Replacing the dryer vent

[retropia]

I noticed with the recent cold weather that dry laundry left in the dryer seemed to be quite cold after awhile. The old, original dryer vent that came with the house is probably leaking some cold air into the basement.

Has anyone else used this style of dryer vent (below)? I'd installed one on my previous house. If my memory is correct, it worked pretty well, but it needed to be periodically cleaned of lint-buildup.

I foresee the main complication of installing this is that it is going on stucco, so I will probably have to chip away a bit of the stucco in order to get a flush fit against the side of the house. I also purchased some white spray paint for plastic which will go on pre-installation, so it blends better with the house color.

http://www.amazon.com/HEARTLAND-21000-Dryer-Vent-Closure/dp/B00009W3I4

 

[DADoES]

 
I have one.  I left the 4" duct flume long enough to protrude securely into the hood and then caulked around it.  Did not attach it to the brick with screws.

The plastic deteriorates over time with sun exposure and the "hinges" for the flip-top cover broke on one of the occasions of opening it for cleaning.  I set a rock on top to hold it down, LOL.

Instructions state that it can be painted to match the house ... which doing so probably would help protect the plastic against UV deterioration.

 

[imperial70]

My dryer vent has a flap that closes pretty tight. The vent is over 20 years old.

It is your typical angled vent. What makes this vent so special other than it is supposed to keep insects and such out. Insects won't enter a vent when the air is blowing outward anyway. Never had any problems with the good old fashioned vent.

 

[wayupnorth]

After finding frozen wet laundry after forgetting to turn the dryer on once at my old house when I moved to this place I devised a different method to stop the cold entering thru the outside vent all winter long, as they never seal up totally. Since there is a window beside the dryer, I created an expandable holder for the vent to fit snugly in the window that I can put in and take out when the load is dry. The whole thing fits nicely beside the dryer out of sight when not in use.

 

[DADoES]

 
<blockquote>What makes this vent so special other than it is supposed to keep insects and such out.</blockquote> There's a floating cup inside that drops down to close the outlet.

 

[imperial70]

IMHO: I don't trust it at all. Seems like it could be prone to failure. Stick with the tried and true. There is a reason why it has been around for a while.

 

[washman]

Here is a youtube vid

 

[cornutt]

I had cold air coming in through the dryer a few weeks ago. The flapper on the builder-grade angled vent end that I had hastily installed when the house was built had distorted and was no longer closing. I just replaced it with a better-quality angled vent. It's about 10' up on the side of the house so I don't want to have to mess with it too often.

 

[DADoES]

 
No failure or malfunction on the shuttle thus far.  It does seem to seal better than the flapper-type ... and there's no chattering during a strong wind.

 

[retropia]

I'm going to give the Heartland vent a try. It will be in an easy to access spot for cleaning, and it is under the eaves of the roof, so it should mostly be in the shade and not get much direct sun.

The hardest part will be chipping some of the stucco to get a flat mounting surface, but I'm fairly handy with a chisel. I think I will try gluing it in place with silicone sealant, instead of trying to screw it to the stucco. Drilling holes in stucco is a real pain.

I think I may try that trick of leaving the old duct flume in place, which should provide a smooth surface for the dryer airflow through the opening in the side of the house. That assumes of course that I can disassemble the old vent hood and flap from the flume pipe without damaging it.

 

[mattl]

I've had one for well over a decade and it work fine.  Early on I painted it to match the siding, white, as it was yellowing a bit.  I clean it maybe once a year.

 

[sudsmaster]

I've been using a plastic louver style dryer vent for the past 17 years without problems. It has the advantage of being flush with the outer wall when not in use, and the louvers only protrude about 1" from the wall when it's in use. I like that I can just look at it when the dryer is running to confirm that the air flow is good and clogs are not a problem. It seems to seal well enough when the dryer is not being used.

It accumulates a very small amount of lint after many months, and that accumulation doesn't interfere with the closing (or opening) and is easy enough to remove by hand.

I haven't seen the cup style here in stores, maybe it's a more recent introduction. I do not like that it protrudes so far outside the wall, though.

 

[gansky1]

Have studied these in the stores

I, too, have the louvered style vent caps on my vented dryers.  Five of them.  I've never had any trouble with them, as Rich said, they are easy to keep clean and a quick glance is all that's needed to ensure all is well.  One of the louvered caps is oddly behind a gas pipe leading to the meter outside.  I'm sure the vent was added after the house was built, but it works and there's no possible way to fit anything but a louvered cap in that space.

 

In the house I grew up in, we used to have a terrible time with mice in the dryer vent, they would crawl in and fall the nine feet to the floor level and then get cooked when the dryer ran.  Blech, what a stink.  After this happened a couple of times, we used some hardware mesh in the vent cap to keep out the vermin, but it had to be cleaned regularly.

 

Few of my vents need any attention more than once a year and with some dryers getting shuffled around now and then, I can make sure all the tubes are clean.  I have a couple of the low air-flow dryers that don't build enough pressure in the line to push that little cap up, one dryer can barely open a couple of the louvers as it is.

 

[DADoES]

 
This style was originally installed.  Location is on north side of the house, chattered & flapped madly during a strong wind, could feel a slight breeze in the dryer drum.  The Heartland-style, for whatever reason, stays closed, is silent.