Save Money on Home Heating: Install a Dryer Diverter

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

19 Dec 2006 10:46 AM

Here is a little known secret for saving money on home heating. It is one of the absolutely best things we did last year, and it saved us a lot.

Although our basement is not finished, we still use it as a family room. We have an entertainment center with a TV and VCR, rugs, and plenty of toys for the kids. It is a great place for them to play while I do laundry and ironing. The only problem is that the basement gets really cold in the winter. In order to keep it warm, we used portable electric heaters, but they use quite a bit of electricity, and I was always worried about the kids touching the heaters or knocking them over.

Last year, we installed a simple and inexpensive device called a dryer duct diverter. It is basically a small box with a door and a screen. The diverter allows you to divert the warm moist air of your clothes dryer directly into the room, rather than letting all of that valuable heat outside. You open the diverter door when the dryer is running, and close it up when the dryer is off or during the summer.

The diverter really warmed up our basement and made it so comfortable for us to be down there. It also warmed up the rest of the house, when I left the door from the kitchen to the basement open while drying clothes. The warm air just wafted up to the rest of the house.

This diverter worked so well for us, that I often looked around for laundry to do, just raise the temperature a bit.

A note about electric versus gas dryers. We have an electric dryer, so the diverter is completely safe to use. If you have a gas dryer, you might want to think twice about using a dryer duct diverter, simply because some pollutants from the dryer exhaust could find their way into your room. If you do want to use a dryer diverter with your gas dryer, at the very least, install a carbon monoxide detector.

A dryer duct diverter can be found at almost any hardware or home improvement store. It is both inexpensive and easy to install. Installing the diverter is simply a matter of cutting your existing dryer duct and attaching both halves to the diverter.

Do you have any other frugal ideas for heating your home? I would love to hear about them.

Check out the Frugal Living Blog for more great money saving ideas!

Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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