At the time, no, there is no green solution that can meet the MA building code.
The thing about the code is that it does not allow for user diligence (or stupidity). Things are either permitted, or not permitted. Preventing fires is of paramount importance, especially in a city like Cambridge or Somerville where there are a series of wood frame houses spaced very close together. If a fire were to get out of hand on a block, the consequences could be tragic.
Of course, a safe and green solution could be had if a user were diligent and intelligent.
Electric dryers do not create carbon dioxide; it is the gas dryers that vent CO2 from combustion. The problem is, if something were to go wrong, it is possible that incomplete combustion of gas would lead to carbon monoxide, which is deadly (and no use to plants). So venting of combustion is not permitted into an occupied space.
There is also the issue of venting lint and preventing lint accumulation in an occupied space.
Does a greenhouse count as an occupied space? I don't know... If not, then yeah, I don't see why you couldn't put your dryer vent in an outside greenhouse. The only catch is that you are limited to an equivalent 25 feet of dryer vent line. Each turn counts for like 5ft, so you run out of length pretty quickly.
Code-wise, I think the most likely legal thing to do would be to vent to the outside as normal, and then have a greenhouse intake fan with a lint filter placed in close proximity to the vent to draw in the humid exhaust.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Re: That's even worse!
Date: 2009-02-26 04:21 pm (UTC)The thing about the code is that it does not allow for user diligence (or stupidity). Things are either permitted, or not permitted. Preventing fires is of paramount importance, especially in a city like Cambridge or Somerville where there are a series of wood frame houses spaced very close together. If a fire were to get out of hand on a block, the consequences could be tragic.
Of course, a safe and green solution could be had if a user were diligent and intelligent.
Electric dryers do not create carbon dioxide; it is the gas dryers that vent CO2 from combustion. The problem is, if something were to go wrong, it is possible that incomplete combustion of gas would lead to carbon monoxide, which is deadly (and no use to plants). So venting of combustion is not permitted into an occupied space.
There is also the issue of venting lint and preventing lint accumulation in an occupied space.
Does a greenhouse count as an occupied space? I don't know... If not, then yeah, I don't see why you couldn't put your dryer vent in an outside greenhouse. The only catch is that you are limited to an equivalent 25 feet of dryer vent line. Each turn counts for like 5ft, so you run out of length pretty quickly.
Code-wise, I think the most likely legal thing to do would be to vent to the outside as normal, and then have a greenhouse intake fan with a lint filter placed in close proximity to the vent to draw in the humid exhaust.