I recently moved into an older home, and I'm confused about where my dryer is venting. In my last place, the dryer vent went directly outside and was on an exterior wall. However, in this new home, the vent is located on an interior wall and it curves down into the floor. I'm stuck trying to figure out if it's venting to the crawlspace or the attic. I've been down to the crawlspace multiple times but haven't seen any vent exit, so I'm a bit worried. Is it safe to operate like this, or am I just overthinking things?
3 Answers
You might want to remove the dryer hose and peek inside. It's usually wide enough to fit a phone camera in there. You'll want to figure this out quickly since dryer lint can cause fires if it's building up somewhere instead of venting out.
You could try playing some music into the vent and see if you can hear it on the other side. Also, are you certain it’s venting properly? Is it a heat pump dryer?
A good trick is to run a load of wet clothes on a chilly morning and check outside for any steam. That can help you spot where the vent might actually be going.
Thanks for the tip! I usually do laundry during the day, so I’ll try this next time.
Great idea! I hadn’t thought of using sound. I assumed it was venting since it has a vent going down into the floor, but I’ll check on heat pump dryers as well.