Cloth Dryer exhaust, Can it be used?
 

Has anyone tried to dump cloth dryer exhaust into your greenhouse?
There is a lot of heat in the exhaust plus CO2. Will this be good for the greenhouse?

dcarch :?:

[url]http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/175477[/url]

Is this kind of what you mean?
Just on a much smaller scale, right? :shock:

[quote=Dingbat]http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/175477

Is this kind of what you mean?
Just on a much smaller scale, right? :shock:[/quote]

Yes. I have read many articles about CO2 enrichment to increase production. for those who have greenhouses and gas dryers, why not dump the dryer's exhaust into the greenhouse?
dcarch

If you try it, I would love to know the outcome. :)

[quote=bizzarbazzar]If you try it, I would love to know the outcome. :)[/quote]

Does your family have lots of dirty laundry?

dcarch :lol:

Ill send it over for you :) My 4 year old in potty training will certainly help you keep your dryer running :)

I wouldn't be able to accomplish it, but its an interesting thought :) If you do it...I want pics of the plants inside.

There is also CO- carbon monoxide

The purpose of a clothes dryer is to remove moisture. All that moisture would be going into your enclosed growing area. By using the exhaust you would have some terribly high humidity in whatever greenhouse setup you wanted to heat. Loads of condensation, etc. Not to mention the inconsistency of the warming, etc.

I'm not a greenhouse grower, but it sounds like a mess to me.

I don't know anything about the Carbon Monoxide output from dryers which nascarmike mentions, but that would be truly dangerous!

Capturing the heat is an interesting idea, but it seems it may be alot more complicated than just dumping the exhaust straight into a green house.

Kurt

[quote=nascarmike49]There is also CO- carbon monoxide[/quote]

Whenever there is combustion, carbon monoxide should always be a concern. However, in the nornmal design of a cloth dryer, forced air is used, as a result, complete combustion is always achieved.

dcarch

[quote=COgarden]The purpose of a clothes dryer is to remove moisture. All that moisture would be going into your enclosed growing area. By using the exhaust you would have some terribly high humidity in whatever greenhouse setup you wanted to heat. Loads of condensation, etc. Not to mention the inconsistency of the warming, etc. ------------
Kurt[/quote]

I did consider the moisture issue. In one normal load of laundry after final spin cycle, I think there is less than a pint of water to be dried. When the hot air is blown into the greenhouse, the moisture will immediately condense on the cold greenhouse walls ( that's how a dehumidifier works). So you, hopefully, will end up with nice hot air with plenty of CO2 to make bigger and more tomatoes.

dcarch

I just did a little quick research on the web about clothes dryers and carbon monoxide. Electric clothes washers would follow your assumptions, dcarch, but gas clothes dryers would not. It looks to me that a gas dryer could in fact be a real danger.

Interesting thoughts on the moisture issue. As to the heating it still seems to me that you would have large swings in temperature, but hey what do I know! :roll:

Kurt--- who is living in Colorado, wishing there were enough clothes dryers in town to melt some of this dang snow!

[quote=COgarden]I just did a little quick research on the web about clothes dryers and carbon monoxide. Electric clothes washers would follow your assumptions, dcarch, but gas clothes dryers would not. It looks to me that a gas dryer could in fact be a real danger.
[/quote]

I think I have read that CO2 enrichment in a greenhouse can increase tomato production by up to 29%. I think that clothes dryer is propbably generate less CO, if at all, than if you you are baking a turkey with a gas oven. You will notice that the flame in the combustion chamber in a clothes dryer is always blue and there is no shoot deposit in the exhaust, an indication that combustion is complete.

Commercial CO2 generators, I believe, use natural or propane gas in the greenhouse.

I would recommend that if burning is involved in any occupied area, a CO detector should be installed.

dcarch

dcarch,

Clearly you have already decided this is a wonderful, safe, effective idea. Good luck.

Kurt :roll:

[quote=COgarden]dcarch,
Clearly you have already decided this is a wonderful, safe, effective idea. Good luck.
Kurt :roll:[/quote]
Actually, No.
I have only been asking questions with the intention of exchanging ideas and discuss the various considerations of CO2 enrichment. I don't even have a greenhouse.

However, I am thinking of building a large coldframe which is not far from my clothes dryer exhaust.

dcarch

Where does the exhaust currently go from gas powered clothes dryers? Please excuse me if this seems a dumb question, but I don't even know anyone with a clothes dryer in Australia :P

If the exhaust goes anywhere outside, it should be safe to put it thru the greenhouse imo. It's not like you'll spend long spells breathing it yourself, and I can't see why it would harm the plants?

PP, who's just guessing that plants wouldn't be poisoned by CO, but would probably be able to split off the carbon just like they do with CO2.... but I don't know.