Making your dryer more efficient.

[Dune]

A few years ago my old dryer died. Procured a newer model from the area apliance rebuilder. The new machine didn't work nearly as fast as the old one had, so I went back to complain. The old gentleman told me that the new machine was 5000 watts, versus 5800 of the original. He suggested I replace the vent hose. Being a swamp yankee, I used a section of 4" p.v.c. pipe, which I had in stock, instead of buying a vent kit. Then ends of the pipe had to be rasped out a little to fit the fittings, and I used a 4'' smoke pipe elbow to connect the p.v.c. to the dryer. The resulting improvement in drying time was surprising.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Why do you figure the clothes dried faster? Do you think it was because of less drag? It's and interesting, and easy mod.

Matt

 

[Adabiviak]

I thought you were going to route your dryer vent into your house and recapture that heat.

 

[Tarmsolo60]

its easier to move air through smooth ductwork than flex.

(broken link removed to http://hubpages.com/hub/home-hvac-system)

 

[Dune]

its easier to move air through smooth ductwork than flex.

(broken link removed to http://hubpages.com/hub/home-hvac-system)

This is true. Additionaly, the corragated aluminun hose crimps, bends and collapse easily, plus the rough inside tends to collect lint, all of which slow the passage of moist air.

 

[Dune]

I thought you were going to route your dryer vent into your house and recapture that heat.

I designed a heat exchanger for just that purpose years ago, but have been to busy to put it into production. Perhaps now with the lagging economy, and ever increasing need for energy and cost savings. Basicaly the unit is a maze-like afair, made of light aluminun, in two halves, hinged and with clasps and a soft foam gasket. The outside is finned for better heat transfer, and the entire unit opens for cleaning. Copper would make an even more efficient heat exchanger, but I think aluminum is a fair comprimise.

 

[Stevebass4]

thought about this yesterday

is it ok to use PVC for a dryer vent? right now i have the flex stuff and i am sure it needs to be changed but i didn't know if pvc is ok to use

 

[crazy_dan]

I don't see why not your dryer only gets to about 140ish my hot water is about 190ish

 

[Dune]

thought about this yesterday

is it ok to use PVC for a dryer vent? right now i have the flex stuff and i am sure it needs to be changed but i didn't know if pvc is ok to use

Defintely. In some cases in plumbing, we join pvc to cast iron by caulking with oakum and them pouring molten lead in the joint. Lead melts at 621F and can be much hotter if you heat it too long before pouring the joint. The pvc withstands this temperature without failing, plus my dryer has run this way for years.

 

[Techstuf]

Last time we bought appliances, we opted for a high efficiency washer and the cheapest new dryer we could get. This way, the much higher RPMs spin much more water from the clothes. Our clothes come out of the washer twice as light as they used to and take very little time to dry on the line in the wood stove room, then we tumble 'em for 5 minutes with a dryer sheet to smooth 'em out. They dry MUCH faster now.


TS

 

[TreePapa]

thought about this yesterday

is it ok to use PVC for a dryer vent? right now i have the flex stuff and i am sure it needs to be changed but i didn't know if pvc is ok to use

Check you local building code. I think that in California, plastic venting is only approved for 'lectric dryers, not nat. gas. Of course, Calif. has stricter bldg. codes than some other areas.

4" metal dryer vent pipe is CHEAP at Home Dope or Low-Blows.

Peace,
- Sequoia

 

[Stevebass4]

Thanks guys - i'm in MA and i have an electric dryer so i think i'll do this this weekend

 

[karri0n]

Nifty Idea, with excellent results. It's innovations like this that keep the human race evolving and moving forward. Dunebilly, You should be awarded the Nobel Prize. I extend my most gracious and sincere thanks to you.

 

[seige101]

The brand new dryer (electric) i bought a week ago, specifically and in big bold print said not to use any kind of duct work besides metal. It also highly recommended straight hard tubing as to not trap lint. As someone else mentioned check local building codes, but personally i think using the chunk of PVC pipe is a bad thing.

 

[Highbeam]

I admit that I've burned some PVC pipe in a firepit once. It isn't fireproof. People have lint fires in their dryer/duct all the time. So I use metal ducting so that the fire stays in the duct. It is cheap and light, easy to cut, etc. but it'll burn.

 

[Dune]

You can certainly use regular metal smoke pipe if you are worried.

 

[Hogwildz]

thought about this yesterday

is it ok to use PVC for a dryer vent? right now i have the flex stuff and i am sure it needs to be changed but i didn't know if pvc is ok to use

Defintely. In some cases in plumbing, we join pvc to cast iron by caulking with oakum and them pouring molten lead in the joint. Lead melts at 621F and can be much hotter if you heat it too long before pouring the joint. The pvc withstands this temperature without failing, plus my dryer has run this way for years.

Had a shower drain that someone installed that same way. All I can say is I had to replace the drain, redo the pvc trap and fix some drywall.
Was not a pretty site. Of course this was a shower, may be fine for dryer vent.

 

[DBoon]

PVC or plastic is prohibited by most building codes not be because of concerns about heat or heat damage, but because the link moving through the pipe has a static charge on it and will collect on the walls of the PVC pipe. The result will be a clogged pipe, which is not what you want for efficiency or fire safety reasons.

2 years ago, I completely remodeled my finished basement (where the washer/dryer was). The dryer hadn't worked well for years - didn't seem to get clothes dried very fast, if at all. When I took the drywall of the walls and ceilings, I found a section of 8' PVC pipe stuffed with lint. Furthermore, (probably) excessive efforts to clean the bad dryer vent had led to the flexible pipe leading to the PVC to separate, and I was no pouring humid dryer air into a wall cavity, which led to black mold on the drywall and studs. Good thing we didn't use our dryer much.

The thin metal dryer vent pipe is cheap insurance to prevent this type of problem. My new installation is metal all the way from the dryer to the outside.

 

[ihookem]

You can use a clothes line. Fifty bucks and it will dry clothes forever and won't cost anything. What a deal. Hard to believe though many do gooder municipalities ban them.