Customer Reviews

Dundas Jafine CHK100ZW Heat Keeper Kit With 2 Clamps

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Venting all that hot dryer air into the basement seems like a good idea, much better than letting all that expensive heat go to waste.
The concept is not without its drawbacks however. The first blast of hot air is laden with moisture, moisture better vented outside even in the winter. I've found the best solution is to vent the first few minutes of the dryer outside before flipping the lever on the dryer vent.

This particular model is a little better than the one I had previously. The round lint trap is easy to pull on and off, an important feature for my wife and me. Installation was fairly easy, but I was disappointed to discover there is no hanger on the back of this vent. To keep the vent in place I wound some heavy wire around two masonry nails on either side of the vent. So far that has kept the vent secure.

Out of the box this vent, like the Ace vent it replaced, was literally coming apart at the seams. I glued the gaps in place before installation though the metal clamps probably would have pulled them together.

The Dundas dryer vent comes with two plastic clamps which I chose not to use. The metal clamps hold more securely and are much easier to remove.

The screen's mesh is not very fine so too much lint escapes into the air. For now I put a piece of stocking over the screen to catch more lint. A four inch duct clamp holds the stocking in place.

So far the vent is doing what it's supposed to do and the lever for controlling air flow is adequate; it keeps the flapper in its intended position. How long the Dundas Jafine solution will hold up to the roughness of wife and daughter remains to be seen.

The device does what it says, it keeps the warm moist air in the house when wanted. The only problem is that lint filter is not that fine. We took off the supplied lint filter and attached a cut off leg from a pair of pantyhose to the vent with a rubber band. This works much better than the supplied lint trap as the pantyhose have a finer mesh and do not have to be cleaned as often.

This allows you to switch from venting your dryer outside in the summer to venting it inside for the heating season - with a fine screen lint trap for the inside outlet.

If you vent outside, you're throwing away moist warm air.

This is a dirt cheap way to save a little on your heating bill and get extra humidity in the air.

They're very easy to install. And once it's in it'll last for years.

You'll probably save enough to pay for it at least once a year.

Well if you have an electric dryer, this is the best way! In the winter you just turn the valve to shut off the hotair's route to the outside, yet to turn that hotair into your house.

It works, it really does and it provides a "wet" heat that smells like fresh linen (go figure, right?) instead of that "dry" heat that dries you out.

Well worth the money for the sweet smelling "wet" heat that it adds to your home.

Definitely helped raise the humidity in our house this winter. Our furnace sits in a closet with a louvered door open to the laundry room. When we ran this open with the dryer, we just switched the furnace blower ON to send it throughout the house. A digital hygrometer showed it raise the humidity one day from 16% to 45% with 2 loads of laundry. Worked perfectly. Made the house much more comfortable during dry winter.

Only reason I gave it 4 stars is you can't rely on the screen cover it comes with...it doesn't catch anything. A panty hose leg worked perfectly, just not so tasteful :P

I like the idea but the product is designed poorly, you get what you pay for on this one. Could be useful if you can modify it yourself so it doesn't leak and so it will fit into standard size dryer hoses better.

This is a VERY cheaply made product, the inlet and outlet are too small to properly fit to 4'' aluminum flex duct or rigid duct...it will leak around the connection. You may be able to get it to fit into one of those cheap aluminum foil flex ducts if you crank on the hose clamp really hard, but it will probably still leak. Forget about using the 2 included clamps, they are basically just nylon zip ties. When the valve is closed to vent outside, a good amount of air will still leak through the plastic flapper and vent inside your home...this will dump extra heat and humidity into your home in the summer when you want it to vent 100% outdoors. No gaskets or sealing valves on this, just cheap plastic...save your money.

Home Depot and Lowes sell something similar. Theirs is just as cheap, however if you buy from a store you can at least return it easily without paying return shipping.

Put this in the vent line combined with a flip lever vent for venting into the house in winter. Works great, and filters about 90% of the lint missed by the dryer screen, which for us is a substantial amount. We were constantly fighting decreased efficiency over time with lint lining the PVC tubing we tried instead of the less efficient flexible hose. The screen on the flip vent catches the other 10% for a great system. Even when we go to outside venting again in Summer, this will substantially reduce the number of times I have to clean the venting system each year.

Easy to clean, durable screen. Make sure the dryer is "off" before cleaning, or you will get a face full of lint. Yeah, you're saying "duh" but if I hadn't told you, you'd have done it too eventually ;) Great product. Highly recommended.

We were getting bad smells in the laundry room. Things that I thought:
Mildew from front load washer - we leave it open
gas from sewer line - liquid fired the drain
dead mouse in dryer vent - bought a vent that seals and prevents bugs and cold air
gas coming from septic outside and coming in dryer vent - got this product

This lets me vent the warm hot air from the dryer into the house. Our laundry is on the second floor and opens into a large part of the home/stairwell. So I am not worried at all about too much moisture and mildew but if you were in a tight place this might be and issue.

Pros: Works with modification. I took some painter's tape and sealed the cracks and gaps this unit has.

Cons:
Lever is on the wrong side for our layout. Sort of a pain but since I'll only switch once or twice a year not a big deal.
Filter is worthless - I put on one of my wifes nylon tube socks and this does the trick perfectly - (NOTE you will have to clean out the sock to keep the dryer drying)

With my mods I am pleased with this purchase.

This device works great. Our laundry room was always quite chilly in the winter, what with the dryer vent letting in cold air, and it's on the north side of the house to boot. With the Heat Keeper, no more. This thing delivers as promised. It feels great when you're doing laundry in the winter now. Unlike some of the other comments, I think it provides just the right amount of humidity also, especially in the driest days of winter. (That may depend on where you live, though.) Furthermore, installation was a breeze. In fact, the one end fit right into the outside vent tightly; no clamp even necessary. For the end attached to the flexible vent pipe from the dryer, I just used the metal squeeze clamp I was already using, and so didn't bother with the plastic clamps included. Well worth the low price I paid.

People are crying about quality - it's a dryer vent. I've also seen (an removed) a lot cheaper ones, like the ones at the big box stores.

It's a little clumsy but works great - exactly as described. Has a little flap in the main flap to blow off extra pressure (like if the screen builds up lint). Seal up the edges with silicon or duct sealant if you don't like the very minor leaks. Flap moves and locks well, and plastic housing is sufficiently thick.

If you're worried about the influence of outside air use an outside vent like the Lambro or Heartland. You're dryer is going to leak air either way unless you use something that closes off the outside completely. The only difference is you'll notice it at this junction before you notice it at the dryer but the same thing happens regardless. It's not this devices fault.