{"id":1151,"date":"2023-03-24T10:53:10","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T14:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.njairquality.com\/?p=1151"},"modified":"2023-03-24T15:20:14","modified_gmt":"2023-03-24T19:20:14","slug":"preventing-laundry-room-freeze-all-winter-long","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/preventing-laundry-room-freeze-all-winter-long\/","title":{"rendered":"Preventing Laundry Room Freeze All Winter Long"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Some folks find laundry day the worst day of\nthe week while others find it a time to relax and listen to some soothing\nmusic. It sure would make that day more pleasant if we could somehow control\nthe temperature and humidity in our laundry room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Some of us on the east coast are thawing out as spring tries to come out of hiding. The anxious gardeners are flying up the block to get first dibs on the lawns, spreading fertilizer and good cheer. This winter has been fairly docile, and we haven\u2019t had as much slippery ice as usual on our driveways and walkways. But, it was cold enough with temperatures<\/a> falling below freezing for our homes to need lots of heat and warm clothing for our bodies. Our home appliances are affected by the cold weather as well, especially if they are situated in basements and garages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washing\nMachines<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s start with your washing machine. Many\nhomeowners have their washer and dryer in their unfinished basements. If your\nappliance is against an outside wall there is a fair chance that not only has\nthe hot water turned cold but can actually turn to ice! How can this occur? A\nwashing machine has a hose to fill the drum and a drain pump that drains the\nwater after the load is wrung and done. The water intake valve can break down\nbecause of iced water causing flooding if the room warms up even a bit. To\nprevent this from happening it is imperative that the washer\u2019s hoses be\nproperly insulated with pipe insulation and keeping the hose disconnected\nunless you are actually putting in a load if the room is not heated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humidity In The Laundry Room<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The laundry room can become the coldest room in the house in the winter and the warmest in the summer. By simply taking your wet clothes out of the washer and putting on the dryer with those clothes inside is a recipe to cause humidity in the laundry room. When a venting system is working right this humid air is blasted outside as the clothes tumble dry. However, if the vent is not working optimally then heat and humidity build up in the laundry room<\/a>.<\/a> Even if your dryer venting system is working properly the laundry room will feel a bit warmer just as your kitchen becomes warmer when the over is on. This is normal and not much can be done about it unless you have a window that can be opened in the spring or fall, but it won\u2019t help in the summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clothes\nDryers<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Clothes dryers can also be affected by the\nweather outside. Most laundry rooms are situated within at least one outside\nwall so that the dryer will be able to be vented outside. This is the most\nadvantageous way of installing the dryer vent so that the lint and air go\nstraight outdoors and can be easily cleaned by a dryer vent specialist when\nnecessary. The trouble is that if the vent stays open all year the room becomes\ncold in the winter and with cold air entering through an open dryer vent the\nclothes drying system can be compromised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When there is a sudden rain downpour your\nwindows can get foggy with moisture and this same idea holds true with your\ndryer. The dryer works by bombarding the clothes with hot air and the extra air\nis ventilated through the vent. But, when this hot and moist air causes\ncondensation on the cold places every time the dryer is turned on you will see\nthe moisture on the windows of the room. To prevent this from happening, the\nhomeowner must be certain that the vents are clear and able to push the extra\nair outdoors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Refrigerators<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Refrigerators can be affected negatively by\nextreme temperatures in the home and garage. When I purchased a second\nrefrigerator for my attached garage, I had no idea that my brand-new\nrefrigerator would not work in freezing or hot temperatures. Since I purchased\nthe refrigerator in the fall when the temperature outdoors was neither freezing\nnor boiling, I could not possibly be prepared for what would happen in the\nwinter to my new refrigerator. Since this new appliance was working just fine\nin moderate weather, I was in for a shock when I entered my very cold garage to\nfind a unit that was not working properly. Since it was cold anyway in the\ngarage the food did not spoil and unfortunately, I did not call the appliance\ncompany while the refrigerator was still under warranty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 As the\nweather became warmer our new refrigerator seemed to be working properly again\nand I blamed its winter failure on my imagination. In the peak of the summer I\nsensed that the refrigerator was not that cold but I did not use it then since\nwe did not have that much company at that time of year. Unfortunately, by the\ntime I realized there was truly something wrong with the item the warranty had\njust expired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After speaking to a knowledgeable customer\nservice representative, I was told that my refrigerator model will not work in\nextreme temperatures, so I ended up finding a permanent spot in my kitchen for\nit. This was not at all in my plan to have two refrigerators in the kitchen but\nby now I have adjusted to this development. It would be wise to check with your\nappliance distributor to make sure that the refrigerator you buy is not\nsensitive to fluctuating temperatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A homeowner who is stuck with their laundry\narea in an unheated room, basement or garage has some options on how to warm\nthis area up at least partially. For instance, Sheila R. complained that her\nlaundry room is \u201cabsolutely freezing in the winter\u201d. The walls and floors are\nso cold you need furry slippers and sweatshirts to enter in the cold weather.\nHer particular home is over one hundred years old and although she loves its\ncharacter, she cannot enter her laundry room which was originally a porch that\nwas closed off, in frigid weather. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheila was advised to blow insulation into her walls since she did not want to go through major reconstruction by removing the walls of her laundry room. There are actually certain energy companies that are offering free insulation blown into drafty walls. Each county has their own insulation options<\/a> so you have to check on what your area offers. Promotions can be found in local newspaper advertisements but you do have to check if these opportunities work in older homes. Basically the way this process works is a small hole is made in the wall and insulation blown in so you do not have to take down walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two other basic choices are to purchase a dryer vent seal<\/a> which automatically closes the opening to the vent when the dryer is off. This is referred to as a draft blocker that is affixed to the inside of the dryer vent cap and has a flap that opens when there is air flowing from the dryer through the duct. All other times the flap will remain in a closed position preventing the cool winter draft coming up through the dryer vent. Think of it as a one way only air flow where air can only flow outside the house but not into the house. The draft blocker installation is rather easy and should take about five minutes. Simply remove the dryer vent hose from the inside of the house, affixed the draft blocker, and reattached the hose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once on the topic of dryer vent caps it\u2019s important to make sure that it is functioning correctly. Often the flaps could be broken that allows unwanted pests direct access to your home or sometimes it could be caked with lint. Over the course of time all of that junk along with weatherization will cause erosion and the dryer vent cap will need to be replaced<\/a>.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lastly if you want to be certain that your laundry room temperature does not drop beyond too much place a small wall heater<\/a> with a built-in thermostat that plugs into an available outlet (just be sure that the heater is a safe spot and not near any clothing that can potentially catch fire). This will not only benefit your appliances but will take away the chill to those who need to do the laundry. Having a laundry room in the house is nice but there are still options for all the other folks that find themselves doing laundry in a cool garage or basement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final\nWords<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To like or not to like laundry day that is the question. There are many perks to having your laundry appliances in your home rather than running to the laundromat. However, unless you are renovating your home you have to take the laundry room as is. You might not even have a separate laundry room or your washer and dryer are in an unfinished and unheated basement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are ways to make these laundry areas\nmore comfortable from automatic baffles and small heating elements to making\nsure that your dryer venting system is working properly. Different items cause\ndifferent amounts and types of lint and no matter how often you clean your lint\ntrap there are other places where the lint builds up. This is why it is\nimperative to call a professional vent cleaning company to make sure that the\nlint is removed not only from the lint trap but from other parts of the dryer\nand the hose leading outdoors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you find that your laundry room is too cold\nto enter in the winter there are some options which you should try. Some folks\nwill notice that their laundry room is the coldest room in their house in the\nwinter. One of the reasons is that your clothes dryer is attached to a four\ninch wide exhaust duct and in the winter the cold air leaks through at the\nplaces that the duct connects to the outside of your home. If these parts are\nnot sealed properly then when any warm air gets outside, it is taking away from\nthe warmth in the room. Sealing the dryer ducts properly is something that a professional air\nduct specialist<\/a> can do for you. Whatever your laundry challenges are it\u2019s always\nbetter to do laundry at home then have to shlep it all to the local laundromat.\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some folks find laundry day the worst day of the week while others find it a time to relax and listen to some soothing music. It sure would make that day more pleasant if we could somehow control the temperature and humidity in our laundry room. Some of us on the east coast are thawing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1151"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1161,"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1151\/revisions\/1161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}