I live in a brick ranch house from the early 70s, and my dryer vents directly outside through an exterior wall, with just a couple of inches of internal ducting. My concern is that the external vent is only 5 inches off the ground, whereas I've found that the standard is around 12 inches or so. Since I deal with snow and critters, I want to raise the vent to a more reasonable height. Most ducting is uninsulated, but I'm looking for suggestions on materials that could help insulate the duct and facilitate raising the vent. Any specific product recommendations would be greatly appreciated, especially since I'm not very knowledgeable about this. By the way, I have a gas dryer; I don't know if that matters. Thanks in advance!
1 Answer
If your current setup isn’t causing problems, it might be best to leave it as is. Short, straight ducts are actually more efficient for dryers and less likely to collect lint, which can be a fire hazard. But if snow accumulation is a concern for you, raising the vent is a valid point. You could either raise it from inside the house by cutting a new hole in your brick wall or just extend the current vent outside.
Make sure to get a good vent cap with a check damper to prevent cold air from coming in and a pest screen to keep critters out. Honestly, insulated pipe isn’t really necessary here, unless you’re running a laundromat, which makes insulation pointless. As long as you keep the vent cap close to the wall, most of your venting pipe will be indoors anyway, which is good. So unless you have serious issues with snow, a well-sealing vent cap should suffice.
I think the point about having a sealed vent cap is a good one. Helps avoid more issues without unnecessary changes.
We actually face venting challenges during extreme weather. I'll have to read your entire response; thanks for the quick advice!