Dundas Heat Keeper Kit Review

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In the winter, we do everything we can to keep warm.  Bundling up, wearing extra socks, using space heaters etc. The most common thing to do, however, is step up to your thermostat and click it up a few notches. In a few minutes, you will be a few degrees more toasty. It's easy to do, and most of us think very little about the consequences.

What is it really costing you?

Heating bills vary greatly depending on house size, climate, insulation, fuel choice, and fuel prices.
But it is easy enough to find some averages.Average Heating Bill

In the graph above, we have five typical winter fuel bills, converted to US dollars at average exchange rates over the last winter.  These costs may include a little energy used for hot water or cooking, but they are mostly about heat.

Winter Fuel Bills Compared

In the winter of 2012/13 the average American home using natural gas spent $598 on fuel over the heating period.
British homes using natural gas spent £607 ($956) over the same period, while German homes using gas spent €770 ($994).
The American homes actually used more, because they have big houses, but the bill works out lower because they also have very cheap natural gas prices.
US homes using oil (mostly in the North East) have huge heating bills, both because they use a lot of energy and because fuel oil is expensive

Living in Texas, and being “hot nature,” I rarely ever turned on my heater…
Until this past winter!
Many of you may know that I've lost quite a bit of weight recently and with it, the comforting insulation that protects me from the cold.
Now, if it's a little frosty outside, I'm bundled up with a sweater, coat, and 2 pairs of socks!
So, needless to say, I am not looking forward to my monthly heating bill this year.
But what if you could save money on your heating this year, without having to  rip your thermostat off the wall?
I can't take full credit for this article, My buddy Damien over at reThinksurvival.com brought this nifty device to my attention on one of his recent posts. 
Click here to see the original article.
 

I was so excited about saving money on my heating bill that I jumped at the chance and impulse-bought this Dundas Heat Keeper Kit. It happened to show up the next day, and I was about to install it when I immediately realized it wasn’t going to work THAT easily because I needed to purchase two dryer vent ducts. All these vent ducts do is connect your dryer to the duct that goes outside the house.
Anyway, I went with two five foot long ducts so that I could extend from the bottom of the dryer (where the duct outlet is) up to above the dryer where I connect it to the Dundas Heat Keeper Kit and then back down to the floor again where it connects to the outside duct. If you’ve ever messed with dryer ducts, you’ll understand. I needed two because my dryer happened to connect directly to the outside duct, You, however, may be able to get away with only one additional dryer vent duct depending on what you have in your home already… Pull the dryer out and look.

The setup is really simple: connect a vent duct from the dryer to the heat keeper, and then connect the other end of the heat keeper using the second vent duct to the outside vent. They provided two “clamps” that were nothing more than large zip ties for connecting the dryer ducts to the heat keeper, which worked well enough, but I wouldn’t have called them clamps. I also had to purchase two additional 4″ metal duct clamps, but you may not need to. Here’s what it looks like when completed:

I briefly thought about Velcroing it to the cabinet above, but I figured it rested well enough atop the dryer, and “the boss” didn’t complain other than to say after the first time I used it “It’s not very warm!” But, in my defense, I just started using it. Later on, it warmed up. Speaking of which, I also immediately turned the laundry room into a sauna, as evidenced by this picture of the now fogged-up exterior door:

 

It just so happens that I fogged up the bathroom mirror, which is awful too, as the master bath is adjacent to the laundry room. Anyway, the important question is: how well did it heat the house?
Well, the first test is how much warmer the house feels…
Continue reading Damians review on rethinksurvival.com

Want more tips? Check out these great articles on our site:

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on February 11, 2016, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.

8 Responses to :
Dundas Heat Keeper Kit Review

  1. dave says:

    Strategically placed low-wattage heat is amazingly effective. A pet bed heater under your feet at your computer table will keep you warm in a cold room – but it will work better if you’re not wearing shoes or slippers.
    A similar heater for under your mattress pad at the bottom of your bed will keep you and your bed warm even in an unheated room. Mine was $22 from a big-box retailer with a website on the website – but it wasn’t in the store. It works just fine for what I need and has 3 heat settings. I also have one under a sheep skin and my cats love that.
    Both type items use about 15 watts, period. Less than your refrigerator light bulb.

  2. BK says:

    The humidity trapped inside your house from this wet heat can be very damaging to your home if it isn’t managed. You are setting yourself up for a bigtime mold infestation if you keep the inside of you home too humid. Not saying don’t do it…just use it sparingly and possibly consider a de-humidifier in combination with this system.

  3. JJM123 says:

    Used a similar product 20+ years ago in my South home. Laundry area in garage and it did help to remove some of the chill. I cut the existing vent hose and inserted this resulting in it sitting on the floor which was bad as I often forgot to clean its lint filter which resulted in longer dryer time. Remember, the dryer’s vent does not capture all the lint, every couple years I clean out the hose and exit passage (which runs under the hot water heater) and remove at least a gallon of extra lint!!

  4. Jon McNulty says:

    This is a great idea but it will NOT work with a gas dryer as the exhaust is sent out with the heat.

  5. Daniel says:

    This IS NOT efficient at all. When the dryer is not in use, cold outside vent air will escape into your home, rendering this trick useless causing more cold air coming into your home! This only works as long as you are using the dryer, only!

  6. Brenda says:

    Are you serious? You actually spent money for this thing? Here is what I do: In the winter,I remove the vent hose from the duct going outside. I seal the outside duct. I lay the hose on the floor and voila! I have heat…WHEN I am doing laundry. During these hours I can turn my thermostat back.The added moisture in the air is good for my house plants and myself, since I have very dry heat radiators. Any other time I just tuck the hose behind the dryer. Now this is only heat for a few hours a week, but every bit helps. Otherwise, as the guy said, it is being vented outside and wasted. Come summer time I reattach the hose to the outside duct.

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