My gas dryer aluminum duct pipe vents into the attic about 3 inches from the roof. Lint from the dryer is collecting on the insulation in the attic. Should the duct pipe be extended so that the lint would go outside the attic on to the roof?
There is a metal roof flashing covering the vent pipe.
Bob
Tom: I don’t know if you want it going outside. That would look pretty bad. People call the 911 on you. It’s not a great idea to vent your attic like that, but the lint is going to go out. I think what you need to do is have your dryer vent cleaned on a yearly basis so you reduce the amount of lint.
All that lint coming out the top means there’s a whole bunch more down at the bottom, and that’s a fire hazard. Make sure that stays cleaned once a year, if you use your dryer a lot, especially. To penetrate through the roof, I don’t think it’s a good idea, but to have the hot air exhaust over to a soffit vent or something if it’s possible would be great. Having only three inches of clearance between where it goes into the attic and where the roof is is going to be pretty hard to get anything anywhere.
Charlie: Right. No, no, no. I mean the pipe goes up and it stops three inches short of the roof is what he’s saying.
Tom: Oh, three inches from the the start … What I would do is go back down to where it’s on the floor of the attic and I would take a flexible wind and run it over on the floor of the attic to a soffit vent, so the soffit vent will let the air go out. There’ll be some lint build-up but I have a feeling he has a lot more lint down at the bottom he needs to take a look at.
Charlie: Especially if it’s been piling up like that for as long as it seems.
Tom: Oh goodness, yeah.
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