Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Quick fix

The dryer vent hose was just tucked in the back room's partly open window, which made for a draft when it was in use. To vent it out without keeping the window open - and this is temporary until I decide if the washer and dryer are staying in this upstairs room, and if so where to put a vent in the wall - I built a quick... I don't know what you'd call it, but it vents without keeping the window fully open. It's just a board that runs the width of the window with a hole for an old vent pipe I salvaged. The dryer vent is just attached to the pipe with a screw-tight pipe clamp.




Two adjustments were necessary. First, the window sash is very old and unevenly worn resulting in some gaps between the sash bottom and the board. I just ran a strip of self-adhesive weatherstripping foam along the board.

Second was the making the pipe clamp work - the vent hose is about 1.5" wider in diameter than the old pipe to which it's connected. Tightening the clamp would tear the hose and/or provide a bad seal. Again, the weatherstripping foam came into play - ran it around the pipe a couple of times to bulk up its diameter, then put the pipe clamp over that section and tightened down a little. Seems to be working fine - virtually no fog on the inside of the window so it appears all the air is going out the pipe as desired.
This still needs two minor things - some caulk or spray foam to plug the small holes between the pipe and the board hole; and some insulation between the glass panes to keep drafts from coming up since the window is still partly open.

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