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March 2, 2008
Venting a Dryer / Washer and Dryer Combos
Hello
We are in a row house and the dryer has never been vented properly. I've got two questions:
1) What kind of person would we call to vent our dryer properly? A gas dryer. This means boring a hole in the wall to the outside. A plumber? I have no idea. How much would this cost?
2) Does anyone have experience with the ventless washer/dryer combos? What kind do you have and what has your experience been?
Thank you.
Comments
You are actually talking about two different vents. A clothes dryer needs a vent in order to exhaust damp hot air for efficiency, and these vents are not really any big deal. If you can't vent to the outside, Bosch is one manufacturer of a ventless dryer. The capacity of a laundry load is a bit smaller than a vented dryer.
The second aspect of venting the dryer you're describing is an exhaust for the carbon monoxide burned off from the gas fired dryer. As this is a health issue, there are fairly strict regulations as to where the vent can be placed -- no closer to 10' from a window providing fresh air (this changes to 4' in the new code). If passing through fire separations the vent needs a damper. These need to be professionally installed, and the above obstacles are why electric dryers are more popular in NYC.
Posted by: Smokychimp at March 2, 2008 3:32 PM
We have a Miele washer and dryer, elctric, not gas. The dryer has a drain pipe that traps the condensation and flows it into our main drain under the sink. There's also warm air vents in the front of the dryer. Has worked great for 9 years now. You might consider a switch, but a gas dryer will most likely save you money in operating costs.
Posted by: guest at March 2, 2008 4:53 PM
Smoky, which gas dryer do you see that has 2 vents? I'm looking at my LG gas dryer, there is no carbon monoxide vent in the dryer. The manual the doesn't even mention it.
Posted by: guest at March 2, 2008 5:38 PM
I've had a couple of gas dryers, neither of which had a second vent for CO--no ill effects from CO yet, and it's been 33 years.
I thought that gas dryers were much more popular in NYC and other places where most houses have gas because they're much cheaper than electric to operate.
Posted by: Bob Marvin at March 2, 2008 7:57 PM
Ive had a ventless dryer and I have to say, I wasn't too crazy about it. It takes forever to dry. If you have no choice, its better than hauling your undies to the laundrymat but I think its worth getting the venting kind if possible.
Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at March 3, 2008 8:19 AM
I just had this done on Saturday. I used Transcend Masonry, formerly LN Masons. His name is Nick and the number is 347-407-1816.
Posted by: cornetor at March 3, 2008 9:38 AM
i used a plumber to vent a gas dryer. it's just one exhaust for the air and the CO. and i'm pretty sure that even though it's a code violation not to vent a gas dryer, i suspect the fear of exhaust is somewhat overstated. still better safe than sorry.
one tip: vent out the back of your house: i vented in front and people always think my house is on fire!
Posted by: Jimmy Legs at March 3, 2008 1:59 PM
I believe the plumber gets the gas line running and an HVAC guy takes care of the vents. At least, that was how it was done in our home. Don't know how much it cost, though, as we did a renovation and we were charged by the project.
Good luck!
Posted by: luvtocook at March 3, 2008 2:04 PM
Hi, I used Nick from Transcend also. Very nice guy, charged us a reasonable price . . . I would definitely use him again.
Posted by: clintonhillmom at March 3, 2008 2:19 PM
Sorry, to clarify I didn't mean that the gas unit had two separate vents, I was meaning that the vent from a gas unit is treated very differently (it is considered exhaust) than a electric dryer vent (just hot air).
I agree that the fear of exhaust is overstated, and the 10' to a window rule is extreme, but from the standpoint of the regulations, carbon monoxide seems to kill a couple of people every year in the city, so the rules err on the side of safety.
Posted by: Smokychimp at March 3, 2008 3:04 PM
Put a hard-wired, not plug-in, carbon monoxide detector near the floor somewhere near the dryer.
The co2 thing from gas also applies equally to gas ranges, I think. And many of them are not vented, due to where they are in the building (especially in apartments where the kitchen has been moved.)
Posted by: guest at March 3, 2008 3:47 PM
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