saving energy in winter
By lyndaj70
@lyndaj70 (293)
United States
December 1, 2007 2:11pm CST
In the winter, I close off my external dryer vent and attach an internal vent system to my dryer. You keep it filled with water to catch the lint, and when you run your dryer it fills your house with warm, moist air which keeps your furnace from kicking on quite as often.
I do this cause you pay money to heat your house and keep it humidified in the winter, yet pay to heat air to dry your clothes, and then pump that paid-for heat outside. Made no sense to me. When spring arrives I will re-route the vent on the dryer where the heat goes back outside, so my air-conditioner won't have to work as hard.
How many others do little things like that to save energy? What do you do and why?
2 people like this
7 responses
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
1 Dec 07
I had never heard of a system like that! Sounds like it could be something worth looking into! This isn't my house so I personally don't really do anything here but I know everything not in use is unplugged and the hot water heater is turned down as low as possible.
1 person likes this
@lyndaj70 (293)
• United States
1 Dec 07
Believe it or not, the idea came out of a desire to have a dryer but no place to vent it in a trailer I once owned. At first, I just stuck a panty hose leg over the end of the dryer hose, and noticed that my heating bill went down in the winter.... Then I ended up purchasing an apartment dryer with this accessory... it's a plastic box with a vented top and a place to attach the hose. You fill it with water, and the air from the dryer goes down, hits the water (which traps the lint), then bounces back into the air in your home....
@theproperator (2429)
• United States
1 Dec 07
Where did you get that system? I've always wanted to do something like that at my house, but hadn't found a good way to contain the lint from getting everywhere. Now that I know someone else actually does this, I'm going to reinvestigate this option.
@lyndaj70 (293)
• United States
1 Dec 07
My system actually came with an apartment dryer I once purchased, so I don't know the official name... at first I started out with a pantyhose leg that I would clean out....
I did a quick search and found one here:
www.dundasjafine.com/products/indoordryerventkit.html
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
8 Feb 08
I would love to have one of thoes dryer humidifyers you have described. Where did you ever get it and was it easy to install. I live in Utah and the air here is really dry. We get horible dry skin all winter long and it has cost us a small fortune in lotions. This sounds like a great idea.
@lightningMD (5931)
• United States
3 Dec 07
I used to do this at our house in Michigan. My house was toasty warm n wash days. I also bake bread on wash days a set the bread to raise covered of course on top of the dryer. The bread raises very nicely from all that warmth.
@lilybug (21107)
• United States
1 Dec 07
If you have a gas dryer and you are letting the dryer vent inside the house you are filling your home with carbon monoxide and is very dangerous. This in not a problem with electric dryers as they do not produce carbon monoxide, but gas dryers do.
@lyndaj70 (293)
• United States
1 Dec 07
I wouldn't know about gas dryers as my dryers are electric... but if logic serves me dryer drums aren't airtight, and if carbon monoxide were to be vented into them, not only would it contaminate our clothing, but would leak into our house whenever we opened the dryer door, or would just leak out as the dryer worked... I would love to hear from someone with more dryer and gas plumbing knowledge about it.
@Sillychick (3275)
• United States
6 Dec 07
Be careful with the dryer vent- that extra moisture can cause mold, which is dangerous to your health.
I bake more in the winter, so the heat from the oven helps warm the house, making the furnace not have to run so much. I also hang heavier curtains on the windows, to keep the heat from escaping.
@breezie (1246)
• Canada
3 Dec 07
That is a great idea. I used to have one of those plastic things on our apartment dryer, but I gave it to my parents when we gave them our old dryer. I don't think they even use it as they have an outdoor vent. I should see if they still have it.
