I find that cutting a hole to the exact size I need is difficult and having a little wiggle room is worth while. That said, it is certainly possible to do it the way you suggest. The difficulty comes in when the size of the hole is small enough to make it difficult to move the hole saw, and especially the chainsaw, in and out with accuracy. Keep in mind that the hole saw will work well in wood and will be hard to run through plaster. It will dull quickly. It won’t be easy to keep the chainsaw in check through such a small hole either.

Let me know what you decide to so and how it works out.

That said, I too have a dryer and I use when I must. My climate is such that I can’t hang my clothes up year round. I keep my house cool in the winter, minimizing my use of fuels, and drying clothes in my living room doesn’t work very well. Therefore I, like many other people in the world I imagine, need a dryer for certain times of the year.

Anyway, I applaud your commitment to being green. I hope that you can find ways to continue to inspire those around you to get greener and greener. I try to do my part too.

I’m about to attempt a similar project, which is putting a 6″ round duct through the wall for a range hood exhaust. Do you think there is a benefit to you technique over using a hole saw to cut the plaster, then plunge cutting with the chainsaw, and running the duct right through without the wood framing?

Not very green is it for a straw bale geezer. Please tell people that they shouldn’t have dryers; you have 10 days otherwise I’ll join Barry Qaeda, this is an organisation run by Al’s fundamentalist brother.

it’s great that you stress the importance of cutting the power to the entire house, because i’ve seen a guy get a little toasted cutting through a live wire doing a very similar job.