Author Topic: Recycling dryer heat (Read 9249 times)

ChadTower · « **on:** January 19, 2006, 01:22:41 pm »

So, the cost of heating my house this winter is ticking me off. Thanks to high prices, we've already spent as much on oil this winter as we did all of last winter. I'm trying to find ways to conserve heat.

My wife runs the drier for like 3 hours a day. As most driers do, it vents to the outside. That's a lot of hot air. Has anyone tried to vent it to the INSIDE? I bet that would warm up the basement a few degrees.

JackTucky · « **Reply #1 on:** January 19, 2006, 01:23:40 pm »

It's VERY Humid air. You have to get rid of that humidity.

JAckTucky

ChadTower · « **Reply #2 on:** January 19, 2006, 01:25:30 pm »

There is a dehumidifer down there that only rarely kicks on during the winter.

menace · « **Reply #3 on:** January 19, 2006, 01:39:53 pm »

prolonged use of moist air will damage the insides of your wallsamong other things --if your humidifier can keep up with a dryer running 3 hrs a day it would have to be a very large industrial model to pull that much moisture from the air in such a short amount of time. I agree its a terrible waste of heat but I would recommend finding other solutions.

JackTucky · « **Reply #4 on:** January 19, 2006, 01:40:46 pm »

Quote from: menace on January 19, 2006, 01:39:53 pm

prolonged use of moist air will damage the insides of your wallsamong other things --if your humidifier can keep up with a dryer running 3 hrs a day it would have to be a very large industrial model to pull that much moisture from the air in such a short amount of time. I agree its a terrible waste of heat but I would recommend finding other solutions.

I'm no expert, but menace sounds like he is. What he said.

JackTucky

ChadTower · « **Reply #5 on:** January 19, 2006, 01:40:55 pm »

Hrm... my pins are in there, don't want to worry about more humidity than is necessary.

Stingray · « **Reply #6 on:** January 19, 2006, 01:46:43 pm »

Quote from: ChadTower on January 19, 2006, 01:40:55 pm

Hrm... my pins are in there, don't want to worry about more humidity than is necessary.

This alone is a good enough reason to keep it vented to the outside, IMO.

-S

JackTucky · « **Reply #7 on:** January 19, 2006, 01:48:28 pm »

why don't you cool the air, the water will condense, get rid of the water, then heat it up again, then put it in the basement.

problem solved

JackTucky

menace · « **Reply #8 on:** January 19, 2006, 01:51:35 pm »

I just got thinking--you are an avid freecycler--get some spare dehumidiiers--remove the coils and align them in series in a closed fixture--dryer air would pass inside, pass over the dehumidifier coils and you could recover the air sans liquid--course i have no idea if it would work since the act of dehumidifying cools the air but if you're bored on a sunday it might be an interesting experiment--who knows you could make it into a million dollar idea (i get 10% if you do)

mmmPeanutButter · « **Reply #9 on:** January 19, 2006, 02:17:09 pm »

Just get an air-to-air heat exchanger and a small fan. The air streams (inside and dryer) would never mix.

thebrownshow · « **Reply #10 on:** January 19, 2006, 02:31:59 pm »

Tell her to stop doing lanudry so much and just febreeze your pants.

Stingray · « **Reply #11 on:** January 19, 2006, 02:34:41 pm »

Quote from: thebrownshow on January 19, 2006, 02:31:59 pm

Tell her to stop doing lanudry so much and just febreeze your pants.

Or take it a step further and go with the patented MissionControl "I don't wear pants" philosophy.

-S

ChadTower · « **Reply #12 on:** January 19, 2006, 02:41:26 pm »

Quote from: mmmPeanutButter on January 19, 2006, 02:17:09 pm

Just get an air-to-air heat exchanger and a small fan. The air streams (inside and dryer) would never mix.

What is an air to air heat exchanger?

Havok · « **Reply #13 on:** January 19, 2006, 02:43:31 pm »

Check out Home Depot - I thought I saw something there once that attached to the dryer outlet for heating inside. It didn't exactly vent the air to the inside, was some kind of heat exchanger. Can't remember for sure, but I think it was HD...

mmmPeanutButter · « **Reply #14 on:** January 19, 2006, 02:47:16 pm »

Quote from: ChadTower on January 19, 2006, 02:41:26 pm

Quote from: mmmPeanutButter on January 19, 2006, 02:17:09 pm
Just get an air-to-air heat exchanger and a small fan. The air streams (inside and dryer) would never mix.

What is an air to air heat exchanger?

Like this kinda. There are different types.

[I've seen them a lot simpler than this one in the pic)

I've seen one that they made specifically for getting more heat from the chimny on a wood burning stove. I'm sure you could use the same on your dryer. Just wire it up so it turns on when your dryer is on.

ChadTower · « **Reply #15 on:** January 19, 2006, 02:52:35 pm »

Quote from: Havok on January 19, 2006, 02:43:31 pm

Check out Home Depot - I thought I saw something there once that attached to the dryer outlet for heating inside. It didn't exactly vent the air to the inside, was some kind of heat exchanger. Can't remember for sure, but I think it was HD...

Sounds a lot like what mmmPeanutButter is describing.

I just referred to someone as mmmPeanutButter. WTF.

mmmPeanutButter · « **Reply #16 on:** January 19, 2006, 02:57:12 pm »

Quote

I just referred to someone as mmmPeanutButter. WTF.

It's better that mmmCockandBalls

More Cowbell · « **Reply #17 on:** January 19, 2006, 03:12:59 pm »

Put on a sweater.

shmokes · « **Reply #18 on:** January 19, 2006, 03:14:20 pm »

You should just talk politics at home more often...

ChadTower · « **Reply #19 on:** January 19, 2006, 03:18:16 pm »

Quote from: More Cowbell on January 19, 2006, 03:12:59 pm

Put on a sweater.

Already been doing that... we've been keeping the thermostat on like 65. It's the stupid oil prices, too damn high.

JackTucky · « **Reply #20 on:** January 19, 2006, 03:27:45 pm »

Oil heats a dinasour! Oil heats a dinosaur!

That damn radio commercial from about 5 years ago....

jacktucky

More Cowbell · « **Reply #21 on:** January 19, 2006, 03:33:14 pm »

Put on 2 sweaters.

Seriously, I'm with ya (although natural gas, not oil). Our issue is that our daughter's room is on the far end of the house from the furnace/AC so it's the hottest room in the summer and coldest in the winter. We put a little space heater in there but I worry about the safety of it and it uses lots of electricity. I think I'll put 2 sweaters on her.

Stingray · « **Reply #22 on:** January 19, 2006, 03:48:34 pm »

Quote from: mmmPeanutButter on January 19, 2006, 02:47:16 pm

I've seen one that they made specifically for getting more heat from the chimny on a wood burning stove. I'm sure you could use the same on your dryer. Just wire it up so it turns on when your dryer is on.

I've seen those, but would never have thought of using one on a dryer vent. That's actually very clever.

The lint won't clog it up will it... or am I misunderstanding something?

-S

mmmPeanutButter · « **Reply #23 on:** January 19, 2006, 03:53:06 pm »

Quote from: Stingray on January 19, 2006, 03:48:34 pm

Quote from: mmmPeanutButter on January 19, 2006, 02:47:16 pm

I've seen one that they made specifically for getting more heat from the chimny on a wood burning stove. I'm sure you could use the same on your dryer. Just wire it up so it turns on when your dryer is on.

I've seen those, but would never have thought of using one on a dryer vent. That's actually very clever.

The lint won't clog it up will it... or am I misunderstanding something?

-S

It might with the kind in the drawing I posted cause the channels are very small. But the one for chimneys is different. I don't know why I cant find a pic of google.

There is a tradeoff. The smaller the channels, the greater the heat recovery, but the higher chance of plugging it up. Larger channels, no plugging but less heat.

Google has forsaken me!

mrhowell · « **Reply #24 on:** January 19, 2006, 03:55:53 pm »

Sorry your energy costs are so high. I guess i'm lucky living in the south. My electric bill averages about $130.00 a month. No oil or gas thank god. Thermostat on 76 in the winter and 68 in the summer. Now my Chevron bill is $380.00 amonth ( my wife drives a lot for her job). Have you looked in to under floor radiant heating? That is if you're planning on staying the house for awhile.

mmmPeanutButter · « **Reply #25 on:** January 19, 2006, 03:57:35 pm »

or just get a solar air heating system.

http://www.solarunlimited.net/solarwall.html

(I'm not completely impartial)

nostrebor · « **Reply #26 on:** January 19, 2006, 04:00:08 pm »

The chimney heat exchanger is called a magic heat.

You could also try sex. It generates a lot of free heat and requires less mechanical skill than installing a magic heat. If the basements is cold, just relocate the sex to there.

Simple!

ChadTower · « **Reply #27 on:** January 19, 2006, 04:01:03 pm »

I'm married. The sex is already cold enough.

mmmPeanutButter · « **Reply #28 on:** January 19, 2006, 04:02:07 pm »

Quote from: nostrebor on January 19, 2006, 04:00:08 pm

The fireplace one is called a magic heat.

I am impressed! you found it.

thebrownshow · « **Reply #29 on:** January 19, 2006, 04:03:08 pm »

Quote from: mrhowell on January 19, 2006, 03:55:53 pm

Thermostat on 76 in the winter and 68 in the summer.

Even if you reverse those (76 in summer and 68 in winter) you don't even come close to what I set my thermostat at... damn.

nostrebor · « **Reply #30 on:** January 19, 2006, 04:03:28 pm »

Quote from: ChadTower on January 19, 2006, 04:01:03 pm

I'm married. The sex is already cold enough.

Perhaps it has something to do with the mechanical skills involved?

ChadTower · « **Reply #31 on:** January 19, 2006, 04:09:59 pm »

It's the bureaucracy involved.

nostrebor · « **Reply #32 on:** January 19, 2006, 04:12:08 pm »

Well... didn't mean to bring up politics.

Just call me a troll and get back on topic then.

menace · « **Reply #33 on:** January 19, 2006, 04:13:25 pm »

keep in mind that you need somewhere for all that condensate to go--all those heat exchanagers are designed for dry heat--something that is supersaturated like dryer air will drop ALOT of moisture as the heat is drawn out and transferred to the colder air on the other side of the exchanger plates/coils whatever. Also you'd need a filtering device of some kind as alot of dryer lint makes it past your dryer's filter and out of the house.

I think its a workable idea though, anything to help reduce our energy demands is a good thing in my eyes--when gas and oil guys are behind me in line at mcdonalds, then i will have reached my conservation goals-----daisies---!

Stingray · « **Reply #34 on:** January 19, 2006, 04:20:51 pm »

Okay, so let me ask this. Suppose you were to install the heat exchanger inside the house between the dryer and the wall, inline in the vent. Would that setup keep the heat in the house and still blow the moisture and lint out the vent?

-S

mmmPeanutButter · « **Reply #35 on:** January 19, 2006, 04:31:05 pm »

maybe mount something like the Magic Heat sideways and put a small drain on it? I think maybe as you're pushing the cooler air through the tubes, condensate might form on them. You wouldn't want this to drip back down the dryer.

I have no idea what I'm saying. $:-\$

ChadTower · « **Reply #36 on:** January 19, 2006, 04:42:12 pm »

Maybe I'll just disable the door switch so that she can run the dryer with the door open.

ArcadeMaze · « **Reply #37 on:** January 19, 2006, 07:04:18 pm »

We did that for a little bit, but then stopped because I am under the impression that dryers give off Carbon Monoxide. Well, on Gas Dryers anyway since there is a gas flame involved.

Well, I could be wrong, but that's what the guy that did a carbon monoxide test on our house told us.

Kremmit · « **Reply #38 on:** January 19, 2006, 11:33:52 pm »

I thought about doing a dryer heat thing here. I was going to adapt the design from a counterflow wort chiller (that's a homebrew beer thing). Have a look at the "Fermentap Convoluted Copper Counterflow Chiller" on this page:
http://www.undergrounddigital.com/brewinghardware.html

Basically, it's a smaller diameter pipe inside a larger diameter one. For beer, you run the hot wort through the inner pipe, and hook the outer one up to the cold water tap. You run the flows in opposite directions, and by the time the wort gets to the far end, it's as cold as your cold water, if the chiller is long enough.

You could rig the same thing up with air lines, and maintain the large diameter vent pipe, so you don't have lint clog problems. It wouldn't need to be a giant coil, you could shape it however fits your basement the best. Just rig a fan to the outter pipe, and feed the outflow into the area you want to heat.

ErikRuud · « **Reply #39 on:** January 20, 2006, 08:26:44 am »

Chad,

Do you have forced air heating? You will get a lot more benefit from this http://www.aeroseal.com/ than you would from trying to squeeze a few more BTU's out of your dryer.

I had it done at my house last week. The testing showed that my ducts were leaking 241 cubic feat per minute. After the sealing process, the leakage is down to 50cfm. They can't go lower than about 50cfm because the back pressure starts to build up and the sealant will get blown back into the blower.

Before and after airflow test at each register showed a 30 to 60% percent increase.

The improvement was noticable right away. The second floor was always colder than the first, now it gets just as much heat at the first floor.

The cost was 1,250.00. Between a credit on our gas bill and the projected 40% reduction in heating costs, it should pay for itself in two years. That does not take in account the improved cooling efficiency which should reduce my electric bills in the summer.


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