The Heat Helper Dryer Heater | Shark Tank Season 3
Entrepreneur Lyle Schuette pitched his heating solution company during
If you’re short on time, here’s a quick overview of what happened to The Heat Helper after
Lyle Schuette appeared on
| Shark: | Result: |
| Barbara Corcoran | No offer |
| Daymond John | No offer |
| Mark Cuban | No offer |
| Robert Herjavec | No offer |
| Kevin O’Leary | No offer |
Shark Tank The Heat Helper Update
- Entrepreneur: Lyle Schuette
- Business: Laundry/dryer heat recycling system
- Ask: $100,000 for 50% equity
- Result: No deal
- Shark: None
Founder of The Heat Helper, Lyle Schuette, walked into the tank, and introduced his invention to the sharks. His product saves money, and energy, by basically recycling the heat used by your dryer.
Although he created the product to help his wife, he believes it will help many people. His wife had hurt her back, and needed Lyle to find a way to lift up the dryer for easier access.
Additionally, she had asked him to heat up the part of the house by the laundry room. This is when he got to work to solve the problem, which eventually became a company.
Lyle credits his mother for inspiring his invention. Apparently, when he was growing up, his mother would stick her pantyhose on the back of the dryer, to help catch some of the heat.
In turn, this would help to warm up the home on laundry day.
Mark Cuban wanted to know how Lyle got out of doing the laundry while his wife was injured, and Lyle said he was away all day due to his profession. Daymond John wanted to know if Lyle had any sales for the Heat Helper.
Lyle said he’d sold 680 units through the website, each retailing for $99. The units were also for sale at Walmart and Lowe’s for the last 3 years.
However, the unfortunate news is that he’s only sold about 20 units. Mark Cuban asks why sales have been so low.
It turns out that Lyle actually ended the company 2003, because he also runs a dirt business. His other business was doing well, and he ultimately didn’t have enough time to split between the companies.
Robert Herjavec asks if the deals with Lowes and Walmart were on a national scale, or instead on a regional level. Lyle specifies that the units were in his two local Lowes stores, and also his local Walmart store.
However, the retailers only picked the item up on a special order basis. This means that there was a display in the store, but then had to be special ordered upon purchase by the customer.
Barbara Corcoran was interested in how the heating could save money on her utility bills. Lyle claimed that for a family of four, it could save up to $189 a year.
Daymond said the presentation was great, but he was wary about the sales issues through the retailers. He went out.
Kevin O’Leary went out because he thought the business would never be huge.
Barbara said she felt uncomfortable about him losing interest in the product, and went out.
Robert also went out because he didn’t think it was an investment.
Mark was the last one out because he couldn’t invest in something that the entrepreneur wasn’t committed full-time to.
What do you think came next, following
Research for The Heat Helper update reveals that the company continued to be a side business for Lyle. However, he did finally enjoy some good sales after the
The company remained in operation until 2019, when Lyle closed it to focus on other aspects of his life, especially his other business, Schuette’s Dirt Work.
This will be our final update for The Heat Helper.
Curious about the other companies featured in Season 3 Episode 7? Follow the links below to read all about them.
For even more on companies and products, be sure to stop by our Season 3 Products Page!
Andrew Smith is the founder and owner of Shark Tank Recap. He is a longtime Shark Tank fan that has been watching it for years and has seen every episode multiple times. His friends know him as the Shark Tank expert, because he can answer any question about the show! His favorite Shark Tank products are Bertello's pizza oven and Bug Bite Thing!
