Ventless Clothes Dryers: A Comprehensive Guide

Ventless clothes dryers? Is that a thing? According to the U.S. Department of Energy, nearly 80% of Americans own a clothes dryer. Unfortunately, 98% of those dryers vent to the outdoors. A non-vented standard dryer adds warm, lint-filled air into living spaces, which is harmful to breathe and potentially flammable. It also leads to excess moisture, leading to mold, and structural damage. An improperly vented gas dryer also has the potential to leak carbon monoxide into a home. Do all dryers require a vent? What options do you have?

Ventless dryers have been the norm in Europe for generations yet uncommon in North America. Moreover, vented dryers are illegal in Switzerland. So what do Europeans know that we don’t?

Clothes Dryers 101

If you want to learn a little more about dryer technology, this Whirlpool U-Tube video is an excellent place to start. To summarize, though, there are three types of commercially available dryers: air vented (most common in the U.S.), condensing, and heat pump. Condensing and heat pump dryers are ventless.

To sum it up: the vent of a vented dryer is a way to rid your home of your laundry’s wasted heat and humidity (the clothing put in there is wet, after all). In addition, Ventless technology allows various means to collect and recycle wastewater and heated and cooled air for repeated use in the appliance. So which one is a more efficient use of energy? You guessed it: ventless dryers.

Pros and Cons of Vented Dryers

Vented dryers have a large capacity and generate a lot of heat, making clothes dry fast and can damage clothing over time. As a result, they have the lowest upfront cost of the three dryers described above. However, their energy efficiency is the worst of the three; vented dryers will cost consumers the most over time in energy bills. Also, for reasons stated above, they must be vented, a process that involves cutting a hole in a home’s exterior, the cost of which can be more than a thousand dollars.

Whenever you have to vent something outside, you are putting a hole in your wall or ceiling. That means your home is not as tight, and it can take more energy (and more money) to heat and cool it. Also, a hole for a vent is more likely to lead to more condensation and leaks in your wall or ceiling, which can lead to mold, rot, and other structural issues.

Condenser dryers don't need ventilation, require less energy than vented dryers, and can be installed in small or older homes and sky rises. This is one reason they are popular in Europe.

Passive houses, given their requirement for airtightness and eliminating unnecessary venting, will almost always require ventless dryers. This also benefits the homeowners by having lower utility costs. 

On the con side, they are only available in compact sizes, drying times can be two or three times as long as vented dryers, and they are more expensive upfront than vented dryers. In addition, they tend to add moisture to the room in which they are used, and the water they collect must be drained and emptied in some way.

An advantage of all-electric dryers is that they reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, and a good set-up for a zero-energy home.

Ventless Dryer Brands and Costs

Bosch, Miele, LG, Whirlpool, and GE make ventless dryers, both condenser and heat pump models.

Bosch Ventless Dryers

Bosch condenser dryers, all 24" compacts, range in price on the Bosch website from $1,099 to $1,549. If you want a heat pump dryer, you have to specify that in the search, and even so, you may be directed to condenser dryers. (This is true for all brands. There appear to be many more options for condenser dryers than heat pump dryers.) The Bosch website gives no prices for their heat pump dryers. A 9-kg capacity model for $1599 is also available.

Miele Ventless Dryers

A Miele 24" 4.1 cubic foot capacity electric dryer ranges from $1499 to $1899, depending on special features. Although it is not specified at the site, it appears to be a condenser and not a heat pump model.

Whirlpool Ventless Dryers

A description of Whirlpool's top-of-the-line 7.3 cubic foot HybridCare Ventless Duet Dryer with Heat Pump Technology can be found here but without a price and a location for purchase. Whirlpool condenser models, ranging from $1049 to 1299, are described here.

Additional information about heat pump dryers and condenser dryers can be found in our Explore Products area.

Bottom Line

If you are in the market for a new dryer and looking for the lowest cost option, start with air drying your clothes if your neighborhood allows hanging laundry out to dry. That would be the least costly but may not be the most practical—so perhaps combine that with a vented electric Whirlpool dryer, seven cubic feet capacity ($429 on sale at Lowe's) with a clothesline ($98.00 on Amazon).

If you are willing to pay the extra upfront cost, ventless dryers could be a great solution. Particularly for smaller spaces, small homes, apartments that cannot be easily vented, or homeowners looking for a more efficient method for drying clothing. And given that they are easier on clothing, your wardrobe will last longer, saving you time and money on that front as well.

Article by:

Donna Pols Trump

Donna Pols Trump’s work has been published in literary magazines and online. She has received several Pushcart Prize nominations. Donna’s education includes degrees in Biology and Physical Therapy and a host of writing classes taken and taught at The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. Her short story “Portage” was selected by judge Anne Tyler for first prize in a 2018 contest sponsored by december magazine.