Washer-Dryer Prep But No Dryer Vent

BigHorns · Dec 18, 2020

In my 2019 Heartland 3925MLP we are prepped for a washer/dryer albeit in an inside wall closet. The plumbing and electrical prep is there but there's nothing for a dryer vent. If anyone has ever added a vented unit this model I'm interested on any comments on how you ran the vent out. Inside wall, tanks directly below, etc.

JohnDar · Dec 18, 2020

Having the plumbing is pretty much standard. There may (or should) have been a sticker in the spot for the W/D showing were to cut the wall for a vent. If you're a handy DIY'er, you can use a metal stud locator to find where the wall studs might be to avoid them. They also tend to show themselves outside on a frosty morning after you've been heating the interior. From previous posts, the sticker was a crap shoot as to it's accuracy. Better to use the stud finder and be sure.

Oregon_Camper · Dec 18, 2020

watched a YouTube video of your model. What is the cutout below the water lines for? Is that your vent area?

BigHorns · Dec 18, 2020

JohnDar said:
Having the plumbing is pretty much standard. There may (or should) have been a sticker in the spot for the W/D showing were to cut the wall for a vent. If you're a handy DIY'er, you can use a metal stud locator to find where the wall studs might be to avoid them. They also tend to show themselves outside on a frosty morning after you've been heating the interior. From previous posts, the sticker was a crap shoot as to it's accuracy. Better to use the stud finder and be sure.

Thanks, John. No bulls-eye on the wall for drilling. Sure wouldn't trust it from much of what I've seen.

It's an interior wall here so no exterior frost line help. But I have removed the panels around an exterior storage area to get access to the backside of that interior wall. Nothing in the way there so cutting through the wall for the vent is no problem. Once through that wall, though, I'm in the "plenum". It's getting to the outside of the RV that I was curious about. The larger of my two gray tanks sets right below there. I've got some options but was just curious to see what anyone else had done on this model. I'm still a little intimidated by cutting and drilling with too little knowledge on how these things are put together.

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Oregon_Camper said:
watched a YouTube video of your model. What is the cutout below the water lines for? Is that your vent area?

View attachment 64982

That's just a plumbing access panel. From what I'm now seeing from behind that room, I think I have room around the drain pipe to come out just below that else thru the wall just around that corner- the back wall. That's the easy part. It's getting on outside that I'm working on.

JohnDar · Dec 18, 2020

Just looked at some photos/floor plan of your rig. I wonder if they expect an owner to use a vent-less dryer in that rig. Only option I can see is running it down through the floor (space permitting) in the back of the cabinet, then under the floor to the outside low on the frame. Or is there some sort of access through the vanity next to it and out through the floor? This might be a question to pose to Heartland, if you can get ahold of someone knowledgeable...like maybe the brand manager.

BigHorns · Dec 18, 2020

JohnDar said:
Just looked at some photos/floor plan of your rig. I wonder if they expect an owner to use a vent-less dryer in that rig. Only option I can see is running it down through the floor (space permitting) in the back of the cabinet, then under the floor to the outside low on the frame. Or is there some sort of access through the vanity next to it and out through the floor? This might be a question to pose to Heartland, if you can get ahold of someone knowledgeable...like maybe the brand manager.

We've always figured, with this model/layout, that a ventless dryer had been their thought. But- we won't have one not vented.

Can't immediately go thru the floor as the larger of my gray tanks sets right below that utility room. I'm going to have to come out thru the wall (easy enough, I've noted) and then bring the hose across the plenum area a ways to clear that tank and then maybe go down through the floor.

In that area I'm calling the plenum, for lack of a better reference (beneath the raised interior floor, behind the basement panels, storage panels, etc. where all the wiring, plumbing, and sawdust lives) what is the construction of that floor? If I start drilling thru the floor there, what am I going through? There is space beneath that floor and between the main outside frame I-beam and the exterior wall- about a foot or so. It's covered underneath with a paper-thin plastic sheet (think trash bag material). What is the floor there amounting to- nothing more than sheet plywood? I haven't been ready to yank that plastic yet but there can't be anything above it but the extension of that floor beyond the frame seems to me.

JohnDar · Dec 18, 2020

I wonder if something like this might get you past the tank, unless the tank is tight under the floor. If you pull up a floor register, you can see how the floor structure is built.

https://images.homedepot-static.com...mart-choice-dryer-parts-5304484130-64_600.jpg

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centerline · Dec 18, 2020

BigHorns said:
We've always figured, with this model/layout, that a ventless dryer had been their thought. But- we won't have one not vented.

good quality "ventless" dryers arent as bad as one would think...

the dryers recycle the air thru a heat exchanger that pulls the moisture out of it before sending it back thru the tumbling clothes... this moisture is collected and then is drained into the plumbing thru a drain hose that must be installed....

the washer dryer combo units are built to have the collected water pumped out thru the washer drain...........

the down side is, unlike a vented dryer that pushes the warm wet air to the outside, in hot weather, the ventless dryer creates more heat inside the RV.... the up side is, in the winter time, the dryer helps warm the interior of the RV, and there is no hole needed in the wall for a vent.
also, in the winter time, a vented dryer will pull the warm air from the trailer interior, heat it more, and then push it thru the clothes to the outside... this can take a LOT of the desirable heat out of the RV thru displacement... the proper ventless dryer CAN be a better way to go in most cases.

mikeandconnie · Dec 18, 2020

We have the Miele ventless heat pump type dryer in our condo and the splendid vent type in our RV. They both work great. The Miele have good reviews and plug and play with 110 plug My wife likes them both. We have been Rving with compact dryers 15 years and would buy the Miele for the rv if I had to.

BigHorns · Dec 19, 2020

JohnDar said:
I wonder if something like this might get you past the tank, unless the tank is tight under the floor. If you pull up a floor register, you can see how the floor structure is built.

https://images.homedepot-static.com...mart-choice-dryer-parts-5304484130-64_600.jpg

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Thanks for the reference. I've seen these in time past, but hadn't crossed my mind. Not sure if it might help here, but I'll keep it in mind.

jbeletti · Dec 19, 2020

Bill and Michele - after looking at your layout, I see what you're dealing with. Looks like ventless was the thought here.

That said, I think you're onto something in terms of your planned vent run. When you say "plenum area", I assume you mean the space north of the upper deck steps, in that space just below the floor of the upper deck - where I marked it in red. Then put a vent in the RV sidewall below the upper deck floor. Be sure to probe the for stuf locations before committing to a large vent hole

BigHorns · Dec 19, 2020

centerline said:
good quality "ventless" dryers arent as bad as one would think...

the dryers recycle the air thru a heat exchanger that pulls the moisture out of it before sending it back thru the tumbling clothes... this moisture is collected and then is drained into the plumbing thru a drain hose that must be installed....

the washer dryer combo units are built to have the collected water pumped out thru the washer drain...........

the down side is, unlike a vented dryer that pushes the warm wet air to the outside, in hot weather, the ventless dryer creates more heat inside the RV.... the up side is, in the winter time, the dryer helps warm the interior of the RV, and there is no hole needed in the wall for a vent.
also, in the winter time, a vented dryer will pull the warm air from the trailer interior, heat it more, and then push it thru the clothes to the outside... this can take a LOT of the desirable heat out of the RV thru displacement... the proper ventless dryer CAN be a better way to go in most cases.

Have to admit we haven't even evaluated ventless dryer options. Conceptually it's just not an option we wanted to consider for all the historical reasons. But it sounds like there's been a few advancements worth considering. I appreciate the references.

BigHorns · Dec 19, 2020

jbeletti said:
Bill and Michele - after looking at your layout, I see what you're dealing with. Looks like ventless was the thought here.

That said, I think you're onto something in terms of your planned vent run. When you say "plenum area", I assume you mean the space north of the upper deck steps, in that space just below the floor of the upper deck - where I marked it in red. Then put a vent in the RV sidewall below the upper deck floor. Be sure to probe the for stuf locations before committing to a large vent hole

View attachment 64983

You are correct- that's precisely the space I refer to. And your mark is actually the option I've considered as the shortest hose run, yet avoided. Ironically, there is a fair bit of space there that I have previously "recovered" and adjoined to that storage bin. Have figured I would have to give it up.

I've preferred to run it out the other wall (beneath the toilet) and take it out the other side of that storage bin. But I've not trusted the length of the hose run. Not sure how long is too long??

But, I could run it as you propose, just up against that step frame. Then just build a box over the hose and only give up a 4 inch step in the corner of that recovered space.

centerline · Dec 19, 2020

BigHorns said:
Have to admit we haven't even evaluated ventless dryer options. Conceptually it's just not an option we wanted to consider for all the historical reasons. But it sounds like there's been a few advancements worth considering. I appreciate the references.

they save a lot of fuss getting them installed and using them over the life of the product....
check out this link https://www.reviewed.com/laundry/features/everything-you-need-to-know-about-ventless-dryers

TravelTiger · Dec 19, 2020

You want the shortest, straightest run possible for the 4” vent pipe. These things don’t have a removable lint filter like a residential dryer, supposedly lint is flushed out in the water drain. However, we noticed we have to remove and clean out the dryer 4” vent pipe periodically as it collects lint itself. Ours is only about 2.5 or 3 feet from the back of the dryer to the exterior.

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JohnDar · Dec 20, 2020

And stay away from the cheap, flimsy plastic hoses. Make your straight run with sheet metal pipe or the flexible aluminum type. Adjustable metal elbows for bends and aluminum duct tape on all joints.

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BigHorns · Dec 20, 2020

TravelTiger said:
You want the shortest, straightest run possible for the 4” vent pipe. These things don’t have a removable lint filter like a residential dryer, supposedly lint is flushed out in the water drain. However, we noticed we have to remove and clean out the dryer 4” vent pipe periodically as it collects lint itself. Ours is only about 2.5 or 3 feet from the back of the dryer to the exterior.

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Many thanks. Still considering two possible routes for the hose run. One is a little shorter total hose length but has a 90 degree bend in it. Other a little longer but only a slight arc.

Interesting note on the lint flushing down the water drain. Guess there must not be any issues in the tanks.

TravelTiger · Dec 20, 2020

BigHorns said:
Many thanks. Still considering two possible routes for the hose run. One is a little shorter total hose length but has a 90 degree bend in it. Other a little longer but only a slight arc.

Interesting note on the lint flushing down the water drain. Guess there must not be any issues in the tanks.

Typically we leave the grey tank valve open for the tank the washer drain flows into if running the multiple loads, so there’s never a chance of backup/flooding. Forgot once, caught it backing up into the shower basin, just before it overflowed!

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BigHorns · Dec 20, 2020

JohnDar said:
And stay away from the cheap, flimsy plastic hoses. Make your straight run with sheet metal pipe or the flexible aluminum type. Adjustable metal elbows for bends and aluminum duct tape on all joints.

Thanks John. So far, I've planned on using the flexible aluminum, single piece run.

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TravelTiger said:
Typically we leave the grey tank valve open for the tank the washer drain flows into if running the multiple loads, so there’s never a chance of backup/flooding. Forgot once, caught it backing up into the shower basin, just before it overflowed!

We have split gray tanks and the washer will drain into the smaller of the two serving the bathroom, as well. Have already thought about the attention-factor there.

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And since you can't use dryer sheets, my wife is wondering what others use for fabric softener...

TravelTiger · Dec 20, 2020

BigHorns said:
Thanks John. So far, I've planned on using the flexible aluminum, single piece run.

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We have split gray tanks and the washer will drain into the smaller of the two serving the bathroom, as well. Have already thought about the attention-factor there.

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And since you can't use dryer sheets, my wife is wondering what others use for fabric softener...

Our Splendide Combo has a compartment for liquid fabric softener, we use Downy.

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