I agree with unclechico, about using the dryer to supply heat to a heat sync. I have not tried it yet, but my idea was to build a greenhouse that attaches to the house on the south side, and paint the wall black and use black stones in the floor to get radiant heat from the sun. I wanted to take the dryer vent and route it through several metal pipes that are buried in the rock and then have them vent to the outside on the other side of the greenhouse. I would use a couple of 3 inch pipes off of the 4 inch exhaust, and several 2 inch pipes off of the 3 inch pipes to avoid any back pressure to the dryer. I am hoping to harness the dryer heat to just help heat the rocks to give off a slow radiant heat at night. I would be interested in hearing if anyone has attempted this particular method and how it went.

Thanks so much for the responses; here is my reply: 1) Doh!! I will definitely swap the trash and the DW -- so the DW is where the trash is now, and vice versa. Caligirl, do you think that would be enough? 2) As to the clearance, I have outlined the island on my floor with painter's tape and the 36" seems OK but I will investigate again -- maybe when the time comes I can leave the island cabs not bolted down for a while (or put legs on them and let them be freestanding -- I love Ikea!!). That would give me a chance to live with it for a while before committing to any particular clearance. Feedback? 3) I would LOVE to put an overhang with seating on the island, and had originally planned to do so, but I just don't see how I have the clearance on that side of the island -- right now, there is 51' from the island to the low, red cabs, an overhang would add at least another 12", then I need room for people sitting AND others walking behind them. Also, I figure I need extra clearance there to minimize the amount of traffic invading my work zone. Am I overestimating that? Again maybe I will just throw a piece of plywood over the island for a while, live with those dimensions before committing to a countertop. Thanks again --

Yes, they had to sand it lightly and then carefully remove all dust and residue. I don’t get why you are buying this flooring to begin with though. I would never have bought it if I had known how poor the finish was and that the company didn’t care or stand behind their product. In the end, we spent much more than we would have if we had just bought a better product. There are quality wood and engineered floors out there. Why don’t you give them your business? I posted my experinece so that people could learn from my mistakes, not repeat them. 🙁

Thanks for all the responses -- really appreciate it! MRB, yes, we have noticed the smell of the scented rubber gasket; we don't care for it, but it does not bother us as much. It does mask the other smell (of rubber/grease) a bit but not enough. We went back to the store and described the problem, they said this was the first time they heard about this issue. They referred us to Electrolux, who then placed a service call for repair. Has anyone had experience with returning a lemon with Electrolux? Nerdyshopper -- I wish it was as easy as returning it. We are not thrilled at the prospect of having a brand new appliance serviced, plus the laundry room is small, the washer sits on a pan next to the dryer so it will be awkward to access the back. We are hoping this will only be to verify the problem and get the necessary paperwork processed for a return/exchange. One other issue I would like to consult to fellow Elux 617 owners: For the normal cycle with the default options (warm temp, normal soil, medium spin), we have noticed the actual water temperature is tap water (so very cold) even though it should be warm. We have opened the washer at different times during the cycle to double-check and it was frigid to the touch. During the cycle there is a "leaf" symbol on the panel (eco indicator, which according to manual represents eco-friendly options). However, this is confusing -- if the program is set to use tap/cold water why does it say warm? We had to re-wash the load using the casual program -- which did use warm water. Has anyone else noticed this? I also asked Electrolux about this but did not get an answer, just the service call.