Just a dryer?

Yes, the board would freak. I can't site a regulation, but I am all but certain you cannot put an electrical appliance in a bathroom, let alone under a bathroom sink for pretty obvious safety reasons. It is a good way to die.

KW - you have electrical appliances in the bathroom all the time - hairdryers, for example, which is why they have those outlets which automatically cutoff power when water hits. And one "cites" a regulation.

I have a stackable washer and dryer in my bathroom in Manhattan. Not certain of the specifics on ventilation but it does not vent to the outside. Live in a prewar coop building.

An electrical appliance immediately under a sink may not be something your coop would love, you might need to find another location.

"One of those tiny, 2.5 cu. ft., 110v portable dryers (like the Haier or Avanti) would fit nicely under the bathroom sink. Do they get hot enough for what I want to do? The manufacturer says they can be vented indoors into a dryer box - is that legal in NYC? Would the co-op board freak if I told them?"

1. No, they don't get hot enough.

2. Those little dryer boxes are illegal in ALL apartments in New York City.

3. Yes, the board would freak if you told them. If you DIDN'T tell them and started a fire in your apartment, they would not only "freak", but would also move forward with trying to void your proprietary lease.

If your docs say no washers or dryers then forget it. If it says no washers but doesn't mention dryers, put whatever appliance you want in and it's nobody's business but your own.

Personally, I wouldn't put it under a sink nor do I have any idea how you might fit something like this there (there is plumbing, yes?) Do you have an outlet to use? You certainly would not want to use an extension cord. Lastly, can your fuse box handle the load?

Why don't you get an all-in-1 washer and dryer? If someone from the baord says anything, just tell them it is a dryer, which, technically it is.

Matt, how many times have you used that kind of dryer? Zero? Fewer? Why would they dry any worse than a typical apartment-size 115v dryer, given their smaller capacity?

Illegal in NYC apartments? Cite.

Unsafe? Their little toaster ovens with rotating drummettes, and UL listed.

How many coop boards have "moved forward with trying to void" a proprietary lease in the entire history of NYC coops?

"llegal in NYC apartments? Cite.

Unsafe? Their little toaster ovens with rotating drummettes, and UL listed.

*****

Alan, I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not going to cite housing code for you. Suffice it to say, dryer "boxes" (where the hose from the dryer exhaust is terminated in a little box) are illegal in New York City because of the inherent fire hazard they pose. If you want proof, call the city housing department yourself.

*****

"How many coop boards have "moved forward with trying to void" a proprietary lease in the entire history of NYC coops?"

Quite a few. My building is doing it right now, as a matter of fact.

The dryer box that SuzQ referred to is basically a bucket of water that traps lint and heat ... in theory. There's no more fire hazard than venting to the outside.

Electrical dryers (including the non-non-vented kind) are not required by NYC code to be vented to the outside, for better or worse, and you'll plenty of new construction that has w/d closets without venting ... it's right up there with the unvented range hood in NYC.

I hope you win your lawsuit and don't get evicted from your coop. It's cold out there.

And I can't believe I typed "their" for "they're" ... the shame of it will haunt me for daze.

AH - you're totally right about the non-venting - all those 80's condos with the w/d closets had that "lint trap" thing

Get a Jiffy Steamer. They work great and take up little space.

What about an electric towel warmer in your bathroom? It takes very little wall space, it's a great towel warmer, and will get your unmentionables dry and toasty. Unless your by-laws ban all supplemental space heaters, it should be everything you're looking for.

"The dryer box that SuzQ referred to is basically a bucket of water that traps lint and heat ... in theory. There's no more fire hazard than venting to the outside."

Those are what are illegal.

love maly's towel warmer idea - has anyone actually tried it?

why don't you just make your life easier and get an all in 1 washer/dryer? A towel warmer? How long is that going to take to dry all of your clothes?

I have a towel warmer in my bathroom (the water kind.)
We had it installed for heating, and also because nothing beats warm towels on winter mornings. I also use it for undies and the occasional damp jeans/socks on rainy days. It will not replace a conventional dryer, but it will do what SuzyQ needs it to do.
Google Myson if you want to check it out.

I've never understood why there aren't towel warmers that are an extension of a hot-water (or steam, with a bit of insulation) heating systems.

AH - if towel warmer were an extension of a heating system (which is an interesting idea) wouldn't that be a problem in the summer when heating systems are turned off? Could still use the water, but would have to have a heater in the towel system anyway. So esthetically as well as practically, probably makes sense to have a self contained unit.

bump

Don't they also make freestanding, plug it in the wall styles, too, like an electric clothing valet?

I assume people more greatly prefer warm towels in the winter. No?

Towel warmers are ubiquitous in the UK. They are all well and good (great for drying stuff other than towels) BUT be careful with your naked self & the towel warmer. I have burned my naked belly a couple of times in the UK on towel warmers.

I've had some ouches off of UK towel warmers myself. Do you think they have them primarily for a reason other than warming towels, like some elaborate nightly rinse-and-dry socks ritual?

AH: you are so American to ask that! The Brits I know are frugal and try not to use their dryers (btw, Bosch makes a great was/dry combo for the UK 220V market). Every semi-hot surface inc. towel warmers are draped with damp pieces of clothing...

Are s/b is - bad grammar.

Our towel warmer is an extension of our heating system, it gets hot, but not to the point of pain. In any case, we use it for hanging our bath towels year round. My desire for warm towels is correlated to the outside temperature, so I've never wanted heat in the summer.
For the OP, she should stick to the electric kind. I can't imagine the coop would let her tinker with the heating systems, if they won't let her put in a w/d.

maly, hot water or [sss, sss] steam heat?
Wheredja get it?

Hot water, installed at the same time we had the heating system completely redone. We bought all the radiators through Heating Depot on Chrystie st. I'm not necessarily recommending them, they were a bit argumentative, but otherwise they delivered and were on time.

"why don't you just make your life easier and get an all in 1 washer/dryer?"

Um, read her first line:

"I'm buying in a prewar building that doesn't allow washing machines."

That can be construed as meaning "doesn't allow the bad kind of washing machines, but allows the good kind if they don't know about it."

Alan, m'dear, when it comes to restricting washing machines due to pipe restrictions (which is pretty much the only reason to restrict them), there ARE no "good kind" of washing machines. They all force water out at the same rate, causing problems for surrounding apartments.

Front-loaders expel water at the same rate as a dishwasher does ... it's in no rush, because there isn't very much water to shed.

"Front-loaders expel water at the same rate as a dishwasher does ... it's in no rush, because there isn't very much water to shed."

No, they don't.

Dishwashers DRAIN their water.

Clothes washers -- yes, even the front-loaders -- FORCE the water out during the spin cycle (that's how the washer "wrings" the water out of the clothes).

As I've explained exhaustively in the past (but will repeat again for the slow learners), regardless of whether you're using a 1969 Lady Kenmore that's throwing out 24 gallons of water, versus a 2009 LG "high efficiency" model that uses only 11 gallons, the RATE at which the water is forced into the pipes is the same: more than 20 gallons per minute, into pipes that can at best handle EIGHT gallons per minute.

Just because the washer has only 11 gallons of water in it doesn't mean it's not forcing the water out at more than 20 gallons per minute.

Disputing this elementary fact of physics would be like saying it's impossible for your car to go 60 miles an hour unless you're traveling either 60 miles or for an entire hour.

I looked at an apt on east 72nd street that I loved but the building didn't allow W/D. The apt had a legal front load non vented dryer which the building did allow.

Thanks for all the good advice.

1. So far as I can see, the co-op rules forbid washers. They don't say anything about dryers.

2. I don't want to break the rules, or the law. By "would they freak" I meant "is this something generally not permitted, so I shouldn't even ask". What kinds of dryers are legal in Manhattan? Where do you go to find stuff like that out?

3. I've thought about a towel warmer, too; but wouldn't it take a lot of power, and need its own GFCI circuit? Also, it doesn't un-wrinkle things, and a dryer would.

4. Do you have to tell the co-op board about every appliance? Where's the line? I assume I don't need their permission to buy a blender or a breadmaker, but when I install a dishwasher where there was none before, that's an alteration which needs permission, right? So where does a portable dryer fit in (if dryers are not otherwise forbidden)? Or a towel-warmer?