the washer and dryer... I figured it out!

the bathroom in this apartment has baffled me since day one and I am still trying to figure some parts of it out, but each day it makes a little more sense.  the building is "passive" which basically means that there is no heating or cooling in the apartment.  there is a thermostat that you can turn up and it will simply supply you with clean air that has been pre (or re) heated by the heat produced by building inhabitants.  there are no air conditioners, no radiators, no nothing.  just these little things on the wall that spit out clean air and other ones that suck away the dirty air.  more on that as I figure it out.

front load washer (right) and dryer (left) in the apartment

meanwhile, I figured out the washer dryer situation.  the washer is a pretty normal eco front loader, but the dryer had been baffling me for a couple of days.  I had been talking with Tamara about how to use the dryer and she explained that after every use you need to open up a little compartment on the bottom to wring out a filter and empty a little water compartment.

bottom of dryer

we both agreed that the system adds a little extra work each time you run the dryer and that it was a little annoying.  I could not explain why you'd need to empty water out of the dryer because clearly the washer has a drain so the dryer could too.

after opening the front panel at the bottom of the dryer you can see where the fan operates (on the right) and where the filter can be removed (on the left) as well as the water compartment (bottom)

then it hit me.  its so simple I don't know why I didn't figure it out immediately.  you need to wring out the filter and empty the water compartment because there is no vent for the dryer.  whatever water is taken from the air inside the dryer has to go somewhere, so they suck it through a filter and deposit it into a compartment at the bottom.  because the apartment is passive and the heat created by the inhabitants is reused, they don't want to waste all of that heat venting outside so they vent inside.  in fact, the bathroom actually heats up during the dryer cycle because it is venting into the room!

filter (top left, grey) slides out after the cover (bottom right, grey) that holds it in place is removed

so simple.  or so complicated?

water compartment (white, left), filter (grey, middle), and cover plate (grey, right) are the removable pieces of the bottom of the dryer that allow for the dryer to vent directly into the bathroom