K10]

That's what we have. I think they also call it a condenser dryer.
And yes, lots of heat. Good in winter, bad in humid midwest summers.
Not bad enough to regret the purchase though.

I'm glad your are happy with yours but,

My In-laws bought a "top of line" Bosch vent-less dryer about a year ago and it is a piece a crap. Takes forever to dry anything and it produces a lot of heat in the house not mention the condenser requires regular maintenance or it will back up and leak water all over the place.

[paredown]

I'm glad your are happy with yours but,

My In-laws bought a "top of line" Bosch vent-less dryer about a year ago and it is a piece a crap. Takes forever to dry anything and it produces a lot of heat in the house not mention the condenser requires regular maintenance or it will back up and leak water all over the place.
The condenser dryer is a Euro thing. You need a Euro-style front loading washing machine to pair with it--spins at higher rpm, so clothes are dryer out of the washing machine.

Then it still takes a long time to dry clothes. :banana: (Even worse were the one unit version we had in the UK--slow, small, and they really did not get the clothes dry.)

When we were in Germany, the washing procedure usually finished with hanging up partially damp stuff for an overnight dry....