recycle dryer heat

**momofslg** · 01-05-2008, 11:33 PM

I haven't read this here so I thought I'd pass this along.

I have been using a "dryer heat saver" by Deflecto company for over 4 years now and I love it. You can find this at Home Depot for under $10. The device installs on your dryer vent tube and it will recycle the heat your dryer produces during its cycle inside the house instead of heating the outdoors. It comes with a lint trap and you can close off the vent for summer.

My dryer is in the basement and I open the vent, in no time at all the basement is warm and I can feel a difference throughout the house.

Use only on electric dryers!!!!!!!!!!

**faw42077** · 01-05-2008, 11:37 PM

Thanks, have never heard of it before. Will have to check it out.

**sdrjeolsen** · 01-06-2008, 12:22 AM

great idea. I don't have a dryer now to do that with, but in the winter my folks run the end of the vent tube into the house (hangs it on a screw in the wall) and put a nylon pantyhose over the end to catch the lint. The only caveat, the humidy can really build up in the house if you live in a humid climate. It really makes a difference for them. I had totally forgotten about that. Great tip!

**shortcake** · 01-06-2008, 12:33 AM

I wanted to do this a couple of years ago but DH was told that it causes humidity problems. When we bought our house the basement was really humide and musty. We have solved the problem and I don't want it to come back. Have you experienced any moisture problems?

**momofslg** · 01-06-2008, 12:51 AM

I haven't had any problems with moisture. We do use a dehumidifier in the summer but not in the winter. I don't do too much laundry at once. I spread the loads out over the week(maybe 2 a day) If it gets too humid you can close the vent at any time.

**shortcake** · 01-06-2008, 12:56 AM

Thanks! I will have to look into it again.

**emily_hope** · 01-06-2008, 01:11 AM

Never heard of that. My laundry room gets chilly, it would be nice if I could route the heat back into the laundry room.

**tbs727** · 01-06-2008, 09:28 AM

I have often wondered if that would cause any problems. It's a great idea. It gets so dry here in the winter that I welcome some extra humidity.

**ilovechocolate** · 01-06-2008, 09:31 AM

Thanks for this info. With electricity costs the way they are, this could certainly help.

**tkn4lif** · 01-06-2008, 10:15 AM

We also do this!! I love it! It provides extra heat in the area of our house that is the coldest!!!

I reccommend everyone to try it!

**FrugalMomof3** · 01-06-2008, 10:27 AM

We had that before and when we had contractors here to fix some things they told us it was no good because of the moisture coming inside the home. Just an FYI.

**tkn4lif** · 01-07-2008, 05:39 PM

Originally Posted by FrugalMomof3

We had that before and when we had contractors here to fix some things they told us it was no good because of the moisture coming inside the home. Just an FYI.

Unless your house it too dry. Then you should have a little moisture.

**frugalnana** · 01-07-2008, 07:33 PM

Thank you for putting this thread up. Dh and I were discussing how we could save even more and he was wondering if we could use the heat from the dryer to heat the house when I use it in the winter. He was looking online and found this one item for $49 that is a box and you put under your dryer and then the sleeve from your dryer attaches to it and the front of the box has a hole and the warm air blows out. This sounded good since the laundry room is by the kitchen.
But what you mentioned is cheaper and can still hook through our basement.
Thanks again.

**YankeeMom** · 01-07-2008, 07:42 PM

Our dryer already vents into the basement. Because we have limestone walls in our basement and the previous owners did not want to take out the window to install a vent they installed this canister thing that the dryer vents into. It holds a little bit of water in it to collect the lint, but disperses the heat into the basement.

Too bad none of it comes upstairs. There are times when the basement feels warmer than the upstairs lol. As for the humidity issue, we do not have that problem in the winter. In the winter, the house is too dry (basement included) if anything. Because the furnace is in the basement and keeping the air moving, etc. humidity does not have a chance to build up.