Heating the house. Some things overlooked.

[swampratt]

I live in a 2 story and use wood to heat the house as much as I can.
Now one thing overlooked that lets in a lot of cold air is the dryer vent.

Mine goes up the wall and out of the top of the roof.
I get a very large amount of cold air rolling through the pipe into the house.

I pull the dryer away from the wall and unhook the hose and plug it with a small hand towel.
This makes a bunch of difference in the laundry room temp.

Heating a house also will dry the air and I lay a towel on the tile floor in the laundry room and let the dryer vent the moisture from drying clothes
into the house.

Electric dryer not gas.
When I did have a gas one I would still unplug the vent hose and plug it so cold air did not come into the house.
Of course when it was not in use.

You can put panty hose over the vent hose to catch stuff that the filter misses.

At the base of entry doors there will usually be a draft and placing a towel at the base slows that draft.

Stay warm and I hope no one loses power or heat.
I know some have already.

 

[Shinneryfarmer]

I live in a 2 story and use wood to heat the house as much as I can.
Now one thing overlooked that lets in a lot of cold air is the dryer vent.

Mine goes up the wall and out of the top of the roof.
I get a very large amount of cold air rolling through the pipe into the house.

I pull the dryer away from the wall and unhook the hose and plug it with a small hand towel.
This makes a bunch of difference in the laundry room temp.

Heating a house also will dry the air and I lay a towel on the tile floor in the laundry room and let the dryer vent the moisture from drying clothes
into the house.

Electric dryer not gas.
When I did have a gas one I would still unplug the vent hose and plug it so cold air did not come into the house.
Of course when it was not in use.

You can put panty hose over the vent hose to catch stuff that the filter misses.

At the base of entry doors there will usually be a draft and placing a towel at the base slows that draft.

Stay warm and I hope no one loses power or heat.
I know some have already.

Use to have a house that had dryer vent running up thru wall out the roof. Winter time the dryer vent always got unhooked and plugged with insulation. Pantyhose attached to hose, looked at weather forecast coldest days were laundry day to recycle that heat back into house.

 

[Timmy59]

The washer / dryer and 2 freezers are in the utility room. The hot water heater is in a closet in the utility room. The dryer vent hose is about 6" long , move the dryer much and you disconnect the vent hose, it comes strait out the side of the house. The utility room has no heat or cool so summer door is open to allow cool in for the freezers and closed during winter to keep cool out of the house. The current temp in the utility room is 31.9 which should mean the freezers are not running. We're on the look out for an inexpensive old wood stove so that we have the wood option as well. But the public also has the same idea so used wood stoves don't last long once posted.

 

[MR.T.]

I've done the same thing with my clothes dryer this year.
However, I got an extra length of hose & a bucket. I drilled a bunch a holes in the lid & have the hose running into the bucket. Some water in the bucket catches the lent & keeps it from blowing into the room.

It certainly helps bring a little warmth & humidity into my lower room of the house which has no HVAC vents.

 

[swampratt]

We also use a wooden rack clothes dryer we will put a few feet from the wood stove and it will dry the clothes without using the electric dryer.
But when they are just about dry I will fluff them in the dryer so they are not crunchy feeling.

 

[Forgalspop]

I live in a 2 story and use wood to heat the house as much as I can.
Now one thing overlooked that lets in a lot of cold air is the dryer vent.

Mine goes up the wall and out of the top of the roof.
I get a very large amount of cold air rolling through the pipe into the house.

I pull the dryer away from the wall and unhook the hose and plug it with a small hand towel.
This makes a bunch of difference in the laundry room temp.

Heating a house also will dry the air and I lay a towel on the tile floor in the laundry room and let the dryer vent the moisture from drying clothes
into the house.

Electric dryer not gas.
When I did have a gas one I would still unplug the vent hose and plug it so cold air did not come into the house.
Of course when it was not in use.

You can put panty hose over the vent hose to catch stuff that the filter misses.

At the base of entry doors there will usually be a draft and placing a towel at the base slows that draft.

Stay warm and I hope no one loses power or heat.
I know some have already.

We have vents in our bathrooms that have light plus heat. They let in a bunch off cold air as they vent in the attic. I cover them with the sticky type plastic wrap used in the kitchen to seal food. This stops a great deal of cold air from entering the bathrooms when it's cold outside and in the attic.

Been burning a bunch of firewood the past couple days which keeps the house at about 74 degrees without the electric heat pump kicking on.

Also covered the north windows in the master bedroom with plastic sheeting on the inside of the windows. Those windows get very cold when the wind is out of the north. Makes a great deal of difference on the temperature in the master bedroom.

Lots of great ideas on this forum for conserving energy and keeping one's house warm and economical.

 

[Shoot Summ]

If the pipe goes up, and you are getting cold air in, you are likely pulling air down the pipe for combustion air. Warm air rises, so you might lose hot air out of the vent, but cold air coming in that vent is being pulled in. Makes sense if you are burning wood.

 

[MR.T.]

Also, place a small bowl of water on the vent registers on the floor & the warm air coming out of the vents will warm & evaporate the water in ghe bowl, making it a bit more humid in the room & helps it feel warmer.

 

[swampratt]

Even with the wood stove off and sealed shut the cold air will fall down the vent pipe.
Open the dryer and man it is cold in there when the pipe is hooked up.

 

[turkeyrun]

Cold air falls. Dryer vent going UP lets cold air fall into the house, plus lint will accumulate from falling back down.

Vent out the side or down (best, if possible)

Vent inside during winter, with pantyhose for lint trap.