Free distilled water for humidifiers.

[DocWils]

1 litre here, four Swiss franks. Not a cheap solution - I use the distilled water from my condenser dryer - it is a closed system so no crud can build up and I am careful about checking water content and quality.

[JJJ]

1 litre here, four Swiss franks. Not a cheap solution - I use the distilled water from my condenser dryer - it is a closed system so no crud can build up and I am careful about checking water content and quality.

Yikes!

(If you're in the U.S., that's about $16 a gallon.)

I'm certainly glad the tap water here is snow melt, which is still almost pure distilled water when it comes out of my faucet, not counting the bit of chlorine that they add. I've been using it in my humidifier for four months now, and so far not a trace of icky stuff.

[archangle]

1 litre here, four Swiss franks. Not a cheap solution - I use the distilled water from my condenser dryer - it is a closed system so no crud can build up and I am careful about checking water content and quality.

There is no way it's a closed system. Where do you think the water vapor is coming from? It's coming from the air in your room, along with all the pollen, dust, and germs in the air in your room.

Tap water would be enormously safer than humidifier water. Just dump the water out of the humidifier every day, clean often, and replace the tank occasionally.

[JJJ]

There is no way it's a closed system. Where do you think the water vapor is coming from? It's coming from the air in your room, along with all the pollen, dust, and germs in the air in your room.

Modern clothes dryers are not vented. The moist heated air inside the drum is circulated through a cooler where the water vapor condenses into water. The water is then expelled down the drain. This is essentially distilled water, since condensing water vapor is exactly how distilled water is made.

[Sleepster]

It's recommended that the condesate drain be cleaned twice a year by pouring clorox down the drain tube. The reason is because the drain tube tends to get clogged up. It's a maintenance issue.

But, like I said before, virtually none of that crud will get deposited into the water stream.

I don't see a problem using it in your humidifier. But I wouldn't do it.

If I were really thirsty I'd drink it. But I'd have to be really thirsty.

[Sleepster]

Yikes!

(If you're in the U.S., that's about $16 a gallon.)

Gasoline is cheaper than that! So is even the most expensive beer!!

I wonder what they pay for Swiss cheese over there?

[DocWils]

Yikes!

(If you're in the U.S., that's about $16 a gallon.)

Gasoline is cheaper than that! So is even the most expensive beer!!

I wonder what they pay for Swiss cheese over there?

ALL cheese is Swiss cheese here (unless we buy imported French or Italian) ;-)

If you mean Ementhaler, which Americans call Swiss cheese (and which they produce by stamping out holes in the cheese as opposed to the gas produced holes in real Ementhaler) I wouldn't call it expensive, but since I don't like it (I prefer goat cheeses) I never buy it.

The condenser dryers are relatively closed systems, and the water produced is immensely clean, at least from the Miele dryers. Once obtained, I run it through a filter to remove any bit of fluff that may have crept in, and I save a ton of money that way. Either that or buy a still....

[zonk]

If you mean Ementhaler, which Americans call Swiss cheese

Its OT but most local cheeses sold here as Swiss cheese do not meet the standard set by the Swiss AOC (appellation d'origine controlee)

[JJJ]

I'm still curious why distilled water is so expensive in Switzerland. I know energy is more expensive in Europe, and distilling water takes a lot of energy, but energy is not 16 times as expensive in Europe as it is in North America.

[PaulaO2]

Supply and demand. US folks have been taught that distilled water is the only way to go and is best for you. I know a lot of people use it as drinking water, thinking it is purer. But probably in Switzerland, there's not as big a demand for it. Perhaps the water there does not have as many minerals and distillation is unnecessary.

I had a similar discussion with a friend of mine from the UK. She could not understand why USians were so wasteful and used dryers when a clothesline is free. She said clothes line dried clothes are soft and smell good. But my clothes, when hung on a line, are stiff as a board and not soft in the least! My jeans would be a deadly weapon. It's the difference in the water and how it reaches the surface.