Broan-NuTone 1700 Heat Economizer

The media could not be loaded.  Quality - For the price it's fair. The housing is plastic and is not overly sturdy. It does the job but just barley.Performance - We live in west central Wisconsin. It's not the coldest place in the US but sub zero temps here are common. Our basement has non insulated metal ductwork with forced hot air, no basement vents, just the heat that radiates of the ducts. When the outside hits -15 the basement will drop to 55. Heating the house will bring the basement up to 60. Using the economizer with the electric dryer empty on high, in 20 minutes the basement will be 70. It's about 500SF.The Filter.....yeah...Well, it does it's job. it will filter lint and let the heat into your chosen area. I thought this would be better than a pair of pantyhose hanging in the basement. Surprisingly, this filter is actually more awkward than that. It just seems to me once you turn it on your struck with the impression that...well, it's a conversation piece for sure. I would really like to have discussion with whom ever was involved with this choice of shape, size, and color. What was that like? How bad were the other options? I mean what were they that a group of people (and I am assuming it was some group, hopefully a diverse and mixed gender group) came to the conclusions that this was the best filter. I have to know what options were worse than this.

I use this product as an exhaust duct diverter in a crawl space. I dont use the filter sock in this application. The fan is moving 30-40CFM and this diverter serves the purpose of increasing or decreasing air circulation in the crawl space by moving the gate from the through position (no circulation, exhaust only) to whatever position desired for more circulation (less exhaust), eliminating dead air pockets in the crawl space. The handle seems to stay in partially open position, I use a small wedge of foam to make sure it stays. It has notch to keep it set either fully open or fully closed. The assembled product is fairly light weight and flexible, but given it wont be handled much, is not exposed to heat or ultraviolet light, or even high CFM - I expect it to last for as long as I am around to notice.

A great product, however the hardware sleeve for the body to slide in is way too flimsy. I ended up having the 4” hose in such position that the hose will help hold it up. The hardware itself is not strong enough. Had to get creative to get it to hold. It works.

There should be adjustable clamps with this. They would make it easier to clean out.

The dryer vent pipe goes through my attached garage, so I thought I would cash in on some cheap heat to use while I am tinkering. I purchased all 3 brands of these that I could find, and tested them all.Is it flimsy? Yes, but not any flimsier than the others. Sadly, there is not a non-flimsy dryer heat saver available, at least that I am aware of, without getting into the kind that need water to work. If I could have found a heavier plastic or an aluminum heat saver, I would have gladly left this product alone.Does it really use a ladies trouser sock as a filter? Yes, but only because it works better than a screen. What would you rather look at, a sock full of air, or dryer lint all over your garage?Its easy to turn off and on. You don't want to leave one of these on all the time, or the excessive moisture will wreck your stuff.

It works well in that it puts heat and humidity in the air when open and exhaust like it should when closed. The door is easy to use and stays in place. My only complaint is the nylon sock they provide to catch the lint. It looks so tacky. It works but could you guys get a screen to go on it or something? There are other brands that provide a screen if you don't like the look of a flacid sock filled with lint hanging over your dryer which becomes erect once the dryer is turned on.

We use a large nylons on it but it easy to use and a great way to utilize the heat from the dryer in the winter

Exactly what I was looking for.

I have use done of these things before and it does work pretty good.Little disappointed with the fact this unit was split in half - the previous one was a solid mold. But bit of aluminum tape fixed that and held it together.

It's good. Just turn it from winter to summer and the dryer heat is going into the basement. I live on the prairies in Canada so I don't need to worry about condensation. It gets really dry here in the winter. The plastic clip to hang it on is a little cheap, that's why 4 stars instead of 5.

works well, but expensive (Cdn) for a 10 dollar US dollar item.