EDIT: I’ve attached a rough map of the situation. The laundry room is the little room in the middle. The red dot is where the dryer vents into the garage.

My house is weird. Built mid-1970s. Upper Midwest.

One of the weird/annoying things about my house is the fact that the clothes dryer vent opens up into the house’s attached garage rather than venting outside. This is an electric dryer, so the vent is just hot wet air – nothing like CO or anything.

Ideally, I’d like the dryer to vent to the outside and not turn my garage into a stagnant humid swamp every time I dry clothes (most days, actually, because I have many children). But the laundry room isn’t situated in a way that makes outside venting easy. It’s on the main level, right in the middle of the floorplan. No basement access, so I can’t add ductwork through the floor. No usable ceiling access either.

What options do I have to make this mess annoying? Add venting to the garage somehow?

  • @nowwhatnapsterEnglish
    7•1 year ago

    A floorplan or photos would be helpful if you want a precise answer. Refer to you dryers manual for maximum vent length, but typically you can extend the vent around 25-30ft to get it to an exit point. The roof is an option but less ideal. Typically a gable end of the house is best.

    They also make ventless condensing dryers which are in supposed to very efficient but have long drying cycles. I’ve not heard the best reviews on them, but do your own research.

    More generally speaking try to limit your dryer use. It just adds wear and tear on your clothes and costs money to use. Hang dry when you can. I personally partially dry and then hang as it makes clothes largely wrinkle free.

    Edit: I see the floorplan OP uploaded, but I’m unclear on what is an exterior wall. Is the north side of the garage an exterior wall? Because that would be a short run to extend the vent to reach an exit point.

    • ciferecaNinjo
      2•1 year ago

      More generally speaking try to limit your dryer use. It just adds wear and tear on your clothes and costs money to use. Hang dry when you can.

      That’s really the best answer.

      Note as well that if air drying is not an option, the ventless dryers are much gentler on clothes than vented dryers because they don’t run at high temps. So clothes last longer.