Coal Fired Clothes Dryer?

We have started washing in cold water because our water is heated by oil. I won't know for a few months whether it's a significant oil savings. Consumer Reports rated Cold-Water Tide as excellent, and I haven't noticed any difference in cleanliness and people don't wrinkle their noses and shy away from me any more than they ever did.

Our electric bill is not too bad so we still use the electric dryer. I wish there was a way to reclaim the heat instead of venting it outside in Winter, but somehow trap the moisture, or at least part of it, so as not to fog all the windows and peel the wallpaper.

rberq wrote:I wish there was a way to reclaim the heat instead of venting it outside in Winter, but somehow trap the moisture, or at least part of it, so as not to fog all the windows and peel the wallpaper.

There is & I have one. I can't find the web site for them but any Home Depot or Lowes will have them. It's just a cheap diverter that you cut into you dryer hot air exhaust hose. It lets you divert the air inside rather than wasting the heat & comes with a lint screen. (I find the moisture is beneficial in the winter as well) It won't fog your windows if you can direct I to blow into a large area.

Wood'nCoal wrote:I can set you up with a Knight chemical pump and liquid laundry chemicals for it. BTW, you'll need 3 phase power and a big boiler to supply it.

Three phase? Right across the street from me is THE electric substaion that comes from Canada and feeds all of New England. They'll never notice a few extra wires going from my house to over there.

I tried one of those diverters a while back. I found it put too much humidity into the house. The trick is to run the electric dryer for a short time with the exhaust directed outside and when most of the moisture was gone switch it to inside.

Needless to say it went over like a turd at a social. The first time my wife ran the dryer with the diverter installed and all the windows fogged up and the place felt like a greenhouse...well, that was the last of it.

I also have a 1955 Frigidaire dryer, a real gem, it has real chrome trim on it, and is 100% Porcelain (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porcelain) inside and out. It doesn't vent outside, instead it has a type of condenser that removes the water from the air after it circulates through the clothes and drains it into a pan at the bottom of the dryer. If I ever finish repairing it and quietly slip it into place where the Maytag currently sits the heat loss problem will be solved. I guess it won't work very well in the summer, though, plus it has a nasty habit of spitting wads of damp lint out across the floor every so often...

Just in case anyone thinks some of the stuff I collect is worthless:
**Broken Link(s) Removed**My dryer is similar in appearance to this washer: I used to have 2 wringer washers but scrapped them due to lack of space (can't keep everything!!!).

That's just what I had in mind, a device that would condense the moisture out of the warm exhaust air. The trick is, how do you do that without also cooling the air so much that you lose all the heating benefit -- especially if the condensing is done with something that uses even MORE electricity. I wonder what would happen if I passed the exhaust over a bed of salt .... would the salt then dry out between dryer loads, and release the moisture gradually so as not to fog everything up? After all, my salt shakers stay dry during the winter when the air is dry.

Be damned if I could find the name of this or locate it on HD's or Lowes webite, but they have them in stock.

You just move the lever to select outside or inside exhaust. ( as was said, if you get too much moisture from it just vent the dryer to the outside for a bit & then switch to inside when most of the moisture has been vented.) Personally, I never have any windows fog up & like the added moisture in the house to help my humidifier in winter...Hey...Why waste the heat?!?
(don't use one of these on a gas dryer!)

"Don't use one on a gas dryer"

and... don't use one if you use fabric softener.

Freddy wrote:nd... don't use one if you use fabric softener.

Never heard that one?? Why Freddy?

The heat does something to the chemical in the softener & you shouldn't be breathing it.

Freddy, do you have a link to some information on the info about fabric softener??? I've been diverting the heat/moisture into my house for many years.. I need the moisture,, when the windows start to fogg, that's about when my furniture stops creaking, and the dog's fur starts to lie down... Houses with only a few breathing bodies need added humidity in the winter...

I haven't heard anything about dangers of fabric softeners.. I usually use those sheets... any brand, whatever is cheapest...

Greg L

My house gets pretty dry with the coal stove cranking in the basement. With no additional humidity, on a really cold day with the stove running at full output the house can get down to 15-20% humidity. A large kettle of water on top of the stove seems to help.

markviii wrote:My house gets pretty dry with the coal stove cranking in the basement. With no additional humidity, on a really cold day with the stove running at full output the house can get down to 15-20% humidity. A large kettle of water on top of the stove seems to help.

I find the water steams out of the kettle too quickly even on a triffet. (or whatever it's called )

I use a whole house humidifier http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_03215420000P which does the whole house from it's basement position. (amazing how much water it puts into the air each day.....gallons!)

Well, I'm glad you brought me to task on the breathing of dryer softeners. It was years ago I was told that you shouldn't vent dryers indoors whenusing dryer sheets. I can't remember who told me. So, today I phoned "Bounce". They will get back to me next week when they have a definitive answer. I then phoned poison control. They said it wasn't "dangerous", but was an irritant and did not think it was a smart thing to do. Then I found the MSDS for Bounce. http://www.herc.org/library/msds/bounce.htm. In it it says "Respiratory Protection: "NO SPECIAL PRECAUTIONS FOR CASUAL EXPOSURE. APPROVED RESPIRATOR APPROPRIATE FOR EXPOSURE OF CONCERN." "Exposer of concern" are the key words.... I take it to mean if it's more than "Casual exposer" you should be using a resperiator.

Thanks Freddy,, I have asthma, and am rather sensitive to perfumes, odors etc.. and have never noticed any problems or being irritated by the smell the dryer sheets when I vent the dryer into the house.. I divert only about 1/2 the vent into the house, so this may help..
I don't like the smell of a fresh dryer sheet... the fake 'perfume' is nasty to me... but once in the dryer,, I don't notice anything..

Thanks for the 'homework'

Greg L

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The stink of dryer sheets doesn't trigger my asthma, but I find it very unpleasant and irritating to the nose. There's an unscented variety we use that doesn't bother me a bit. Of course, it may nonetheless be bad to breath in large quantities even if you can't smell it. Like that mythical CO stuff everybody talks about but no one has ever seen....