Parallel venting of cooker hood and dryer

[DavidF]

Do any of you know of a kit that enables a cooker hood and dryer to use the same external vent? A friend of mine has this set up in his home in Canada. There are flap valves on each side that only open when that particular fan is blowing, preventing either cooking fumes ending up in the dryer or lint ending up on the cooker. I had considered a quick change device on the vent similar to the "Faze Lok" system I use on my DC. Just swapping the connections between cooker hood and dryer as required. Any thoughts?

 

[flatheadfisher]

I bought a new hood as part of our kitchen project. I was going to join the duct to the duct in the bathroom. But, I was told by a GC that the duct from the range hood couldn't be connected to anything else or it would be a code violation. I am going another route since I plan on selling this place in about 10 years.

 

[Gotcha6]

Dryer vents inherently get lint built up in them. Range hood vents will get a thin film of grease on them over time. The two should not be combined or you will get a multiplier effect. Remember the old 'oil bath' air cleaners on trucks & tractors? You could clog your vent real quick. At the least the sticky lint will cause an air flow restriction causing the dryer to work harder to dry your clothes. Better to use a slick solid metal pipe to duct both - and seal them up on the joints with duct sealer.

 

[RandyJ]

I'm jealous that you have a cooker AND a dryer in your shop!!!

Next I suppose you're going to tell me there's TV and Stereo in there as well?:slap:

 

[Glennbear]

To kind of echo what Dennis said, I would not want anything in the air stream that shared grease laden discharge with moisture and lint laden discharge. To my way of thinking it sounds like a mess waiting to happen. :wsmile:

 

[DavidF]

Hummm tricky. Our problem is that I can't add another external vent as it is an apartment block. The external vent is part of the building structure and just terminates in an inlet in the laundry room that happens to be off the Kitchen. Our tenant is requesting that we look into externally venting the cooker hood as he is originally from Sri Lanka and cooks a lot of curries!!! The alternative maybe to replace the existing Microwave/Vent with a very efficient recirculating hood and get a smaller microwave to sit on the counter; all expense we could really do without.

 

[ptt49er]

Maybe your tenant could get a box fan and open a window. That way he could vent when he needed to without additional cost to you guys.

 

[flatheadfisher]

We got an over-the-range microwave that can filter & recirculate the air or move it outside. Installation is on my to-do list this weekend...

 

[DavidF]

We got an over-the-range microwave that can filter & recirculate the air or move it outside. Installation is on my to-do list this weekend...

We have one of these and in recirculate mode it definitely isn't as good as venting out side. We changed ours to vent through the wall and it is much better no doubt.

 

[DavidF]

So, just talked to the tenant and he would prefer, if it is one or the other situation, to use the existing vent for the cooker and do something else for the dryer. So we ask, a) is it ok to use a vent originally intended for a dryer for venting the cooker hood, any code violations there? and b) is there an attachment that enables the dryer to vent inside the laundry room - a contained filter or similar or a different dryer type that doesn't need a vent. A lot of the dryers in the UK recirculate the air and dry it with just a lint trap to empty.

 

[JimmyC]

Okay David, just think about this, your tenant is just that , a renter, when they leave where does that leave you, most people want a dryer vent.
Not to be picking on curry, but a friend of mine rented an apartment in Edison,NJ from an Indian fellow that smelled heavily of curry. It turned out that this fellows sister had lived there and cooked alot. The apartment was great except for the smell so he signed a one year lease under the premise that the smell would be professionally removed before he moved in. To make a long story short, the smell came back and he moved out. He was taken to court for the lease , and surprisingly won because the smell had not been removed.

Be careful how you do this as it is your property.

 

[DavidF]

Jimmy, unfortunately you have given a perfect argument for both cases:rotflm: The first, you are absolutely right, they are just a tenant and may leave eventually and most other people will prefer a dryer vent. In the second case, in your example they couldn't get rid of the smell and lost a tenant!! SO it would be in my own interest to get the extraction as efficient as possible. Short of banning him from cooking! Perhaps an alternative is to pipe the cooker vent in to the laundry room and in to a filter unit of sorts that has charcoal filters etc to absorb the smells. I would not expect actual grease to accumulate there as it certainly doesn't on our own external vent and that is only a foot away from the cooker hood. - Thoughts on that idea? any "official" kits out there to do this?

 

[russellellis]

David, there is a filter unit you can use to vent the dryer into the laundry room, but i believe it is only for electric dryers....not gas dryers. The unit is a small rectangular dish that has a lid to accept the dryer vent line. You just keep a small amount of water in the unit to catch the lint and change it every once in a while. I had one in a house i rented in Chapel Hill until i vented it myself. You can find them at lowes/hd. It does not keep all the lint from escaping, some makes it way out of the unit still.

 

[DavidF]

David, there is a filter unit you can use to vent the dryer into the laundry room, but i believe it is only for electric dryers....not gas dryers. The unit is a small rectangular dish that has a lid to accept the dryer vent line. You just keep a small amount of water in the unit to catch the lint and change it every once in a while. I had one in a house i rented in Chapel Hill until i vented it myself. You can find them at lowes/hd. It does not keep all the lint from escaping, some makes it way out of the unit still.

Interesting, thanks.

 

[JimmyC]

Jimmy, unfortunately you have given a perfect argument for both cases:rotflm: The first, you are absolutely right, they are just a tenant and may leave eventually and most other people will prefer a dryer vent. In the second case, in your example they couldn't get rid of the smell and lost a tenant!! SO it would be in my own interest to get the extraction as efficient as possible. Short of banning him from cooking! Perhaps an alternative is to pipe the cooker vent in to the laundry room and in to a filter unit of sorts that has charcoal filters etc to absorb the smells. I would not expect actual grease to accumulate there as it certainly doesn't on our own external vent and that is only a foot away from the cooker hood. - Thoughts on that idea? any "official" kits out there to do this?

David,
That was my exact point, in that the future tenants will almost definitely want a dryer vent, So hopefully you can get some sort of odor trap. If a vent uses the proper filters for it, they should clog up before allowing any grease into the piping, but that is in a perfect world. As we all know how that works out :gar-La;.

Good Luck.

 

[Gotcha6]

The other issues you have to consider are:
1. The size of the existing vent outlet. If it is sized for a dryer vent it's probably only a 4" vent. Most range hoods need more diameter than that, usually 5" or 6", so you would be significnatly restricting the fan motor for the range vent.
2. It is probably also a lesser gauge thickness pipe than needed for range hood vents. These vents need to be a heavier gauge to help contain any inadverdent grease fire within the piping.
3. The distance from the range hood to the dryer outlet. If it's a long distance it will also labor the fan motor.

You say it's an apartment. Is there any way of venting it through the roof?
P. S. I like curry(chicken), but we only eat it for Christmas dinner and leftovers, and leftovers, and leftovers.:gar-La;

 

[CrealBilly]

clothes that smell like steak now that's a marketing idea for you David :gar-La;

 

[DavidF]

clothes that smell like steak now that's a marketing idea for you David :gar-La;

Good for the carnivores amongst us any way:gar-La;

 

[DavidF]

But one last stab at this before we give in and just go with a better range hood than a microwave that is also a vent.

"If" we went the route of dealing with the dryer by using a self contained system as was suggested, that would leave the existing outlet for the sole use of the cooker hood. The outlet is approx 15' from the hood almost horizontal. It would need to go through one sheet rocked wall in to the laundry room. Are there any building codes that would prevent the outlet being used for the cooker hood as opposed to the dryer, assuming we could overcome the pipe size differences if any? There would of coarse be various filters at the cooker hood end, mesh and charcoal, before exhausting in to the pipe.

 

[Gotcha6]

The filters do not get all the grease. I have a Jenn - Air downdraft at my presnt - and former homes. Both piping systems drip grease from me not sealing them when I or the former owner here installed them. :BangHead:
I believe code allows maximum of 25 feet of pipe to vent a dryer and I'm not sure about an exhaust hood. You must also allow a deduct of 5 feet for every 90 degree elbow you use.
You will probably end up enlarging the outside flapper. If you use an indoor dryer recovery system, you may be able to get an HVAC contractor to make you a box that will accept the smallest available furnace filter to catch any lint. It should have a boot on one side to attach the dryer hose.
You must also consider what you will be doing in the summertime. You will be adding moisture and heat into the conditioned space causing the A/C to work harder to cool the apartment.
MTCW