A problem becomes a solution, I live in an older mobil home that has the dryer vent through the floor which my cat chose as his entrance and exit. I tried blocking it off with a dictionary which lead to tom cat exercise #7. So I wised up and put a hindged piece of plywood over the hole; it took him about two minutes to figure out how to lift the wood to exit, comming back in he merly pushes it up, comes in and gravity closes it. I have no more cat whining at 2 am., my vent hose gets covered with an old pair of hose and the heat stays inside.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), December 20, 2001

Answers

Mitch:

Yes, the heat will stay inside, as will the moisture taken out of clothing. Watch out for mold problems. I don't even have a dryer. Just a clothline running down on hallway and an outside umbrella-type solar dryer for nicer weather.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), December 20, 2001.

Mitch, Don't forget to keep an eye on that vent hose...it can become filled with lint and be a major fire hazard in a hurry. We did the same thing for awhile, before my dad found out (former fire chief) and just about went catatonic on me. Apparently lots of house fires start that way.

Merry Christmas,

Chuck

-- chuck in md (woah@mission4me.com), December 20, 2001.

The panty hose is clamped at their top so the whole leg space is available, kind of like how hot air baloons are filled, besides I have not turned it on yet, the heat inside refers to furnace heat.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), December 20, 2001.

If it's a gas dryer and you are not venting to the outside, then the exhaust fumes are building up in your house. Carbon Monoxide.

-- Debbie in Mo (risingwind@socket.net), December 20, 2001.

The washer here is not working, therefore I have no use for the dryer; its electric; due to an access amount of clothes I go into town and use the laundrymat about once every 40 days.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), December 20, 2001.

I have an electric dryer and only use it in the winter or if it's raining for days. I don't have anything over the end of the hose, it just blows into the laundry room, and heats up the house. I need to cover the end with something. Steve threw his wet coveralls in to dry them before he went back out, and alfalfa went all over the place.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), December 21, 2001.

Sorry Ken, but you might want to re-think what you said. I have clothes lines in my house to dry my clothes in the winter too, but I do that partially to humidify the house. It doesn't matter whether you have the dryer vent running into the house or the clothes drying on lines in the house...the same amount of water is evaporated into the air! The biggest difference between the 2 methods is that the dryer puts the moisture into the air more quickly than the clothes line. I suppose all that humidity released at one time could act like boiling water on the stove and could cause condensation and possible mold. If you do many loads a week, it might be an issue, but if you only do a few loads a week I don't think you'll get any mold.

-- Sheryl in Me (radams@sacoriver.net), December 21, 2001.