has anyone built a clothes dryer to run off owb thought about taking a gas dryer and modifying it for a heat exchanger using my owb adding a seperate pump for it has this been done will it work? am i crazy? wife thinks so
clothes dryer
- Thread starter berry5
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hydro2
ArboristSite Operative
I thought about it, but never did it. A buddy of mine had one we were going to convert, but it just did not seem to be worth the effort. I was going to put it in my basement and still keep the one upstairs hooked to gas. We thought about using a heater coil out of a car????? Don't know if it would work or not.
michigander
Addicted to ArboristSite
I think you would have to use a bigger coil. I dont think you would get enough BTU's out of a heater coil. Unless it was a big one. Then , you would have to run it for a long time. Just my thoughts!
AngelofDarkness
Addicted to ArboristSite
I had a thread some time ago about a dryer that used heat from a forced air wood furnace, and it got pooh-poohed by a bunch of guys talking about cycle times and perm. press and crap like that. I didn't think we had laundry experts on this site.
I don't think you could get hot, dry enough air from an OWB coil, because there is a limit on how hot of water you can make, and to dry clothes you need lots of hot, hot dry air, and you will have a hard time making 180 degree air from 180 degree water.
I don't think you could get hot, dry enough air from an OWB coil, because there is a limit on how hot of water you can make, and to dry clothes you need lots of hot, hot dry air, and you will have a hard time making 180 degree air from 180 degree water.
Firewolf
ArboristSite Lurker
should i use Bounce sheets ?
My wife was telling me to get off my butt and come up with an idea of the same nature, save some money in winter? hahah Well i'm shure it can be done just not shure how to go about it .
My wife was telling me to get off my butt and come up with an idea of the same nature, save some money in winter? hahah Well i'm shure it can be done just not shure how to go about it .
mga
wandering
long ago, they used to have these things called "clothes lines" that many people used.
you would hang your clothes from these ropes and the sun and air would dry them out....all for free!! from what i understand, some people would even use them in the basement during the winter months.
i'm not sure if they still make them any more, and i don't think there are many woman around these days who know how to use them either.
(made a joke...that's all)
you would hang your clothes from these ropes and the sun and air would dry them out....all for free!! from what i understand, some people would even use them in the basement during the winter months.
i'm not sure if they still make them any more, and i don't think there are many woman around these days who know how to use them either.
(made a joke...that's all)
Firewolf
ArboristSite Lurker
kellog
ArboristSite Operative
Interesting that the State of CT passed a law yesterday that says we all have the right to hang clothes outside (believe it or not). The reason for the law is that many towns, homeowners assoc. and condo assoc. had rules against hanging clothes outside because it is unsightly. The law was made to allow outside clothes drying everywhere in the State to save energy and make clothes last longer. (We must have very few problems in the State if the govt has time for this.)
So according to the State of CT you don't need to make a wood fired dryer just hang them outside.
So according to the State of CT you don't need to make a wood fired dryer just hang them outside.
SPED
ArboristSite Lurker
Oh man, that's why I'd never live anywhere with an association. I have heard of some people with reasonable ones, but most people I've talked to that live in places with those kinds of homeowners associations have nightmare stories to tell.
mga
wandering
yep. we could have a 100 page thread about association nightmares.
i have a few, but i won't derail to post them.
as for the dryer...i have to agree with michigander. you'd need a huge heating coil to equal the heat generated from a gas dryer. it might work, but it would seem the drying time would be longer due to the low heat.
here's a web site that offers such an item, but says you have to run the dryer on "fluff"...whatever that means:
http://www.growersheat.com/applications.htm
clothes dryer BTU's:
http://www.mtng.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=47&Itemid=79
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MNfarmer
ArboristSite Guru
The way I started drying my clothes is just use clothes hangers and hang them from a pipe set on two stands. Got this set up in an upstairs spare bedroom. Works great, within a day all the clothes are dry. No mod to the dryer this way. In the summer, the clothes line is great.
clawmute
ArboristSite Operative
Off of the subject
That's why the old time pioneers loaded up and headed for other parts. You have to go before a committee in many places (especially historical areas) for permission on what color you can paint your house - or dog house.
All of that flies in the face of the American entrpreneural/independent spirit.
IN the rural area I live in you can see one home with a junked front yard and another with immaculate manicured lawns/gardens.
To me houses and people are not to be cookie cutter and made out of ticky-tacky. Hurrah for the liberty to hang out your red long johns with the trap door so they can flap like a flag of liberty in the face of the nay sayers.
Give me liberty to have a clothes line....isn't that in the constitution?
Back on the subject - experimentation with copper coils + fan/blower will yield satisfactory results (don't know your flows/pressures/temperatures) It wasn't wood heat but solar, but principle is the same - my uncle (engineer with FAA) had a greenhouse that he modified thus:
1. Added coils to the greenhouse south face. These were assembled from tubing gathered at a local scrap yard.
2. Dug a pit in his back yard and poured a concrete walled/bottomed structure with removable top.
3. Filled the pit with cleaned/large rocks and filled it with water.
4. Circulated the water on even cloudy days by pumping it through the coils from the pit and thence to his house where he used the water for heat & etc. That water was smokin' hot. He had pressure relief valves in the system.
You've got the horse (wood heated hot water) now just put a harness on him.
END OF CURRENT RANT.
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KsWoodsMan
Addicted to ArboristSite
AS noted by AngelOfDarkness the subject has come up here before. My Ex-OL used to dry clothes on fluff (no heat) and complained that it took twice as long or more. Her reasoning for doing this was so the clothes would feel better when they came out of the dryer, "...you know - Fluffy !"
I thought the idea of using the OWB to heat the dryer air had merit, and still do. A small radiator or large heater core from a salvaged vehicle would be an improvement over no added heat. I don't know how long the pay-off period would be for this. But if the heater in a PU can take 10 degree air up to over 100 degrees in the middle of winter with 180 degree water, I'm sure it could raise 60 degree air to 130-140 for drying clothes. The lower temps might even benefit the clothes IE , less lint lost from them.
I would be interested to hear how it turned out for someone trying this. I know it can be done but was more interested in knowing if it takes longer to get jeans or towels dry and just how much longer it takes.
I thought the idea of using the OWB to heat the dryer air had merit, and still do. A small radiator or large heater core from a salvaged vehicle would be an improvement over no added heat. I don't know how long the pay-off period would be for this. But if the heater in a PU can take 10 degree air up to over 100 degrees in the middle of winter with 180 degree water, I'm sure it could raise 60 degree air to 130-140 for drying clothes. The lower temps might even benefit the clothes IE , less lint lost from them.
I would be interested to hear how it turned out for someone trying this. I know it can be done but was more interested in knowing if it takes longer to get jeans or towels dry and just how much longer it takes.
woodheater
ArboristSite Member
A good friend of mine had one of the first OWB's in this area and has been using a modified electric dryer with a tractor radiator in it for prolly 10 years. He even has a sock rigged on the exhaust to catch the lint so he can dump the warm humidified air right into his basement. This dude doesn't waste ANYTHING! Who cares if it takes a bit longer? It dries your clothes for almost free!
i have a few heater cores at work i was thinking about running the air thru 2 heater cores in series to get all the heat out i can yeah the clothes line gets used in the summer the hanging clothes in the house their are five of us and we generate a lot of clothes dont think that would go over to good thanks for the imput
I have seen it done and it works well .
you need 2 12x12 exchangers and your dryer will take about twice as long but it will work.
the $250 in parts will save you in the long run .
I also like to vent my dryer into the house with a bypass for controlled humidity for winter months .
you need 2 12x12 exchangers and your dryer will take about twice as long but it will work.
the $250 in parts will save you in the long run .
I also like to vent my dryer into the house with a bypass for controlled humidity for winter months .
fireman31
ArboristSite Member
If nothing else it would preheat your air and save a few dollars
If nothing else it would preheat your air and save a few bucks on electricity. Whether or not it would balance out with running the circulator pump I don't know.
AND it would still use all the built in settings ie: low heat, perm press etc.
If nothing else it would preheat your air and save a few bucks on electricity. Whether or not it would balance out with running the circulator pump I don't know.
AND it would still use all the built in settings ie: low heat, perm press etc.
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mga - I added to your rep for the "clothesline definition" I got a good laugh! We used ours all last summer, till they started to freeze on it - Saved some $$$$$$$$$$$ too. All my coveralls, coats, etc, I just hang down next to the Harman boiler, they dry overnight. Anything to keep that dryer off.
mga
wandering
ha...tell me about it. my two boys would come over on weekends and do their laundry...well, they'd drop it off for their mom to do...while they and their wives went about their way.
i finally put my foot down and closed the laundrymat. now with just the two of us, it isn't so bad.
but, we use the old clothes line in the summer.
Back when I regularly paddled white water I knew a guy who had a whitewater bus. He toured all over the East with his sons from place to place to boat.
The bus had a small kitchen, places to sleep and a dryer (imagine piles of wet white water gear for 5-6 people) rigged to the radiator in the bus. You figure the bus ran at 180 or so going down the road. Head added a second radiator to a metal box with a fan. The gear hung in the box and was dry by the time they got to the next river. Very cool idea.
A similar "box" with a fan and heat exchanger could work in a house.
JD in PA
The bus had a small kitchen, places to sleep and a dryer (imagine piles of wet white water gear for 5-6 people) rigged to the radiator in the bus. You figure the bus ran at 180 or so going down the road. Head added a second radiator to a metal box with a fan. The gear hung in the box and was dry by the time they got to the next river. Very cool idea.
A similar "box" with a fan and heat exchanger could work in a house.
JD in PA
