Print

[gmmaxim250]

So far, we saved thirty dollars on electric....not good enough...won't be burning pellets next summer, I don't think.  The only caveat was/is that valves was left open for garage and it was gravity feeding hot water to it.  I don't think that will make that much of a difference, but bill in September will be worth a look see.  The experience has been good for the upcoming season...

[HandyMark]

$30 total for the summer? I am with you. There is no way I would put the wear on the furnace for that little savings.

[gmmaxim250]

30 dollars for August.  Didn't run until late July, September might be a little better, but I don't think so.

[johnybcold]

It does not look like it is worth running in the summer for me I just don' t use enough hot water , I would love to use it year round I just need to move someplace with no summer

[HandyMark]

I am still planning to experiment with heating the clothes dryer off the boiler. I hope to get a heat exchanger on it early in the heating season so I can find out if it works before shutdown. If that works out it would make it much more practical to burn all year. We also have another child on the way and my wife is convinced it is a girl. If that is the case I will prepare myself for higher water usage.

[RSI]

Running a dryer off the boiler is not hard at all. I have had one setup for it for over 5 years. I used a heat exchanger that I had laying around and it is a little too small so it doesn't get real hot but it works good enough to not be worth putting a bigger one on it.

[HandyMark]

Running a dryer off the boiler is not hard at all. I have had one setup for it for over 5 years. I used a heat exchanger that I had laying around and it is a little too small so it doesn't get real hot but it works good enough to not be worth putting a bigger one on it.

How big is your heat exchanger? I considered buying one large enough to cover all the existing air inlets and then boxing it in so all the air goes through the exchanger. I want to make sure I do not starve the dryer for air flow. I know I can get many more btus from the boiler than I do from the dryer coil but the dryer coil is a higher temp. Which is more important for drying? BTU or temp? Seems to me if I am putting in three times the btus I will dry clothes faster at a lower temp which would be easier on the clothes.

[RSI]

The problem with the one I used was it is only a single row but it is 12x12
I think a 12x6 3 row would work a lot better.

I used a separate dryer and removed the gas burner completely. I figured that was the safest.

On the one I used, (I think it is Whirlpool brand) if you pull the back panel off there is a tube up the back. On electric models the element is inside it and on gas models the flames are inside it. I ended up getting that tube from an electric model because it didn't have venting slots like the gas one had. Then I just pulled the heating element out and cut the back of it open and mounted the heat exchanger to it.

I used the gas dryer because it was wired for 120v instead of 220v. The power to the gas burner I just ran straight to a solenoid valve.

If I were doing it again, I would use a pump instead.

It doesn't get as hot as a regular dryer and has to run a little longer but it seems to be a lot better for the clothes.

[gmmaxim250]

 After getting two electric bills that only saved me 55 to 60 dollars, I am pretty sure I won't be using the maxim to just heat hot water next summer.  I will be turning off and shutting down the owb late next spring.  Thanks for all the input.