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Venting a Dryer???

15 years ago

I am moving my washer & Dryer out of our main bathroom into another room and I need to vent the dryer...my question is how??? The dryer will be on an inside wall, the floor is on a slab, can I vent it up through the wall into the attic??? and how do I do this effectively????

Thanks

Chris

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Comments (6)

brickeyee
15 years ago
"can I vent it up through the wall into the attic???"

Only if you want to destroy your house with the moisture.
heimert
15 years ago
But if you can get to the attic, presumably you can get to the roof or to an eave/gable where you can properly vent the dryer to the outside.

You can do it a couple ways. If you don't care about appearance, just get some round solid 4" duct and attach it to the back wall and go up through the ceiling into the attic and out the roof or an eave (using an elbow as necessary).

If you want things to look really good, you would need to cut into the wall and run the duct there. The real challenge is that typical walls are only 3.5" thick on the inside because 2x4 studs are actually only 3.5" wide. Plus you would have to figure out a way to cut the top plate without creating structural problems.

So, if that's too much and appearance is important, you could also build a box around the duct you install on the outside of the wall. You'll have a box, but that looks better than a duct.
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So are your FL's different than most of the US front loaders. They are arranged with washer on the left, dryer on the right. Or did you just word your post incorrectly? I switched mine around and used the periscope vent. Had a heck of a time finding one. The Home Depot periscope wasn't really any smaller than a plain vent. It also seemed to have a lot of area at the end where lint could seriously build up. Lowe's was out and finally found one at Sears. So check how they are made. Because the Sears one set so close to the units, I was having an issue of vibration when the washer would start to spin. Actually took foam, backed with metal tape, and placed it around the back of the washer. So you may need some kind of padding to stop any vibration noise. Also, either because it's slick inside the periscope and the dryer motor is more powerful but it really whooshes (correct word?) as the wind blows down the periscope and hits the hard curved angle pipe at the end. In order to switch I also had to buy longer hoses. I purchased the "floodsafe". The only concern is you have to turn them on very slowly. There are special electrical cords rated just for your washer that you will have to buy if your cord is too short. You can't just use any extension cord. Again I am talking about a machine that runs on 120/60Hz/15amp. I lucked out and didn't need anything except the longer water hoses.
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I've been venting my dryer indoors during the winter for six years in two small houses and my folks have been doing the same for about seven years and neither of us have had any problems. Keep in mind that the locations in question have been Calgary, Alberta and Bozeman, Montana and both locations have extremely dry air in the winter. I live alone, so I do laundry infrequently; my parents do laundry considerably more often, but their house is large enough to handle the extra moisture. It's also worth noting that home humidifiers can pump more than a gallon of water per day into large houses in extreme winter climates and the "gallon of water per load" statistic applies to large loads of laundry that have been lightly spun; a fast-spinning front-load machine gets clothes fairly dry, right out of the washer. Since we're talking about saving resources, you *do* have a front-loader, right? ; ) The only time I've had an issue has been when the outside temperature is below -20C (roughly 0F), in which case windows near the dryer can experience considerable condensation. One solution is to vent the air outside for the most of the dryer's cycle, then let the air flow inside once the clothes are fairly dry. To solve the lint issue, attach one leg of a finely woven pair of pantyhose to the inside vent with a tight-fitting elastic band. It looks absurd, but the large area permits air to flow with almost no restriction (much like the folds inside a car's air filter) and does a great job of removing lint. The air is nowhere near hot enough to cause me any concern over lint ignition, but it's still prudent to turn the filter inside out and vacuum it once in a while. In summary, many of the above posts are alarmist nonsense and/or apply to warm, moist climates that would benefit little from this energy saving trick. For those of us with cold, dry winters, a couple small tricks make this a great way to save energy and provide beneficial humidity. (In case someone reading this has somehow missed the disclaimer: This DOES NOT apply to gas dryers!)
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evans
15 years ago
Go for the solid duct not the flex, at least once you go into the attic. The roof vent sounds better than a soffit or eave because a lot of the moisure will rise back into the soffit. A side wall several feet below the soffit would be a second choice. Something like this should work for a roof. (random google hit)

http://www.rewci.com/4alrocapwiba.html

Any vents with screens will need to be checked for lint blockage occasionaly.

I think the studbay idea is out here, though the box-in would work, but if you prime the solid duct before you paint it it might blend right into the wall. I did one like that 4 years ago for a stove vent and the paint hasn't cracked or flaked yet.
lazypup
15 years ago
Going vertical through the roof is not an option either. Most dryers are limited to a maximum of 8ft vertical static head.

Extending a vertical vent line beyond the maximum limits suggested by the MFG will result in lint collecting at the base of the riser and creating a fire hazard.
chris8796
15 years ago
I would make sure you account for being able to clean this vent often. You will be cleaning this vent often since it will be long and with several 90 degree angles. One of the happiest day of my life was moving the dryer away from an interior wall and back to an exterior wall.
evans
15 years ago
And don't use any sheet metal screws into pipe connections which can catch lint.

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