Venting dryer indoors

**Squirt** · 10-22-2008, 03:56 PM

I ordered a heat keeper kit for dbf's dryer; it attaches to the dryer vent hose and allows you to vent the dryer heat to the house or to outside. I don't know where I first heard of these, but it's been in the back of my mind for a while. DBF is concerned about the humidity it will be adding. I thought it was a good thing, as indoor humidity is always so low in the winter. I usually have a humidifier on at my place all winter long. DBF doesn't have one at all. His furnace is oil and he barely runs it. He also has a woodburning fireplace insert and lots of wood to burn in the evenings this year, which I imagine will dry the air even more.

Has anyone else used the dryer heat keeper? Am I right not to worry about the added humidity?

**madhen** · 10-22-2008, 03:59 PM

It sounds like a great idea! I would love to be able to vent my clothes' dryer heat back into the house, but I suspected it would blow lint and such back in, as well.

How does it work? Was there a web-site to visit?

**monkeywrangler71** · 10-22-2008, 04:01 PM

If the place is dry then you might need the extra humidity, if it's not then it can lead to problems with mildew and mold. My dryer is in the basement, so venting it inside is out of the question.

**Greebo** · 10-22-2008, 04:03 PM

High humidity can be very very bad. Use extreme caution.

**Moor** · 10-22-2008, 04:05 PM

Originally Posted by madhen

It sounds like a great idea! I would love to be able to vent my clothes' dryer heat back into the house, but I suspected it would blow lint and such back in, as well.

How does it work? Was there a web-site to visit?

It has a special filter for the lint. That keeps it from coming back into the house. I have one, but since my dryer is in the garage, I use it to keep the family room from getting too cold, as there is little heat on that side of the house.

**madhen** · 10-22-2008, 04:12 PM

My laundry room is connected to where my finches live. These particular finches love high humidity, and I can never keep it very humid, even with humidifiers going. I'm thinking even if it were just a special treat once a week, they'd benefit from it.

**freebs** · 10-22-2008, 04:13 PM

There is a kit you can buy at lowes that you just hook your dryer vent hose too, and it has a filter to filter out lint! here is one that i found online

http://www.indoorlinttrapfilter.com/servlet/Detail?no=2

**Shoshana** · 10-22-2008, 04:37 PM

cool idea!

I guess my question would be is whether a basement 'up north' is still considered at risk of dampness in the winter time?

Even once a week or so, it would sure be great to be able to get some humid warm air into the house. My dryer is near the back foyer which opens onto the kitchen (two short flights of steps). If I kept the back kitchen door open, theoretically, the heat would rise to the kitchen. Right?

**Squirt** · 10-22-2008, 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by freebs

There is a kit you can buy at lowes that you just hook your dryer vent hose too, and it has a filter to filter out lint! here is one that i found online

http://www.indoorlinttrapfilter.com/servlet/Detail?no=2

The kit I bought is similar to this one. I love the idea; I hope it does something.

I bought mine off Amazon. It was <$6 plus $7 shipping.

The dryer is in a ground floor entryway room off the kitchen which is on a slab and is very cold. The kitchen is cold, too, as it is built over a "crawlspace" of less than 2 feet.

I have a thermometer/hygrometer combo which I guess I need to be taking to dbf's to monitor the humidity.

**Squirt** · 10-22-2008, 05:03 PM

Originally Posted by Shoshana

cool idea!

I guess my question would be is whether a basement 'up north' is still considered at risk of dampness in the winter time?

Even once a week or so, it would sure be great to be able to get some humid warm air into the house. My dryer is near the back foyer which opens onto the kitchen (two short flights of steps). If I kept the back kitchen door open, theoretically, the heat would rise to the kitchen. Right?

Theoretically, yes. Sounds like you could use a hygrometer, too.

I can always tell at home if I've gone nuts with the humidifier as I'll get condensation on the windows. But I have single-pane windows... I don't know if the "good" ones will show it as easily.

**redbug29** · 10-22-2008, 06:28 PM

I love mine, I have my dryer in my finished basement.

My daughters bedroom is down there and when I do laundry it helps heat the basement. I do run a de-humidifier only about half the time in the winter to keep some humid air, but we run it (the de-humidifier) all the time in the summer because its too humid in the summer. So it works wonderful for us...Just using heat that we other wise waste...

**MRAHoffman** · 10-22-2008, 06:51 PM

I used to have one in my apartment and LOVED it. Inmy house it wouldn'b be feesible Yes, it ads extra heat and humidity, but now unwanted in any way. Good luck. Take care and God bless.

Rhonda

**prftstrngr** · 10-22-2008, 07:55 PM

When we lived in our other house we had one and you could flip it to vent indoors or out. I liked the heat....hated the humidity. It does create quite a bit of humidity but if that is not a problem I say go for it!

**santoria** · 10-22-2008, 08:24 PM

ours was vented to the inside when we moved in (a brilliant DIYer he was not), the entire basement had to be gutted because of toxic mold from the moisture.

I wouldn't recommend it unless you had the proper ventilation to get rid of the excess moisture.

**Greebo** · 10-22-2008, 09:29 PM

Originally Posted by santoria

ours was vented to the inside when we moved in (a brilliant DIYer he was not), the entire basement had to be gutted because of toxic mold from the moisture.

I wouldn't recommend it unless you had the proper ventilation to get rid of the excess moisture.

I was hoping someone had a story like this of personal experience to tell. Like I said - moisture = very potentially bad.