Lint

[GasSavers_Scott]

Strange Lint, my old dryer had a lint cup that was hard to get the lint started, my new dryer has a flat panel, I take a finger to the corner and zig zag off the lint. My friend wets 2 fingers and removes his lint that way, he learned it from his mother.

Now here's an odd thing about lint, I found out from a fire fighter that lint is one of the most flamible things in yourt house, it makes static easy and can self ignite if there is dry weather. I keep my lint in a steel coffecan that I dump out each week with the garbage.

Also at home depot they have a switch duct, in winter I open the valve to inside and the dryer heat is blown into the basement, heating my basement while drying my clothes. It has a screen that catches lint, so I don't flock my basement in lint.

Another thing, having had my own heating and air business, one of the main things that makes your dryer inefficient is blocked ducts. The amount of lint you get off your dryer screen is half of the really fine stuff that blows through the ducts. A way to test your dryer efficiency is to run a load of 5 to 7 towels, a good 4 inch exhaust should dry those towels in 45 minutes, any longer and something is blocking, kinked, or stopping the flow of the dryer exhaust. I used to pull bunny sized clumps of lint out of peoples ducts.

[theholycow]

I've heard that dryer lint is highly flammable and good for starting your fireplace, but I can't get my lint to light.

Are there safety concerns with venting the dryer into the basement? I've thought of doing that for the energy savings but I'm afraid to. I have an electric dryer; I assume with a gas dryer it would definitely be a bad idea (does the combustion exhaust go out the same pipe as the drying exhaust?).

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

I rigged one into the cold air return once, even with a lint trap it needed the furnace filter changing monthy instead of every 2 or 3.

[trollbait]

Before I got the wall vent, we used this interior vent device. Just a little tub that directed the discharge down onto a pool of water. Seemed to do a decent job of catching lint, but you had be sure to keep the water level filled.

I once came across instructions for using lint for a fire starter. You mix it with molten wax. The leftover wax in old jar candles is fine. Then put the mix in small, flammable molds, like little paper cups, egg cartons, or, get the stone jig for making seedling pots out of newspaper. I guess you could use reusable molds, but need to put a wick in it.

[Jay2TheRescue]

HC: Sounds like you need to make some "world famous" girl scout firestarters. Take a cardboard egg carton, and fill each compartment with a ball of lint. Cover with melted wax from some old candles. Just break one off and light the cardboard.

[GasSavers_JoeBob]

Originally Posted by Scott

Also at home depot they have a switch duct, in winter I open the valve to inside and the dryer heat is blown into the basement, heating my basement while drying my clothes. It has a screen that catches lint, so I don't flock my basement in lint.
.

I hope you are doing this with an ELECTRIC dryer....one of the byproducts of burning gas in a dryer is carbon monoxide...

[GasSavers_Pete]

Originally Posted by dkjones96

It's the only way I've found to reduce getting shocked every single time I get out of a car.

I used to have this problem too until I found a solution which works every time.

Stop car and open door.
Tap a metal part of the car with your skin BEFORE you put your feet on the ground. I touch the door panel of the door behind the driver's door but what ever is easiest for you...door sill...door jam...etc.

This earth's your body and discharges the static electricity back to the car.

Once this is done , put your feet on the ground and proceed as normal.

Pete.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I do that as well. My biggest static problem is in the hooptie, because of the shag carpeting and the super squishy velour seats. I always open the door, touch the aluminum sill plate, then keep my hand on the sill until one foot is on the ground. My mother's old 88 LeBarron was the worst though. It was damn near impossible to get out of that car without getting shocked.

[GasSavers_Scott]

My dryer is a gas, but when I use the dryer for heat in the basement, I also have the oil fired burner on for the radiators in the house, that sucks the extra Co2 out of the basement. I also have a Radon and Co2 detector because of the 1939 boiler I have for the radiators. Originally my boiler was a coal boiler, it was converted over in the 50's to oil with a Beckett oil burner conversion. Soon I will convert the boiler over to a natural gas conversion. The boiler is 1100 lbs, cast iron, 5 feet tall, and was installed in 39 before they put the house on top of it. People have advised me, if the boiler were to ever fail, use a cutting torch and sledge to break it into carriable pieces.

[theholycow]

Would it make sense to tee the dryer exhaust and pipe it directly to the burner intake as well as outdoors? That would prevent the CO from ever entering the general air area, cause the burner to directly intake pre-heated air when available (or outdoor air if not available), and allow the dryer to vent outside when the burner isn't consuming air.

I guess that would require the burner to have a discrete intake, which I'm not sure it has instead of merely sucking air through various vents and cracks. Then you could get into enclosing the boiler and so on....