Facts & Figures

Clothes dryers can be found in 80 percent, or 81.5 million homes throughout the United States.

A full load of wet clothes placed in a dryer contains about one half gallon of water. As water is removed, lint is created from the clothes.

Clothes dryers are one of the most expensive appliances in your home to operate. The longer it runs, the more money it costs you.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimates that 15,500 fires associated with clothes dryers occur annually. These fires account for an average of 10 deaths and 310 injuries and more than $84.4 million in property damage annually.

On a positive note, the number of clothes dryer fires has dropped by 35% from the 24,000 fires that occurred annually, on average, in the late 1970s.

Vent Lengths and Types

The maximum length a dryer vent can be before problems arise, or are noticed, varies greatly between brands and models. The vent material and the type of outside vent cover being used also contribute to the maximum vent length allowed.

In all cases the longest possible working vent should be made of rigid metal vent material with a large mouth or louvered outdoor hood. Flexible metal ducting although a bit easier to work with causes reduced air flow due to its corrugated design and will contribute to a lint buildup in the ducting over time. Flexible Nylon ducting is no longer approved in most areas for dryer venting due to the possibility of a fire hazard and has never been approved for use on gas dryers.

 

In the US all gas dryers must be vented to the outdoors by law!

In a properly installed vent, any lint that escapes the dryer's lint filter should be blown right outdoors. Any accumulation which occurs in a dryer's ducting is usually a sign of poor air flow, especially at the location(s) it occurs. In such cases the vent line should be evaluated to locate and correct any deficiencies it may have.
The vent should be as short and as straight and with as few elbows as possible. The more bends and turns, the greater the reduction in air flow there is and more areas where lint can accumulate. More bends will also hamper dryer vent cleaning, which should be performed yearly if not seasonally.

It is sometimes possible to tell if a dryer's vent is the cause of poor drying by totally removing the vent line from the dryer and doing a couple of loads, If drying improves, you can be sure the vent is (at least part of) the problem.

When attaching multiple sections of vent pipe together Dryer Vent Wizard does not use sheet metal screws, we use metal foil tape instead. Any protuberances into the vent will cause obstructions where lint can accumulate --eventually leading to a restriction, which will hamper dryer vent cleaning and allow lint to build up. Those protuberances will also make the inevitable dryer vent cleaning much more difficult.