What Purpose Does a Dryer Vent Serve?

We all know that choosing the right dryer vent is important, but many people don’t know how to choose the best type of dryer vent. There are many different types of dryer vents available on the market today. The most common include metal, flexible steel, and aluminum.

Dryer vents provide a path of escape for the hot air that your dryer generates. They also help to remove lint and other debris that sneaks into your dryer. In doing so, they allow your dryer to work more effectively and efficiently

The Different Kinds of Dryer Vent Tubes

• Aluminum foil ducts– Definitely the most popular type of dryer vent hose the aluminum foil duct is flexible, affordable, lightweight and versatile. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the worst kind of ducts when it comes to trapping lint. A large percentage of the house fires we mentioned earlier start in flexible aluminum foil ducts. If you have a flexible aluminum foil vent and it hasn’t been cleaned recently it’s a fire waiting to happen.
• Plastic ducts– Plastic dryer vents look similar to flexible aluminum foil vents but they’re typically white instead of having a shiny metallic finish like aluminum foil. Like aluminum foil vents they also do a bang-up job trapping lint in their many ribs. And that is not a good thing. Plastic vents tend to clog up as fast as aluminum or even faster.
• Slim aluminum ducts– This is a rigid type of dryer vent ductwork with a flattened shape so that it can fit into tight spaces. You won’t find these in many homes although they do pop up here and there in cases when the dryer has been wedged into a particularly confined space. The upside is that they have a smooth interior. The downside is that they can be hard to access.

Other Types:

• Semi-rigid duct– The semi-rigid duct looks more than a little like the aluminum foil dryer vent but it’s not nearly as flexible. It actually occupies a grey area between the rigid aluminum duct and the loosey-goosey aluminum foil vent. The upside to this type of dryer duct is that it is slower to accumulate dryer lint inside. The downside is that they’ll cost more than flexible aluminum or plastic dryer ducts.
• Rigid vents– The rigid dryer vent is most often made of aluminum these days. The upside of rigid metal dryer vents is that the insides are perfectly smooth and it’s harder for lint to accumulate in them. Harder, but it still happens. It just takes a bit longer. Of course, the rigid nature of this type of vent means that you are somewhat limited in how. And where you can run them since elbows for such pipes are usually only available with 45 or 90 degree bends.

What You Should Know About Types of Dryer Vents

Dryer vents can be the unsung heroes of your laundry room. They do a lot more than just vent hot air from your dryer to the outside world (though that is an important part of what they do). Dryer vents are also responsible for transporting lint and other small particles that have collected on the inside of your dryer into the outside world where it belongs. A clogged or damaged vent will lead to increased wear and tear on your clothes, as well as negatively affect how quickly they will dry.

So, what type of dryer vent is the best?  Most professionals and home experts agree that aluminum dryer vents perform most effectively for the majority of homes. Other common types of dryer vents include flexible steel and metal. When selecting the best type of dryer vent, you must consider the shape of your home as well as the direction your laundry room faces as this will influence your decision.