possible alternative heating idea.... (rough thought)

jeramiez · January 31, 2011, 03:40:42 AM

Drawing up plans for an underground dwelling, I found that my laundry area would be 'best placed' near the center of the house, and knowing that it is near impossible to water proof any pipes going straight through the roof, I'm left considering what to do with the dryer exhaust...

So, thinking outside the box, my thought was to indeed create a box....
housing the dryer exhaust and possibly using it for a secondary heating source... a functional secondary use from all that hot air blown around...

The concept was to build a sheet metal box, with vents in 3 of the 4 vertical faces, and allow for general air filters to be placed on the inside of the box, stopping lint and dust and such... the dryer would be vented into the 4th vertical face...
This seemed to make a lot of sense, with just 2 possible drawbacks....

1, the living room might smell like dryer sheets.... um, ok, I happen to like the smell... LOL
2, do we use the dryer in the heat of the summer? (provided the underground house gets to 'hot' in summer months)....

ok, to combat #2, we add an outside exhaust run from the top of the box to the up-hill patio face of the house, providing less chance of water entering the house, and add a ***damper*** to the pipe to control when the hot air enters the house....

ok, so there's no 'real' way to control the venting air from entering the house before exiting through the chimney...
answer, move the chimney back to the exhaust pipe entering the box, and add the ***damper*** just after that intersection....

So, the question remains...

am I just crazy? or is this idea perhaps even a small bit practical?

Any comments would be appreciated!

Jeramie

(edited to change "flu (sp?)" to ***damper***)

Redoverfarm · January 31, 2011, 06:07:54 AM

The biggest problem you will have will be is getting rid of the moisture produced by the dryer. The secondary one would be cleaning the flue in long distant runs.

January 31, 2011, 07:35:26 AM

As Redoverfarm has mentioned . . . The warm moist air would be a perfect breeding ground for mold.

/.

MountainDon · January 31, 2011, 11:01:34 AM

Electric dryer? You could kill yourself using a gas dryer that way.

In most locations I believe the humidity being added to the interior air would not be good. I believe the only good way to reclaim heat from a dryer would be to have an air to air heat exchanger. That, to me, sounds too complicated.

I think many people who want to save on the energy costs associated with drying clothes use outdoor clothes lines.

I would argue that your statement, "it is near impossible to water proof any pipes going straight through the roof", is not true. Modern day houses can have many roof vent perforations and they don't leak when installed properly. There would be concern with catching all the dryer lint to prevent build up in a long vertical rise. I prefer a nice short run, as short as possible.

peternap · January 31, 2011, 11:13:39 AM

They do make a trap as you describe, for dryers to vent into the room. All reports are that the walls start growing green fuzz when they are used

Venting the dryer may be a problem as Don suggested. A straight up vent is going to clog with lint and be a possible fire hazard. That's where I'd start looking at serious lint trap designs.

If you can get a good lint trap, you can vent the air through a series of coils that will release the heat into the room but not the moisture. (Don's air to air system)

January 31, 2011, 11:34:19 AM

One of the difficulties in the exchanger is handling the water as it condenses out of the warm air. As the heat is taken away the vapor will condense.

We have a couple of condos with tall pipes out through the roof. Their maintenance people have a cleaning schedule to prevent problems.

jeramiez · February 19, 2011, 05:59:57 PM

Interesting... Thank you all for your input...

We were definately talking electric dryer here...

Hadn't really considered the concept of that much moisture...
The "proposed" area for the washer/dryer may have to be reconsidered as it were...
perhaps to a pantry/outer wall area...

The point on waterproofing pipes through the roof is (by my limited understanding and research) true in that modern houses achieve it without issue... but they also allow the water to 'run-off' as it's deposited... when you drop the roof below ground level and add 12-18 inches of soil atop and around pipe openings, you have less of a run-off issue to deal with and more of a seepage issue... please correct me if I am misinformed....

Always loved the scent and feel of line dried clothes when I was a kid, but as I got older, I learned that during winter it's pretty tough, seems hanging clothes out in a foot of snow shows that "freeze drying" clothes isn't quite as effective... LOL

Seems house plans may need a revision... LOL

considerations · February 22, 2011, 08:55:45 AM

In Scotland I saw clothes racks hung from the ceiling over the heating source, such as the kitchen cook stove. They were raised and lowered with pulleys and cords. It looked like a cool idea to me, as it was a way to dry w/o taking up precious floor space.

I've not done but the racks are available for sale in the US (look to be easily DIY'd) I have a large freestanding rack on which I dry my clothes. Downside is both mentioned techniques do not deal with removing lint like a gas or electric dryer - and I do notice that.

Pox Eclipse · February 23, 2011, 08:28:29 AM

Quote from: MountainDon on January 31, 2011, 11:34:19 AM
One of the difficulties in the exchanger is handling the water as it condenses out of the warm air. As the heat is taken away the vapor will condense.

Here in New Hampshire, the moisture would be welcome, at least in the winter. The air is so dry, we run two humidifiers 24/7 just to keep nosebleeds to a minimum. Between the two of them, they output nearly six gallons of water into the air every day.