It takes so long for my dryer to work in my new apartment. I have heard this from so many people who have just moved to a new house or apartment or have just built their dream house and moved in. The story is almost always the same, the dryer that was working fantastic in the old location, is now taking three or four times longer to dry an average load of laundry and the home owner is absolutely mystified. Sometimes the fix is easy, sometimes it is not.
The problem, in the vast majority of cases, is related to the position and length of the dryer duct, and also, how many right angles have been put into the dryer duct in order to finally vent it to the exterior. This is the biggest contributor in how effective and energy efficient your clothes dryer is going to be.
Normally what happens is the homeowner has moved from a location where their dryer was vented directly to the exterior of the house via a very short length of duct, maybe 8 to 12 inches, just enough to get through the exterior wall. This is the absolute best setup for a dryer by the way, if you're planning on building a home in the future, take note, have the architect position your washer and dryer in an area where the dryer duct has the shortest distance possible to the exterior vent.
Our home owner has usually moved to a location where the dryer is vented into one of the interior walls, this is where the problem almost always lies. To explain, it is always best practice to keep a dryer vent as short as possible.
There are two factors in how efficiently your clothes dryer will dry clothes. The first is temperature and most clothes dryers will have several different settings for different fabrics. The second and most crucial, is the volume or amount of air your blower motor is able to move through the dryer while it is in operation. When you add any amount of length to the duct you proportionally decrease the ability of your blower to move through it.
Whats worse is that every hard right turn you add to a duct is the same as adding five more feet of distance to it. So no wonder a dryer that has to operate under these conditions does not operate as well. It's interesting to note that by making a gradual right turn you can reduce the added distance to only one and a half feet. However the problem is that it can be difficult to get a gradual turn when your duct is embedded in the framing of your house.
While on this subject, I have had many homeowners ask if they should turn the duct down and let the dryer exhaust air vent underneath the house. This is not a good idea. First of all, you do not want to have all that moisture going underneath your home, this could lead to mildew, mold and wood rot and a few other problems.
Also, you don't want all that lint building up under there either, it can be a huge fire hazard if it builds up too much. Yes you do have a lint filter on your dryer, but that doesn't catch it all.
Lastly, if you use a flexible plastic or aluminum duct, be sure that you leave sufficient space behind the dryer for it to operate effectively. If you push the dryer hard up against the wall, you will flatten the duct and make it ineffective as a means of moving the exhaust to the exterior.
Making sure your dryer's duct has a clear unobstructed vent of minimal length to the outside is the best way to keep it working efficiently and save energy.
The problem, in the vast majority of cases, is related to the position and length of the dryer duct, and also, how many right angles have been put into the dryer duct in order to finally vent it to the exterior. This is the biggest contributor in how effective and energy efficient your clothes dryer is going to be.
Normally what happens is the homeowner has moved from a location where their dryer was vented directly to the exterior of the house via a very short length of duct, maybe 8 to 12 inches, just enough to get through the exterior wall. This is the absolute best setup for a dryer by the way, if you're planning on building a home in the future, take note, have the architect position your washer and dryer in an area where the dryer duct has the shortest distance possible to the exterior vent.
Our home owner has usually moved to a location where the dryer is vented into one of the interior walls, this is where the problem almost always lies. To explain, it is always best practice to keep a dryer vent as short as possible.
There are two factors in how efficiently your clothes dryer will dry clothes. The first is temperature and most clothes dryers will have several different settings for different fabrics. The second and most crucial, is the volume or amount of air your blower motor is able to move through the dryer while it is in operation. When you add any amount of length to the duct you proportionally decrease the ability of your blower to move through it.
Whats worse is that every hard right turn you add to a duct is the same as adding five more feet of distance to it. So no wonder a dryer that has to operate under these conditions does not operate as well. It's interesting to note that by making a gradual right turn you can reduce the added distance to only one and a half feet. However the problem is that it can be difficult to get a gradual turn when your duct is embedded in the framing of your house.
While on this subject, I have had many homeowners ask if they should turn the duct down and let the dryer exhaust air vent underneath the house. This is not a good idea. First of all, you do not want to have all that moisture going underneath your home, this could lead to mildew, mold and wood rot and a few other problems.
Also, you don't want all that lint building up under there either, it can be a huge fire hazard if it builds up too much. Yes you do have a lint filter on your dryer, but that doesn't catch it all.
Lastly, if you use a flexible plastic or aluminum duct, be sure that you leave sufficient space behind the dryer for it to operate effectively. If you push the dryer hard up against the wall, you will flatten the duct and make it ineffective as a means of moving the exhaust to the exterior.
Making sure your dryer's duct has a clear unobstructed vent of minimal length to the outside is the best way to keep it working efficiently and save energy.