Why do dryers have to be vented to outdoors, isnt that a waste of energy?

Answer 1

They don't. You can get an internal vent.
Humidity and chemical smells will build up in your home though.

Answer 2

Internal venting dryers are actually quite common in Europe. My step-mom uses one. It collects the moisture into a tray, rather than venting it outdoors. There is no noticeable odor dispensed into the air in the room, either. There was a small effort to promote use of the vented heat for more energy-efficient use in the US for a while. But I don't think it caught on.

Answer 3

We want to get rid of the heat in the summertime, but you are right—in the winter, if we can filter out the lint (which tends to get in everything), we can recover heat and keep our house warmer. Note that it heats and humidifies, because the heated air carries with it moisture from the clothes that have just been dried. So, if you don’t want moisture condensing on the windows, etc., it might be better to have a heat exchanger that will take the warmth out of the hot air stream and return that to inside the house, and let the water vapor go out. There is not a great deal of heat to be extracted from the dryer exhaust, so it may not be energy efficient. Heat exchangers may be expensive, and they are usually designed for large-scale processes. But you have the right concept.

29 JAN 07, 1813 hrs, GMT.

Answer 4

They don't have to be vented to the outside. You can get a accessory,which connects to the venting"hose". This box
will have to have water put into it, so the "lint" doesn't get discharged into the air. The air from the dryer has to be
vented, if not, to much heat(temp) will shut down the
dryer by a thermal overload. The thermal overload is part
of your dryer to protect it from getting to hot and cause
a fire! Yes, the air being released from your hose,
does have particals of lint in it(not being trapped by the
lint filter)

Answer 5

They can be vented inside, but it is NOT recommended due to the excessive humidity it can cause.

Small amounts of water vapour are good, as you need some hunmidity in the air, but venting the drying efforts of your machine when doing large laundry loads will lead to a considerable amount of water volume in vapour form.


The more often you do it, the worse the long-term effects will be, as excess humidity can build up in wood and other building materials.

While it will usually be hidden, excessive moisture in or behind walls can cause mould and even damage to structural members.

Answer 6

In the house I just bought it actually vents into my screened in porch/mudroom.

Keeps it nice and warm, unfortunately also very humid.