Clothes Dryer Venting

Thanks, Tim! I often wonder if the people who use lady's hose in their garage realize the problems they may be encouraging. The cost of proper ventilation can be much less than the potential damage you correctly mentioned. BTW, people have slipped on moistened garage floors (already smooth) near vented dryers... Best wishes!

I have a slightly different twist. I was hoping to have both the drier and furnace exhaust discharge into a compost pile. Any thought on how, if at all, this could work?

Kevin

Kevin,
Your idea is crazy. Do it at the peril of you and your family.

If you exhaust the dryer to your roof, won't you get lint build-up on the asphalt shingles? I would imaging there are quite a few people that would not checking the vent openings and cleaning the lint buildup on the roof.

Chris,
Great question! Does it rain where you live? Let Mother Nature take care of any cleanup. Also, tell me what is worse: lint on shingles or wood rot??????

Can most dryer-vent roof caps be readily be de-linted from the outside? I am considering having Icynene insulation sprayed in the attic, and I assume this will make it impossible to access and clean the vent mesh from inside the attic. Is a lint-trap installed between the vent and the dryer a good way to minimize or even eliminate the need for such maintenance? Thanks!

My home is almost 6 years old. I live in OH.

The builder of this home has a good reputation but........... apparently (I've been told) he didn't know to put insulation around the vent from the dryer going up in the attic.

At least 3 people that have homes built by this builder had problems with water leaking into different vents (bathroom exhaust fans, exhaust for dryer, and the like) during the winter problems early in 2008.

I can't simply vent my dryer into the garage now that I see the problems that can come from that. It costs too much to move the washer/dryer. I may look into getting one of those washer/dryer combos that do not need ventilation for the dryer.

What responses can I read about this?

Vlad,
You will almost always need access from the roof side of the vent to clean the damper. You can't count on a clean lint filter to eliminate this maintenance.

El,
I have a feeling the leak issue is not hard to fix. Why not get an expert roofer out to see if it is a flashing issue?

My dryer is vented up through the attic and out the roof. I have been having problems with my dryer forming some sort of black build up that leaves my white clothes looking dirty. My wife has cleaned out the dryer multiple times and I went as far as changing the complete ductwork to try and solve this. I have a solid vent pipe from the laundry room and into the attic then in the attic I am using a silver flexible duct to the actual vent leading to the exterior. What can I do to stop this? Would it be better to run the vent down through the crawl and out the side of the house to prevent condensation from traveling back thru the duct and back into the dryer? (This, I suspect, is causing the problem but I'm not sure) Please help!

Danny,
Take apart the vent pipe to inspect it. I have no idea how things in that pipe could go backwards against the air flow. Are you sure there is not something that fouled the dryer like a black ballpoint pen?????

My rental property has the dryer vent to the cavity between 2 studs in a wall. The laudry room is located in the center of the house. How can I vent the dryer. Going to the interior wall can't be correct. Do I have to run a 4" metal duct from the dryer up to the attic and out the roof? This could be about 15 feet long. Is this alright?

Jack,
Yes. Please read all of my Dryer-Venting columns. There are several, and contain the answers you need. Then watch my video on the Exhaust Fan Flashing.

Hello,
I have a Maytag Natural Gas dryer, for some reason all of a sudden it started turning my white clothes gray/black. The vent leads outside and has been cleaned. But the white clothes still turn black. What could be the possible problem solution? please help... thanks

We've been having a ton of trouble with our dryer since we moved in 2 years ago because the vent was run underground and out through a pvc pipe. Every week my husband has to suck out gallons of standing water with a shop vac as it would take several hours to dry 1 load of clothes. So today a friend of ours suggested venting right into the garage, which they then did... However, I was skeptical and decided to do some research. Boy am I glad that I found this information! I will be making my husband fix this right away before we have more problems. Thanks for the advice!

Ravi,
My first guess would be ink from a pen or marker. Something made it into the dryer that should have never been in the washer.

We bought a new house roughly 2 years ago and, unlike many other houses in the neighborhood, out dryer exhausts outside. What's really odd is that since the house's walls are concrete internally they decided to have the dryer vent run through the foundation and come out near the ground outside. At first it got a lot of water in it following a hearty rain. I added an extension and elbow so that the pipe would point down. Now it has water again as a result of vapor build-up deposits. As you probably deduced it's pvc.
I guess I will have to suck the water out on a regular basis with my shop vac. It's a pain but still better than it exhausting in to the attic.
At some point I might try to have a new pipe run up into the attic and vented under the eave of the house.

We have just purchased a new dryer. Currently the dryer vent is only 3" wide through an outside wall right next to the dryer. So the entire length of vent pipe is approx. 2'. We have been told that we should increase the vent hole to the standard 4" but it is a brick wall and would be difficult. I am wondering if since the vented air is only traveling 2' to the outside will the 3" hole be okay with an adapter? Would it potentially cause damage to the dryer or void the warranty?

Rebecca,
That reduction just at the wall should be okay. You need to run 4-inch pipe to the wall.

I live in a townhouse. Each house in the row is a mirror floor plan of the neighboring house. The basement access doors of the house are in a shared niche that it 10 ft deep from the back of the houses. The nook is around a total of 5 feet wide combined width inclding the neighbor houses access way.

The problem is the neighbor has installed the dryer vent at the base of their slanted basement door. The vent blasts moist scented exhaust which goes against our walls and windows. If we happen to have any of our four windows open which open into this alcove, our house fills with this exhaust. We cough, choke and eyes sting, not to mention the moist hot air. Is this vent location out of code? All the other houses vent on the very back of the houses.

The builder in our community vented the clothes dryer to the roof, we have vaulted ceilings. The dryer vent is clogged it goes up 15ft. and turns. I see this as an ongoing problem. what can be done. no way to revent no outside wall.Your expertise is appreciated. Thank you, lynn

Tim, my wife and I are renovating a house and will have 2 dryers, one upstairs for future use when we get older, and one in the basement we will use now. Can we vent both into 1 common outlet? thanks in advance and I love your site.

My gas dryer is connected to a 4" metal vent pipe that runs through a 2x6" piece of lacking in the wall. I a concerned that the vent pipe may get too hot to be in constant contact with the wood and drywall in the wall (it's too hot to hold my hand when the dryer is running on Medium heat). Should I enlarge the hole so there's a gap around the vent pipe as it passes through the wall? Should the gap be filled with fiberglass of some kind, or are there flanges to support the pipe and keep it from contacting the wall?

Please help!!!! My clothes dryer is having condensation every time I open it. The exaust vent is fairly new & very clean.I cannot figure this out.

Our clothes dryer is vented into the carport. How much clearance around the vent is necessary for safe dissipation of heat and moisture?

I've read many websites and can't find the answer to my question. Our clothes dryer is vented into our carport. How much of an area around the vent should be kept clear of any obstruction so the heat and moisture is properly dissipated.

Danny, stop drying dark clothes. What you see is lint from your clothing. Nothing to do with the installation.

Hi Tim,

My roommate and I recently moved in to a new apartment and bought a washer and dryer. The only venting we see is through the roof, but the water heater is already vented through the roof, we don't see another vent. What do we do?

Thanks.

Great articles Tim, Thanks. I have a clothes dryer vent that comes out under my sunroom and goes right about fifteen feet and exits on the bottom side of it. Do I need to insulate the chute that runs in the crawl space under the sunroom to avoid condensation from coming back into my dryer and such in the winter months? Thanks for your time.

We have recently moved to a new house, in the old house the dryer worked great it was vented directly outdoors maybe 2 feet. Now the dryer takes 2 to 3 times longer to dry our clothes! The vent goes up through the attic and out the roof. Is there some kind of "booster fan" I can put in-line or is it simply a clean the ducting kind of thing.
thanks for the help.

I recently moved to a Townhouse community. My dryer is vented into the attic not out the roof. I understand from reading your comments this is a problem with ice. Yes I have been told that there is a problem with roofs leaking from it.
Who would be the best person to install a roof vent. Roofer? Plumber? Electrician? general constactor? Could you recomment the best type of roof vent also Your help is much appreciated

Re - venting dryer to indoors. People often complain about how dry the air is in their house in the wintertime. They even install humidifiers to offset this problem. Dryers not only consume a great deal of power to evaporate all that water in laundry, they blow it all outdoors along with the volume of conditioned air that they use. That conditioned (furnace heated) air is replaced by cold infiltration air to make up for the dryer exhausted air. Venting dryer exhaust to the interior of a house where it can disperse readily into the entire house volume makes sense if an effective lint trap is used. I made a box affair which uses a large furnace filter (easily changed) to provide for that. I have never seen any condensation or lint around the house. My trap catches a lot of lint, so I have to keep tabs on it. As long as the moisture disperses rapidly so that the dew point of the air never falls to any surface temperatures in the house, you won't get condensation and the furnace runs less to keep the house warm.

Different twist. My home was built 30 years ago with the dryer venting to inside the wall. That's all clogged up now. The laundry room in in the center of the house so my only other option is to vent to the garage. Is there a filter I can use to prevent the moisture and lint buildup out there? I live in TX...very dry and not often cold.

Venting a dryer through the ceiling, then roof. First, can you give me a name of a specific vent cap for this application. Second, is there an in-line filter for dryer vents? I just don't want a ton of lint dropping down back into the dryer....


Help!

I found the best solution for garage venting of Clothes dryers.
www.indoorlinttrapfilter.com
It has eliminated the fuss of the nylon stocking. I installled it on the wall behind the dryer using ridged flexible 4"ducting from Deflecto at Home Depot, high enough so my wife dosent have to bend down to the floor to change the water or clean the lint trap. Real neat device. worth the $34.95

Thanks. I hope your comments have solved the marital dispute between my husband and me as to letting it vent out into the basement. He insists it will keep our home warmer.

Our laundry hook up is on the bottom floor of our two story house, across the hall from the garage door. The immediate surrounding walls are all concrete, and there is no roof access above, just a stairway. What then?

Our laundry hook up is on the bottom floor of our two story house, across the hall from the garage door. The immediate surrounding walls are all concrete, and there is no roof access above, just a stairway. What then?

I live in a condo and the dryer vent is in the roof above the patio. When drying clothes a small amount of water will drip from the vent. I have noticed recently an excessive amount of water dripping from the vent and a puddle of water on the patio. Is this normal? Any suggestions why the sudden change in the amount of water?

Hello there,
I have an unfinished basement. The drier is on the north wall in the east corner....and the vent is on the south wall, west corner. I Have run 4inch duct but I now seem to have too dry my clothes twice. The north wall is not an option for a vent because its underground and I have to go up 3.5 stories for a roof vent. My existing duct is up along the floor joists six feet. Please help....

Can you vent two dryers through the same vent? Thanks.

My house is in a high water/flood zone. The house is approximately 32 - 35" above the ground. i.e. the size of the crawl space. The entire house rests on a block foundation with vents built into the block for airflow/water evaporation?
From what you've described above I guess it's safe to assume that venting the dryer into the crawlspace is a bad idea, even though it is always saturated down there? (The sub-flooring and beams remain dry)
Also my laundry room space is very narrow so I'm attempting to get the dryer as close to the wall as possible, would cutting into the drywall between the beams and recessing the pipe help? Any suggestions would be most helpful!

I'm considering running a electric dryer vent to the outside of my house.The most convenient location for the terminal exhaust would be about 16 inches away from the high-efficient furnace exhaust and air intake pipes. Is this distance satisfactory for this operation?

I recently moved into an apartment complex. The apartment does have a small laundry room, but no dryer vent. I have brought this to the attention of the complex manager, who replied, that it is not a fire hazard and that I need to purchase a "lint trap". I'm assuming that this is the best that I'm going to get from her. Which "vent system" do you recommend, where I am not having to remodel my small laundry space? Thank you!

My dryer is vented through my back door. Everytime the door is opened or closed, it crinkles the vent, which has caused it to tear in places. Is there another type of vent I can get?? I am renting this place and doubt I can make any huge changes. What do you suggest?

i didn't see an answer to Danny on Mar 30 2008 but my question is how do you connect from a dryer to a vent space that is oblong rather than circular in shape?

My dryer vents out onto my patio. Is there some sort of bag made to cover the vent that would allow the lint to be trapped in the bag, yet allow the warm air to escape (perhaps something similar to cheesecloth)?

Our washer and dryer are located just inside the door of the house from the garage. When we originally purchased the house, we found that the dryer was not drying the clothes without having to repeat the cylce 3 times or more and even then it still felt damp. The vent ran along side the garage floor for about 25' and then out. At first, we thought maybe it was the dryer, but surely the inspector for the sale of the house would have noticed that. Assuming the dryer was operating just fine, my father concocted a 2'x 2' wooden dryer box with a removeable screen lint trap which sits on the garage floor right below where the dryer vent comes through the wall, using a 4 or 5" flexible aluminum covered wire duct pipe that runs directly from the dryer down into the box. We have never had any problem with moisture in the garage. The lint the dryer doesn't trap blows out into the box which is easily removed and cleaned. The dryer worked much better, confirming that it was not the problem. We recently had a new furnace installed, and were told that our set-up didn't meet code, that we need to have solid metal piping that vented to the outside. I have been trying to find this code on-line and have tried various PSE and WA State websites. Are we literally in code violation? Or is this just heavily suggested, because of its potential cause for moisture build-up in the garage? I'm afraid that if we do extend the exhaust pipe that far again, we'll have the same probem and will have to use 3x the energy to dry our clothes. Plus, how would we check for lint blockage? Routing up through the garage seems a bit risky, as it seems likely the a good percentage of lint now being caught in our home-made box would just accumulate at the bottom of the bend in the pipe, meaning we would have to dismantle that joint on a regular basis to check for lint build-up. I could call PSE, but I'd like to read the actual code first, and I can't seem to find it on-line. If we are really in violation, then so be it; we'll change it. But I want to be sure because this has been a very comfortable and seemingly efficient system for us, and we have never had any moisture problem. No rusty tools, no damp floor, nothing. Seeing the code in writing would be helpful.

I'm in Florida and my dryer venting actually goes below grade under the slab before re-emergening up and outside the house. The tube is frequently filling with water, especially during the summer. I don't know if its rainfall infiltrating the piping or condensation. I have to practically shop vac the tube empty once per week. Clearly accessing the piping is nearly impossible. What are some ways I can check the seals, for cracks, or insulate the pipe.

My dryer is vented from the dryer through the floor and into the crawlspace. Is it safe to leave it unvented from the crawlspace to the outside of the house? In other words, can it be left to blow into the crawlspace?

I am currently fixing up a medical office, and I want to build a laundry room, the city inspector of Garden Grove(CA) has requested that I provide a 10" x 10" make-up air vent to the outside. I was wondering what they meant by that and how can I fix it and where can I buy it.

Our washer/dryer is on an enclosed deck. we are planning on cutting a hole in the floor and venting to the outside. can we go straight down or do we need to angle it? does it matter how far out from the bottom of the deck the duct extends? Thanks!

I recently had a small pipe bust, puncturing a hole into my dryer vent. Water, therefore, accumulated into the bottom of my dryer. I've taken off the small back panel, and have had a fan blowing on the dryer for a few days. Is it safe to use the dryer again?

My dryer vents out from the laundry room under the house to the outside-via a 4 inch pvc pipe with the distance of about 20 feet, with 2 or possibly 3 elbow. We have cleaned the "vent pipe" and still the dryer does not dry the clothes completely.--(A little background, we first hooked up the dryer it worked great, then started having problems completely drying the clothes, the dryer repairman side the dryer was find but the vent line was blocked, so we cleaned out the vent line.) what suggestins do you have to fix this problem would be apprecated. Thanks

Just wanted to mention that if you vent a gas dryer into an interior space you are also venting toxic gases from the combustion of the gas into the space. So you could be filling your garage with dangerous levels of Carbon Monoxide, a deadly poisonous gas that is odorless.

It's been a year sense we vented the dryer through the roof to the outside. We are now getting water in the hose to the dryer. We don't know if the dryer is going out or if it is the system. The dryer is in the middle of the house, so venting out a wall is impossible. Help us to solve this problem please. Mary & Willy Wallace

Have a question about condensation coming from a dryer vent. We recently had fire and it was from the dryer over heating and the vent was clogged. Heres the issue my house is on a slab and laundry are is under my 2nd floor staircase so laundry area is in the middel of my house. So I have a vertical piece that vents up in the wall behind my dryer then goes into the ceiling to a horizontal piece that runs across my living room ceiling to the outside. (so vent is between floors) Restoration company replaced vent. The problem is now when I run my new dryer I am getting water thats running down the outside of the house from the vent (looks like a slow waterfall) and also getting water from under the dryer. Im being told it was the design and to just clean the water up under the dryer and because its cold outside currently is to why Im seeing so much condensation. Does this make sense to anyone?? Also it is now being said that when my house was built 15 years ago it was in code and now it would not be considered being in code. Who could I call to see what needs to be done. I need some direction please.

The California Mechanical code the UMC AND the IRC all clearly say that your dryer vent needs to vent to the exterior see section 504 of chapter 5 of umc and section 1501.1 and 2437.3 of the International residential code and Cindy obey the code it is minimum life safety provisions sincerely Jose A Guillen the inspector..

Reply to Danny! Yes you just said the correct word run your dryer exhaust down and out follow the law of gravity like a cup of water when you turn it up side down or like your electricity or lightning when a fault occurs it looks for a way to ground..sincerely Jose the Inspector

I just bought a townhouse and found that the dryer vents directly into the garage. I was unsure about this so I am trying to do some research. It seems that the majority of people seem to think this is bad. My question is... how do I fix this? Is it work that I can do or should I call a professional? I wish the home inspector had said something!

I have a referee request as well -

I have an old 3 story house that has a dryer venting outside the basement wall, which releases a huge plume of steam every dry cycle. The problem is, it rolls up the 3 stories to the attic eaves, and collects at the window directly above the attic. The whole attic, but only on that side, is covered in mold now that the winter is here in upstate NY. My current argument with my wife is that the condensation is only noticeable during the winter due to the cold weather making delivering unprecedented amounts of moisture to the attic, that are not as troublesome in the hot summer, when the condensation is reduced considerably from the weather. I need a professional with a knowledge of thermal dynamics to back me up on this, as the suggestions from the other end defy logic. Tis does make sense, given the existence of a visible 10' cumulus cloud outside the affected attic wall, wen the dryer runs in winter, no?

Thanks in advance -

my current dryer vent is a mess. it is run with plastic up through the wall across and out the eave and it is not functioning well. the builder obviously did not know what he was doing.
my husband has had it and wants to know what options we have.
i have seen the "in home vents with water as a filter" and instinct tells me a 19.99 fix wont do it.....we have to work within the walls we have and access is limited. what do you suggest??

we have had a tumble dryer in our out house for a few months now. The vent is aired outside the building however recently our washing was taking forever to dry and when it was finaly dry it smelt slightly damp. We pulled the dryer forward to do some checks and found that the vent tube had filled with rather alot of water. Is this normal.

Thankyou for your time B Owen

I think Kevin's idea about the compost pile is very clever. Reuse that heat an moisture. Just need to be done correctly to keep critters or mold and obstructions from the vent.

What's wrong with the idea?