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Community and Q&A

Indoor dryer vent kit?

scottcmccullough | Posted in Mechanicals on

Does anyone have any feedback on indoor dryer vent kits? Are they a good idea/bad idea? I have a electric dryer for our new house we’re building in New Hampshire, but would like to avoid putting an additional hole in the wall if I could. If I didn’t already have a dryer, I would likely have gotten a condensing dryer that doesn’t require venting.

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Replies

  1. Expert Member
    Dana Dorsett | | #1

    In a NH climate they're always a BAD idea, even if you filter the heck out of them, especially on a house as tight as you'd LIKE to be able to have. Dumping the humidity indoors adds a latent load to the summer AC and could lead to mold conditions even during the shoulder seasons, even with an HRV running a pretty good duty cycle.

    In high-dry locations (say, at 8000' in AZ) the additional moisture load is of little consequence, but you;d still have issues with suspended particles (and VOCs, with some laundry products) adding to the indoor air pollution burden.

    Another hole in the wall, with a better than average backdraft preventer on the dryer vent (eg: http://store.dryerbox.com/Dryer-Vent-Closure-for-Wall_p_29.html or similar ) would be the way to go in NH.

  2. GBA Editor
    Martin Holladay | | #2

    Scott,
    Q. "Does anyone have any feedback on indoor dryer vent kits? Are they a good idea/bad idea?"

    A. Bad idea.

    If you are tempted to ignore my advice and install one anyway, be aware that they are particularly dangerous if you have a gas dryer. If you install one on a gas dryer, you will not only be helping to destroy your house (as you would with an electric dryer), you will also be destroying your health (because of the combustion byproducts).

  3. scottcmccullough | | #3

    Thanks for the feedback. As I said, it's an electric dryer, though it seems like the 'dryerbox' that Dana suggested is the way to go. I'll try to find one that is less of an eyesore or figure out a way to disguise it. Thanks again.

  4. davidmeiland | | #4

    Less of an eyesore: http://www.seiho.com/product/sfb/sfb.html

    I use these on every job.

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