return in condo laundry - InspectionNews

John Arnold · #1 (**permalink**) 11-11-2007, 12:15 PM

Fairly high-end one bedroom condo has the only hvac return in the laundry room which is connected to the kitchen with a louvered door. The IRC doesn't say you can't have a return in the laundry, but what about the fact that all the air is really coming from the kitchen? Not to mention the laundry smells being distributed throughout. Opinions?
By the way, nothing fuel-burning in the laundry. It's an electric dryer. It's not vented to the exterior, and won't be, just has one of those useless buckets, so I've already called for a condensing dryer.

Scott Patterson · #2 (**permalink**) 11-11-2007, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Arnold

Fairly high-end one bedroom condo has the only hvac return in the laundry room which is connected to the kitchen with a louvered door. The IRC doesn't say you can't have a return in the laundry, but what about the fact that all the air is really coming from the kitchen? Not to mention the laundry smells being distributed throughout. Opinions?
By the way, nothing fuel-burning in the laundry. It's an electric dryer. It's not vented to the exterior, and won't be, just has one of those useless buckets, so I've already called for a condensing dryer.

Well heck, if they are not venting a dryer to the exterior the HVAC return is an added bonus! Not only will it be sucking in hot air it will act like a humidifier. This could be a bonus in the winter time!

John Arnold · #3 (**permalink**) 11-11-2007, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

Well heck, if they are not venting a dryer to the exterior the HVAC return is an added bonus! Not only will it be sucking in hot air it will act like a humidifier. This could be a bonus in the winter time!

Hey, what do you expect for $359K?

Billy Stephens · #4 (**permalink**) 11-11-2007, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Arnold

Hey, what do you expect for $359K?

Let Me See?

A HVAC return thats centrally located which serves the conditioned space.

And a properly vented Dryer. Among other things.

John Arnold · #5 (**permalink**) 11-11-2007, 04:35 PM

Seriously, though, what's the difference between having a return in a laundry room that gets all of its air from the kitchen, through a louvered door, and having a return in the kitchen?

Billy Stephens · #6 (**permalink**) 11-11-2007, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Arnold

Seriously, though, what's the difference between having a return in a laundry room that gets all of its air from the kitchen, through a louvered door, and having a return in the kitchen?

John A.
Prohibited sources
IRC 2003 M1602.2 part 3 A room or space the volume of which is less than 25 percent of the entire volume served by such system.

4 - A closet,bathroom,toilet room ,kitchen,garage,--------

If the space is smaller than 25 percent of the entire volume and an equal amount of supply air is not present it is Prohibited.

If you try to use the permanent opening to archive the 25 percent requirement it can not come from a prohibited source. As that area is already prohibited from a source of return air.

John Arnold · #7 (**permalink**) 11-14-2007, 12:15 PM

Here's the dryer. The only HVAC return for the condo is in the ceiling above the dryer. Believe it or not, the seller claims that the city gave them a variance to have the dryers vent like this. The buyer is currently trying to get someone to sign their name to a piece of paper that says as much.
The variance was for historical reasons, they say, which makes sense because because it is an old building, but my obvious remedy is: put in a condensing dryer for crying out loud!

Eric Barker · #8 (**permalink**) 11-14-2007, 02:58 PM

John,

Dead brain cells here. What's a condensing dryer?

Jerry Peck · #9 (**permalink**) 11-14-2007, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric Barker

Dead brain cells here. What's a condensing dryer?

It is a "ventless" or "non-ducted" dryer.

John Arnold · #10 (**permalink**) 11-14-2007, 05:14 PM

Creative Laundry - LG appliances - Washers and Dryers

Eric Barker · #11 (**permalink**) 11-14-2007, 06:55 PM

Boy! I feel a lot better. I thought that I might be asking a dumb question. I've never seen one of these dryers before let alone heard of one. I'm going to assume that these are only electric dryers - not gas.

Jim Robinson · #12 (**permalink**) 11-14-2007, 07:18 PM

I've seen two or three of them. I was just reading about them earlier this year, and they claim that they are more efficient. The big savings comes in if you live in a cold climate. The dryer is not exhausting the air from inside your house to the outside at a rapid rate, causing your heating system to work more than it would. They actually cost more to operate than a normal dryer, but when you factor in the heat loss from a conventional set up, it was a lot closer than you think. And, if you can't vent to the outside, you don't have a lot of choice anyhow. I personally don't see myself replacing mine, since it doesn't actually pull heated air from inside my house, but it's a nice option in some situations.

Jerry Peck · #13 (**permalink**) 11-14-2007, 08:27 PM

Those are the types of dryers used in RVs.

While we have never had a washer/dryer in any of our RVs, I've talked to people who have and they said they were not efficient - but that even with a 50 amp RV supply, any other type of dryer would just suck all your available power away (that and the a/c would trip the mains at the campground supply).

Maybe they are better in full size models for homes? The RV combo washer/dryer units are really compact anyway.