someone told me they save alot of $$$ in the winter by venting their dryer vent into the house. i thought that there was carbon-monoxide in the discharge from your dryer (natural gas) and that is why it is vented outside. so????????? thats my question
It is safe and does provide a lot of heat and moisture to the house in the winter. (If you have a gas dryer, check with your gas provider, I have electric and it's safe for that.) Check the link to a nice, inexpensive little vent that catches the lint much better than just a nylon stocking would. You put a little water into the cup and it catches the lint, you empty it every few loads and you get no lint all over the place.
In the summer, you'd have to re hook the vent to an outside vent or open some windows in your laundry room as it does get too much moisture and heat then.
The venting outside is to prevent condensation and, as someone else has said, eventually mould.
You can actually buy (here in the UK anyway) dryers with inbuilt condensers which means you don't need a vent anyway. I have one of those - I usually leave the door or window open a little though, as well! Never heard about gas coming out of my electric dryer, though. And didn't know that you could get gas operated ones so I've lived and learned today.
In the UK we do not have driers running off of gas, if this is the case where you live I would not even think about it. Another point is if you are venting into the house where is all the moisture going. Something has to soak it up. This can lead to mould forming and once you have it it is hard to control and remove.
