The dryer has made drying clothes so easy that it has become an essential household appliance. Do you think you could dry the clothing without a dryer? Most likely not. Dryers mainly operate in three parts.
A rotating drum that continuously spins the cloth. Air blowers and heating devices that constantly blow warm air into the fabric.
The latest is the dryer vent which releases the warm steam generated by the machine. It releases a stream of water from the dryer. The outside end of the dryer vent is to be placed outside of the house. You should not be concerned if you can’t find the outside part of the dryer vent on any side of the house.
If steam and air cannot flow properly, the dryer vent will not work. So, how to find dryer vent outside? In cases where you don’t know where someone else set up the dryer vent, it’s easy to find out where they did it.
Is A Vent Really Necessary?
The foremost consideration you must make is checking if there is a vent in your dryer. Even though dryers are required to have vents, many modern models do not. Typically, we call this type of dryer a ventless dryer. A dryer of this type processes hot air and steam inside without ventilating or releasing them. Later, it recyclates the hot air and collects the water in a chamber.
You can visit the supplier’s webpage to check if your dryer is ventless. If you don’t know the model number, there is no problem. You can check the back of the dryer to see if there are any excursion pipes. If there is no air excursion system, your dryer is ventless. There is no need to look for vents on your dryer anymore because it does not require them.
However, if you see that your dryer has an air excursion system but no pipe attached, it is most likely that the dryer has never had a vent added. Perhaps the person who has used this dryer before has used the dryer without a vent. The use of an unvented dryer is extremely dangerous. Therefore, you should add a vent as soon as possible. If you see that the dryer is fitted with a vent, but you can’t find the part outside the vent? It would help if you found where it is. Follow these steps.
Architectural Design
Building a house follows a precise architectural design. Presently, most houses have been built with the addition of ventilation management to the architectural design. There is an architectural map that explains how any part of the house is connected.
If you’re buying an older house, you should get a map from the prior owner. If you purchase a house through a real estate firm, they will give you a design map. If you already have a map, check it out.
Next, we need to find out where the outside part of your dryer’s vent is located on the design map. This map is not too difficult to read. If you inspect carefully, you can find the vent. Next, locate the dryer vent according to the map. If your home is older and there are no maps, you should not worry. You can do that manually.
How To Manually Do It
If you don’t have the map or can’t locate the vent on the map, you may have installed the vent somewhere else. Or someone changed the map’s design. Several places are popular for placing vents. It is necessary to check them manually.
The Roof Of The House
Roofs are the most common places where you can find the outside vents of a dryer. The majority of users install dryer vents on their roofs. Observe the rooftop to verify if there are visible pipes. For convenience, you can keep the dryer on. The steam circulation will be easy to notice if it exists.
Soffit
The soffit is a good place to install dryer vents. Check out the soffit at your home. You must see the vent if there is one.
Attic
It may sound strange to hear a vent in the attic, but check it out to see if one is. Many people do not use the attics of their houses so that a vent might be there. The matter may not be the best choice for the future. In compliance with House Code, this is illegal.
Garage
A few people prefer to leave the vent outside the garage in cold weather to keep the vehicle warm. If your previous owner was stupid, you could find it there. No one except the stupid installs a vent in the garage. Because when you install a garage vent, the stream can damage your vehicle. Additionally, it affects your dryer.
Bottom Of The Walls
Many people place their dryer vents close to the ground level since the washing machine is in the basement. It works perfectly with a few pipes. In modern buildings, vents are placed close to the ground at the lowest point of walls. Thus, it would help if you examined the bottom of the wall. Make sure that no plants or materials are covering the vent cover.
Crawl Space
The crawlspace is not a suitable location for vent installation. The crawl space may, however, be used to install it. In this case, if the vent pipe enters the crawl space and you do not know where it goes, the best thing you can do is enter the crawl space and check where the vent pipe ends.
In most cases, the pipe exits through the crawlspace to another part of the house. The dryer vent often ends up in the crawl space. So, this problem causes the dryer to malfunction. You need to use a hack if you can’t find the dryer vent-outs in the six places mentioned.
Party Decoration Smoke Bomb
If you get annoyed by watching useless life hacks on YouTube, then this lifehack is for you. Smoke makers are available in the market, such as the Party Decoration Smoke Bomb. It’s probably something you’ve seen on television or used many times. Here’s how to locate a dryer vent using a smoke bomb.
- The only equipment you require is a colorful smoke bomb. The best colors are bright ones.
- Secondly, pull the dryer away carefully from the wall. Take out the dryer duct on the back of the machine.
- Take your smoke bomb. The smoke usually starts to come out of a smoke bomb after it has been set ablaze.
- Light the smoke bomb on fire. It would help if you kept a safe distance between it and the mouth. It will start leaking heavy smoke after a couple of seconds.
- Then, insert the smoke bomb into the vent pipe and cover the end with anything you want.
- Finally, come out of the house now and watch which part is emitting smoke. Due to the colorful smoke bombs used, you will notice the outside of the vent very easily.
Still No Luck After That?
If you follow the methods mentioned above correctly, you will locate your dryer vent. Smoke bombs are infallible. But even then, if you don’t see the outside vent, you will surely drop from the blue. This problem may be due to several factors. First of all, dirt has completely clogged the vent pipe, preventing it from functioning. As a result, no air can pass through it. As a result, the smoke bomb could not be extinguished.
Secondly, you may find the dryer vent outside part ends midway no matter where it goes. Maybe the vent pipe ended up in the wall. It has never been repaired because it may be built incorrectly or for any other reason. Third, the vent ended up going to the crawl space. You did not see the smoke bomb because it had accumulated in the crawl space.
What To Do Now?
In our discussion, we mentioned three possibilities. You should clean your vent pipe if it is completely blocked by dirt. Afterward, the upper and outside dryers will function properly. Vent cleaning is something you can do yourself if you wish.
Firstly, move the dryer a little bit away from the wall. Open the excursion pipe carefully. Use any vacuum cleaner around the house to remove the dirt from the excursion compartment of the drawer. A variety of kit types are available for cleaning vents. The best way to clean the wallet is with a DIY kit for vents. There are some pieces of metal rods.
You can combine them to make them smaller or larger as needed. Add a cleaning brush to one end of this rod. Attach the other edge of the metal to a drill machine. Then, insert the edge of the cleaning brush into the vent and turn on the drill.
Enter slowly inwards. Dirt will eventually escape after a while. Many houses, however, have much longer vents. If that is the case, then this method won’t work. We encourage contacting a qualified expert to take care of the vent.
If your dryer vent runs out through a wall or into the crawl space, you will need to reinstall it. Installing a vent is just a piece of cake. The main function of the vent is to expel hot air and steam from the dryer. Making the ventilation path is the main concern here. You will need –
- A cover for a dryer vent.
- Connector for dryers.
- A dryer ducts
Afterward
- Get your dryer a bit farther from the wall.
- Now you need to make a hole in the wall. Make an aperture in the wall that has a diameter of four inches with any drill.
- Then attach the dryer connector to the hole.
- You then need to connect the connector to the dryer vent cover outside the room.
- Glue it to make it waterproof.
- Attach one edge of the dryer duct to the connector and the opposite edge to the dryer’s expedition. That’s all there is to it.
It would help if you cleaned the vents on the dryer regularly for safety reasons. Excess dirt in the dryer vent prevents it from working properly. Moreover, there is a possibility of fire if there is no air circulation. Always make sure your dryer vent is in good shape. I hope now you know about how to find dryer vent outside.
