How Do You Vent A Dryer Through The Roof

These terminals need to be cleaned on a regular basis to prevent lint buildup.

How do you vent a dryer through the roof.

Once the vent is exposed use a vent brush first clean the exterior surfaces. The sheet metal duct is cooled by the outside air in the attic. After the snow melts below the vent it ll probably freeze again farther down on the roof. Before you clean a dryer vent on the roof vacuum out the vent behind the dryer since it s easier to clean out the length of the vent from the ground floor.

Keeping a clean dryer vent is much easier when you can safely reach the exit. In my humble opinion dryer vent terminals should be accessible from the ground if you already have a home with a dryer that terminates at the roof be sure to have the terminal cleaned on a regular basis and consider having the terminal replaced with a dryerjack terminal. Check with your appliance dealer or local building inspector for recommendations about the best roof vent cap to use. Considering that back pressure higher than 6 wci is generally recognized as inefficient you can see that venting through the roof with non dryer specific vents is immediately problematic.

Vent a dryer through the roof only as a last resort. A vertical dryer vent is typically a problem because it acts as a moisture condenser. Venting the dryer outside in cold weather wastes a lot of heat. To make the dyer more efficient you can buy an inexpensive heat diverter and install it in the exhaust duct of electric dryers only not gas dryers you ll save about 50 worth of heat per load in the winter.

Dryer vents should always be vented through the side of the house and not vented through the roof and ideally the exit should be fairly close to the ground. If you re having a home built try to have your builder terminate the dryer duct at a location that makes sense. Then get on the roof and peel back any shingles that may be covering the vent as well as the guard. But we don t recommend it for two reasons.

Difficulty cleaning dryer vent. Cleaning lint buildup from roof vents is difficult and nesting birds and squirrels often find roof vent caps irresistible.