Can you vent a tumble dryer up and out?

[GreenerWithTheScenery]

Thinking of having a small extension on the back of the house, which in turn will cover where the dryer currently vents.

The position of the dryer in the kitchen is such that I could send the pipe up through the ceiling and and vent out over the top of the extension flat roof. Would that work?
Trying to think of solutions as moving the dryer isn't really possible.

Rough diagram. Already existing boxing out where I have the pipe going up so it could be boxed it.

I’ve seen similar boxing for a dryer vent in the basement shared laundry room of my apartment when I lived in the US. I really wouldn’t want it in my kitchen though.

Are you in the U.K.? Why not just get a condenser or heat pump dryer instead? Vented seems to be a dying breed with very little choice out there so switching to condenser seems inevitable eventually, so I’d be wondering if it’s worth bothering with such a complicated hook up.

Get a heat pump drier. All the water collects in a tray that goes straight down the sink. They are so good and cheap to run to. Got mine last year and it’s been life changing 🤓

Most heat pump or condenser driers have a function where you can have the water just drain away (as it does from your washing machine) rather than collecting in the tray and having to empty it.

It’s much easier.

I'm not sure DH would want to change the dryer after the expense of the extension, but that said, a heat pump dryer would probably work well as there is a drain out there so it could plumb directly into it.
Where the dryer is, is situated under the stairs and the pipework is behind a huge American FF, so wouldn't really be seen and the existing boxing that it there would just be slightly larger I suppose to accommodate the ducting.

I confess I dont dry outside to a heat pump would probably work out more economical for us. Hmmm.

The fly in the ointment might be the level of the roof, because the vent would have to come out between floors IYSWIM so if the roof of the extension is higher than the floor above it, it wont work anyway.

I'll see what the guy says next week who's coming to have a look.

You don’t need a vent for a heat pump dryer.

The heat pump ones are really efficient whereas the vented ones are really inefficient so it will probably save you money.

Only thing is if your extension won't be heated, apparently that's no good for heat pump ones and you're better off with a normal condenser.

Seems a bit daft to spend tens of thousands on an extension that isn't functional because you won't spend £200 on a condenser drier!

It’ll cost you more to change the layout than buy a new drier. Plus you can sell the existing one.

We have this kind of vent for our tumble dryer (installed by previous owners) and it works fine, but vented dryers are being phased out of sale, so the the ducting/vent would be redundant when you come to replace your dryer. Worth considering whether this is worth the cost of installation

@titchy

Seems a bit daft to spend tens of thousands on an extension that isn't functional because you won't spend £200 on a condenser drier!

£200 on a condenser dryer. We're looking at heat source ones here, not condensers which are nearer £800. The extension isn't affected at all and it's functionality wont be affected by any tumble dryer as it is currently in, and will remain in, the kitchen.

@BluebellsGreenbells Reached the same conclusion I think!

@BertieBotts dryer will remain in current kitchen. Extension is separate to this and will be an additional lounge come dining/games room so will be heated.

My tumble dryer vents up and out, our utility is in a lean to kind of area rather than a proper extension but we have a rectangle venting going up the wall and the lean to roof was build and sealed around the roof vent

Condensers start at £200 and heat pump £350 - not much compare to the cost of an extension!

Up to you of course!

And I can't see how a vertical vent could work. Once the steam has gone up the vent it'll condense at the top and trickle back down surely?

I've got a heat pump dryer - Bosch series 4, about £500, A+ rated. It is fabulous.

@blowingagail

I've got a heat pump dryer - Bosch series 4, about £500, A+ rated. It is fabulous.

I've seen a Samsung on offer in argos but there seem to be complains about how dry out gets the clothes and length of time to dry. In taking it from your fabulous that doesn't Halen with the bosch one?

Heat pump is always going to take longer. I'm happy with it.

ao.com/p/reviews/wth84000gb-bosch-serie-4-heat-pump-tumble-dryer-white-69785-126

[quote blowingagail]Heat pump is always going to take longer. I'm happy with it.

ao.com/p/reviews/wth84000gb-bosch-serie-4-heat-pump-tumble-dryer-white-69785-126[/quote]
I don't mind the time to be honest as long as it actually does the job 😂

I have one with the tray. I bloody love it because its perfect water for the house plants - no suffering plants from the tap water!

I have a 9kilo drum candy heat pump, its wonderful hardly notice the cost of electric to run it. Warms the kitchen up beautifully too. Plumbs into trap under sink for water run off. Easy to empty manually if sited under the stairs or somewhere else unusual.

I have a Bosch heat pump one and the water pipe is plumbed into the same waste pipe as the washing machine. Works really well.

@nonononone

I have a 9kilo drum candy heat pump, its wonderful hardly notice the cost of electric to run it. Warms the kitchen up beautifully too. Plumbs into trap under sink for water run off. Easy to empty manually if sited under the stairs or somewhere else unusual.

Thanks again all. Didn't realise these were even a thing so glad I started this thread. There is a water feed and an outlet already under the stairs that the washer and fridge are plumbed into so should be as easy as running it into the existing waste.

Problem solved I think, especially as I hadn't realised id have to replace my vented with heat source eventually. As I said above I never dry outside anyway so this could save us a few quid as well.
Glad I asked now

I have a 9kg A++ Heat pump tumble dryer and I absolutely hate it. It’s not remotely more economical for me because it takes forever to dry anything, at least double what my last dryer took. Think carefully about how much the time might annoy you, there is no such thing as a quick dry any more.

We had a vented dryer and ended up replacing it when we had an extension. Even though the new position of the dryer was right next to an outside wall, it was at right angles to it and it seemed surprisingly tricky to figure out how to arrange the ducting.

We ended up replacing it with a cheap condenser dryer plumbed in (so we don't have to empty a water tray). A heat pump one would be more energy efficient but we were all out of cash after the extension.

Even the cheap condenser is so much better than our old vented dryer. Every time we use it the utility room (and kitchen, if the door's open) gets really toasty warm. All that heat would just be dumped outside if we still had a vented one.

Speed isn't much of an issue really, I'm not dying mountains of kids clothes etc and never really need anything quickly so I can live with that.

@CasperGutman that's exactly it isn't it? It might only be a 'few hundred' but when you've budgeted for the extension etc it's another cost on top of that, I was trying to find a solution that was cheap and easy to avoid costs, but looks like it's going to be the same either way. Unless I tell him I'm putting it in the garage and watch him have a heart attack 😂

Might all end up being semantics anyway depending what the prices come in at, but I'm glad I've learned this now so I can budget for it so it's been very helpful all round.