A new use for the wood stove.

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4seasons

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Our clothes dryer just stopped heating at a very inconvenient time (right in the middle of a load of clothes.) Now we are also having a ice storm so hanging them on the line outside is out of the question. So I now have clothes draped over anything that we could find to hang clothes over gathered around the wood stove with an oscillating fan moving some air around them. Drying time is not very impressive at around 5 hours but it sure beats frozen solid underwear on the clothes line.

I am sure that others here have used the wood stove as a clothes dryer too and probably have a better system than I am using but has anyone ever plumbed heat from a wood stove/furnace/boiler into a clothes dryer? Not something that I could tackle with my setup just wondering if it had been done.

Just thinking out loud here but when it comes to power hogs, heating the house is the most expensive use of electricity, and also the easiest to replace with wood heat. Then cooking and heating water use lots of electricity as well. Cooking on a wood stove is easy enough and there are plenty of sidearms and heat exchanger systems for heating water. Then the next big energy hog would be the clothes dryer right? I have just never heard of a dryer system for a wood stove. I mean sure what I am doing works but it sure clutters up the living-room.

P.S. I just ordered a heat element for my dryer so I will be back on electric dried clothes by next week.
 
I have a closet not too far from my stove so Items that tend to shrink in a dryer ( like wool shirts ) get hung there with the doors open, time is not really a problem for me. Been working fine and adds some humidity to the house in the winter.
 
We have a Hotblast in the basement. We have one 8" duct that runs across the basement ceiling with a vent that can be opened into the basement or left closed and runs to 1 st floor. We have 6 clothes lines running across the basement ceiling in the opposite direction. On nice days the clothes go outside for awhile then finish in the basement. Wife is dutch, she has a system I do not get involved. I'm looking for a propane dryer to jerry rig with a duct from the Hotblast.. need to buy some time somewhere, just don't have enough of it.
 
we hang our clothes on lines strung in the basement also. wood helps heat our water, dries our clothes, heats our home, and if we want baked potatoes i wrap them in foil and throw em in the coals. wood,i love it!
 
My winter snow gear drying system consists of a piece of thin rope, tied in a big ass loop, with some clothes pins.

Loop goes over the stone mantle, and pin your mittens, socks, and hats.

Usually in about an hour those puppies are dry.

No worries, the system is OSHA approved. At least it is around here, where I am OSHA, EPA and resident dog #### scooper.
 
We use this thing, right next to the stove.

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We put up clotheslines in our basement about six years ago. If I wash and hang jeans tonight I can throw them on in the morning. We also have a small clothes rack next to the woodchuck (safe distance) for socks etc. I would be very curious to know how much doing this has saved on the electric bill over the years. Most everything we wash gets dried this way during the winter. During the summer we use the clothesline outside as much as possible. Sure it's a little more work, but it's also a little more cash in our pockets. The power company has enough..
 
We have three drying racks, and try to dry the majority of our laundry on them. Seems to save $30-50 on the electric bill each month!

Mind you, if you get behind on the laundry, like I am right now, the dryer still gets run some...

Same drying racks go out on the deck in the summer.
 
after my mom left when i was living with my dad, we never ever used the dryer, in the summer there was the line, in the winter there were two clothes rack and the wood stove. like someone else mentioned it added humidity to the house
 
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