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My new blog, Tracy DeCarlo's Home Building Lessons is live! For more practical ideas for building your home, click the above link.
Building or Remodeling? Do yourself a favor and increase your knowledge of the construction process and your options. Being informed can have a direct positive effect on the bottom line, the conveniences inside your home, and the future cost of the running the home.
The Difference is in the Details: The Homeowner's Planning Guide to Building a Functional Home not only provides hundreds of tips like these, it also provides lives links to suppliers and organizations. This photograph-filled e-Guide shows you how to adjust the building sequence to your financial advantage while helping you create a healthy, energy-efficient home that works for your family—inside and out, from the foundation to the rooftop. “With dozens of “how to build
your new home” books available, what could be left out? Plenty, as author DeCarlo shows in her
practical approach to topics often left out, forgotten, or given scant attention. Readers will thank her
for raising subjects to consider in the earliest stages of planning a new home.”
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Dryer Taking Too Long To Dry Your Clothes? (Part 1) Your brand new dryer—just installed in your brand new house—is taking forever to dry your clothes. What’s wrong? Could it be that the dryer and the vent don’t match? A dryer is meant to be placed against an outer wall and vented directly out of the building. If the location of the laundry room in your new home doesn’t allow for this contingency, extensive duct runs may be required to expel the dryer’s moist, hot air out of doors. Every manufacturer provides specifications indicating the maximum duct length at which the dryer is capable of expelling moist, hot air and lint (venting). If this length exceeds the power of your dryer, the dryer will not be able to do its job.
How can you make sure the dryer and the dryer vent will be compatible in your new home?
NOTE: Remember that maximum dryer vent duct length and transition/adaptor equivalents are
different for every dryer. Thus, it’s critical that you use the duct calculation information for
your specific machine. Another factor that affects maximum vent length is the type of duct material. Although the flexible metal ducting shown far right is easier for your installer to work with, it is not the recommended choice. Due to its corrugated design, metal flex duct reduces airflow and contributes to lint buildup. Over time, this lint buildup not only reduces the efficiency of your dryer, it is also a fire hazard. Round, rigid metal is the preferred choice for ducting material as shown in the photo to the near right. Even the vent hood (wall cap) at the exterior of your home has an effect on dryer efficiency. The tight, flat, 2 ½ inch hood shown below on the left impedes airflow and increases the equivalent duct run. For this type of vent, I’ve see the equivalency charts add anywhere from 10 to 30 feet. The curved, deeper design on the right offers less resistance; the screen over the vent also keeps out critters. Building codes in some areas of the country state that screens should not be installed at the duct termination. For information on this vent by Heyoka Solutions, Click Here
In next month’s ezine, I’ll explain how dryer / duct specs are communicated on a job site, give you the skinny on booster fans and why to avoid them, and tell you about another product that improves dryer-duct airflow.
Wishing
you all a safe and prosperous New Year! IS THERE A SUBJECT YOU'D LIKE ME TO COVER? Let me know by sending an email to tracy@tracystips.net. WANT TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE? All past issues of this ezine are in the Ezine Archives on our web site. Click here for Ezine Archives ! WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEBSITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Tracy DeCarlo, author of "The Difference is in the Details" publishes the idea-packed, monthly e-zine "Tracy's Home Building Tips." If you're ready to learn how to plan a more durable, energy-efficient, and easy-to-live-in home, get your FR*EE tips now at www.DetailedSolutions.net.
By working with homeowners to focus on their daily habits and preferences, she helps them create living spaces that support and compliment their lifestyles, while at the same time teaching techniques to manage the bottom line.
I’d love to hear from you:
Tracy DeCarlo, Detailed Solutions, Inc. P.O. Box 161644 Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, United States Phone 407-814-2328 |
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Copyright ©2010 Tracy DeCarlo Detailed Solutions, Inc. |
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Tracy
DeCarlo owner of Detailed Solutions, Inc. and One Stop Green Home Certification, has more than fourteen years'
experience in the residential construction industry. As a Home Building Function Analyst,
Certified Green Professional, Green Certifying Agent,
and Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist, Tracy addresses the functional aspects of home
construction, design, and usage, including items such as energy efficiency, disaster mitigation, air quality,
aging in place, green building, plumbing, electrical, lighting, and storage. 
