Dryer vents are a very important but often forgotten part of our day-to-day lives. They get rid of all the hot exhaust fumes that are produced by the dryer to the outside, keeping the inside of the home cooler and healthy.
But due to the homeowner’s negligence, these vents can get clogged and fail to do their job properly. This is why you should insulate dryer vents.
There are a couple of reasons to insulate dryer vents. First, a clogged dryer vent will be very energy inefficient as the dryer will need to be run for a longer time. These vents can also lead to fires and carbon monoxide leaks, both of which can turn fatal. The best way to insulate dryer vents is to use rolled fibreglass or foam insulation.
Let’s take a look at the reasons and the process of insulating dryer vents.
Why is dryer vent insulation important?
Dryer vents run from your dryers to all the way outside. These vents collect the hot exhaust fumes produced by the dryers which help dry your clothes and release them outside.
The fumes are not harmful to the environment when released outside, but can make the house warm if they are not released outside properly.
When the dryer vents run through cooler parts of the house, especially during the rainy season and winter, these metal pipes collect a lot of snow and water. The water and snow block the pipe, which causes the flow of the fumes from the dryer to the outside to be blocked. This gives rise to two problems.
First, your clothes will not be dried as fast as they used to. You will need to run your dryer for a longer time than before, which will cause it to consume more energy.
This leads to the equipment being energy inefficient, which increases your energy bills by a lot.
Additionally, a clogged dryer vent is a health and fire hazard. If you don’t insulate the dryer vent, the lint from the clothes will keep accumulating inside the vent and catch fire due to the extreme heat produced by the clogged dryer.
Also, exhaust fumes contain carbon monoxide, which when released back into the house, can cause serious health hazards, and even death.
How do you insulate dryer Vents?
Insulating dryer vents is actually quite easy if you have the basic know-how of doing it. You need a few tools and materials to insulate your dryer vents before going through with the procedure. These tools and materials are:
- Rolled fibreglass or foam
- Tape measure
- Utility knife
- Marker
- High-quality tape
- Caulk gun
- Caulk
Once you have all these items at your disposal, you can proceed to insulate your dryer vent.
Step 1: Locating the dryer vent
The first step to putting insulation around the dryer vent is to find out where the vent opening is. If you already know where the vent opening is, it will be the best.
Even if you don’t know its location, finding it out is very easy. Just run the dryer and see where the smoke or fumes are coming out from.
Step 2: Placing the insulation on the vent pipe
Once you find the vent opening, you need to insulate the entire pipe. If even the smallest part of the pipe is left uninsulated, the vent will again be clogged due to snow and condensation.
Measure the length of the pipe and cut an adequate amount of insulation for it. Place the insulation around the dryer vent pipe and secure them in place with high-quality tape.
If you want to know how to insulate dryer vents, you must know the correct way to go about it. Make sure to overlap the pieces of insulation by at least an inch.
Overlapping the pieces of insulation is a good way to make sure the insulation will not come off under any circumstances. Once the insulation is in its place, place the pipe inside the vent.
Step 3: Sealing the exit
Once you have insulated the dryer vent pipe, it doesn’t mean the process of insulating the dryer vent is complete. Even if the pipe is insulated, the vent can still collect snow and water if the exit is not sealed off.
An open dryer vent exit is always in contact with the air outside and hence can let in snow and water, which will be counterproductive to everything you have done before.
Once the process of insulating the dryer vent pipe is done and the pipe is put back in its place, you need to use caulk to seal the exit of the vent.
Caulk is not a good conductor of heat and is excellent for restricting snow and water from entering the vent pipe.
Final Words
Despite the importance of dryer vents, they are often neglected by homeowners when it comes to maintaining them. The best way to ensure they are well maintained and energy efficient is to insulate the dryer vents of the house.
Choose the insulation that suits you the best and follow the steps mentioned above to make sure your dryer works perfectly.
FAQs
1. What can I use to insulate around my dryer vent?
There are a lot of things you can use to insulate your dryer vents. You can use roller fibreglass, foam, silicone caulk, etc for your dryer vent insulation. But not all insulation has the same level of effectiveness, so you need to do a bit of research before deciding on insulation.
2. Can insulation touch the dryer vent pipe?
Yes, the dryer vent insulation can touch the dryer vent pipe. In fact, the insulation should touch the pipe. In this way, the pipe will not have any snow or condensation deposited inside it, and the fumes will easily be released outside.
3. Can A Dryer Vent Touch Drywall?
Technically, a dryer vent can touch the drywall. But it is not recommended that it does so. This is because drywalls are prone to damage caused by the condensation produced by the dryer vent pipes.
