The Heat Helper is a dryer exhaust attachment device that can recycle the warm air from your dryer into your home, reducing the cost of heating and benefiting the environment.
The device is only applicable with electronic dryers because electric dryers use the air in the home and heat it, and the hot air is eventually exhausted from home. The Heat Helper can receive, filter, and reroute the warm air coming from the dryer instead of it going out through the exhaust.
If your home is warm, you can manually turn the valve in the device, which will direct the warm air to the exhaust instead.
The Heat Helper was invented by Lyle Schuette, who owned a business in Derby, Kansas. He came up with the idea when taking out laundry from the dryer and realizing he could dry clothes and heat his home simultaneously.
Lyle appeared in season three, episode seven of Shark Tank, with the Heat Helper in hand. He sought a hundred thousand dollars for a fifty per cent stake in the company. He pitched his idea to the sharks, explaining that you can purchase the Heat Helper from Lowe’s and Walmart and that he had sold six hundred and eighty units.
The Shark Tank deal did not go as he had expected. Although the Sharks liked him personally, they were less keen on the business. The Sharks all agreed that although the product might have some business, Lyle was not fully invested in it.
Lyle Schuette had a dirt business back in Derby, which was his primary source of income. When Daymond John pointed out that Schuette could only sell twenty units in the past year, he explained that it was because his dirt business had taken off and demanded more of his attention; it made the sharks dubious over his investment in the business.
Daymond John and Kevin O’Leary pulled out of the deal as the Heat Helper could not make a lot of sales throughout the year. Sharon Corcoran pulled herself out of the deal and said she did not like how the product looked: worn out. Robert Herjavec and Mark Cuban are hesitant to go into a deal with someone who prioritizes another business.
Feeling that they would not like to go into business with someone who could not invest the time and attention that the Heat Helper required, the sharks all pulled out of the deal. In the end, the Heat Helper did not receive any offers.
Even though the Heat Helper did not receive an offer, it did receive the needed publicity. After the Shark Tank episode, the Heat Helper saw many people visiting its website. Schuette signed a partnership with a Canadian distributor and a Wichita manufacturer, but the success was short-lived.
In 2019, Schuette closed the business because he wanted to pay more attention to his primary business, Schuette’s Dirt Work. The Heat Helper is not in business anymore.
Our Review of The Heat Helper
The Heat Helper is an “out-of-the-box” product that, although it isn’t complex in its design, no one had ever thought to make it. The dryer creates hot air and then pushes it out, meaning that the hot air you paid for is already going to waste.
Using the Heat Helper means that you can redirect the wasted hot air back into your home. This can help save electricity costs as you will not need to turn on the heating system to warm up your house.
In summers, you can make it so that air is exhausted as it normally is, which means that there is nothing to lose with much to gain.
The Heat Helper has a filtering system that filters lint and dust before expelling the air into your home. The filtered lint can be troubling as the filter is blocked after some use and needs to be cleaned or replaced.
Attaching the Heat Helper is easy and can be attached to the dryer’s exhaust, redirecting the hot air effectively. One drawback, however, is that it can only be used by electric dryers. Electric dryers pull in the air from the surroundings and heat it. But this issue will soon be forgotten because gas dryers are becoming obsolete.
However, the Heat Helper is only sold locally and not nationally. Since it was a special item, Walmart and Lowe’s require a significant amount of the product to be sold before taking it to the national level. Even if you order it online, the cost of delivery added to the already hefty price of the dryer will make it too costly.
We have compiled some pros and cons of the Heat Helper for a better understanding.
Pros of The Heat Helper
- Benefits the environment
- Saves electricity cost
- Easy to attach and use
Cons of The Heat Helper
- Expensive
- It has to be preordered at Walmart and Lowe’s
- The filter needs to be cleaned and replaced regularly
Who is The Heat Helper For?
The Heat Helper is a product fit for anyone who owns an electric dryer or is considering buying one. If you want to save up on the electric bill during the winter and use the laundry dryer regularly, you could use the Heat Helper.
Are There Any Alternatives?
Deflecto has developed the same product called the Heat Dryer Saver. The Deflecto Heat Dryer Saver is less costly than the Heat Helper and comes in eight different sizes. It also comes in a design made specifically for dryers in the basement.
The Deflecto Heat Dryer Saver can deflect the heat and humidity inside the home during winters and outside during summers.
Our Final Thoughts
While the Heat Helper was an innovative and useful product that could help many people, it, unfortunately, could not get the business management required and is no longer in business. But, it paved the way for similar products to be created.
