Dryer vent lint trap

[BIGDADDY]

Another consideration. Mold grows where there is moisture, and a dryer vent sends plenty of moisture into the air. Your clothes dryer may be in the basement, an alcove on the main floor, in the bathroom or the kitchen, but regardless of location, mold spores get into the air and expose you and your family to a toxic environment. Dangers of mold include breathing problems, stuffiness and skin irritation.

I'd just cut the hole in the side of the house and put in the vent.
There are better safe ways to humidify your home.

 

[GaryGary]

The biggest problem with not venting the dryer outdoors comes from the humid exhaust. This creates problems in whatever part of the house that it is located in because as we all know, moisture causes damage to many materials, including the framing on a house. And over time, that is exactly what an unvented dryer will do.

This is very dependent on your climate and your house.
I have logged humidity on a data logger in the room that the dryer is vented to and if you look at the log, it shows a bump in the RH up to about 50% and then a drop down to our usual level of RH in the 20's.
Too much moisture is certainly something you want to check on, but for a lot of the US, its simply not a problem.

Gary

 

[BIGDADDY]

This is very dependent on your climate and your house.
I have logged humidity on a data logger in the room that the dryer is vented to and if you look at the log, it shows a bump in the RH up to about 50% and then a drop down to our usual level of RH in the 20's.
Too much moisture is certainly something you want to check on, but for a lot of the US, its simply not a problem.

Gary

The guy asking lives in New York.
You measure the relative humidity in the room our dryer is being vented into? Where does that moisture go that your dryer is blowing into that room? It leaves the air which you measure and goes where?

 

[GaryGary]

The guy asking lives in New York.
You measure the relative humidity in the room our dryer is being vented into? Where does that moisture go that your dryer is blowing into that room? It leaves the air which you measure and goes where?

It mixes with the air in the house and the relative humidity drops as it mixes with more and more air.
Even relatively tight homes get enough outside air infiltration to change the air in the house for outside air every couple hours.

Gary

 

[BIGDADDY]

It mixes with the air in the house and the relative humidity drops as it mixes with more and more air.
Even relatively tight homes get enough outside air infiltration to change the air in the house for outside air every couple hours.

Gary

Maybe so but I still think venting a dryer indoors promotes mold and mildew and in severe cases wood rot.I think the moisture will be distributed to walls flooring and any other item in the direct vicinity of the vent and not simply dissipate. It wont happen overnight but in time you will most likely discover problems due to venting a dryer inside. I'm not willing to chance even the mold for my families health sake.
Many local building codes require any dryer,gas or electric to be vented outside.
I guess it all comes down to "it's your property" to each his own.

 

[maple1]

The spike in RH that Gary is speaking of would be no worry to me.

How much do you think RH spikes in a bathroom & immediate area when someone is taking a shower - even with proper ventilation? We'd all be relegated to outdoor showers if that was a health concern.

 

[BIGDADDY]

Yes I have vents in my bathrooms too. Vented to the outside. I guess if if you want the extra moisture in the bathroom just don't turn on the vent. Maybe we should all just vent our dryers into our bathrooms. LOL

 

[begreen]

I had ours venting into the crawlspace to keep it a little warmer. Bad idea. In spite of the lint filter (water trap) a lot of lint escaped. Although the crawlspace temp was about 60F, it started mold on the joists and rim plate, probably from condensation. I hooked it back up to exterior venting and all has been fine since.

 

[Monosperma]

I am going to give it a try. I am in New Mexico now, and ambient humidity is running about 15 or 20 percent. This particular old building will never be tightly sealed. I just can't see the dryer making it so humid in this house that that mold will grow, but I'll keep an eye out for that. That, and lint/dust.

 

[Sprinter]

Moisture might be a problem if the drier vents into a small enclosed space like a typical utility room unless vented like a bathroom, but overall, there really isn't that much moisture left in a load that's been spun-dry in a washer. No more than if you had to air-dry the load in the house. It might be interesting to weigh a typical wet load and then again when dry to see just how much water was evaporated in the drier.

I've heard that a lot of people use vacuum bags for filters with success. A (real) HEPA bag filters down to about .3 micron. Should be adequate and with good enough air flow.