Thread: My dryer takes 2 hours to dry. Is it because it vents up through my attic to my roof?

I have an electric Whirlpool dryer about 4 years old. I just bought used. It takes 2 hours to dry my clothes. The dryer does get hot. I am not sure if its because the vent goes up the wall through my attic to the roof. I cleaned the lent filter after every load. And in the vent in the wall. But I cannot access the end... could the problem be that it vents to the roof?

A dryer vent should not exceed 20' of straight pipe. for every 90 degree fitting you have to minus 5'. If this run is too long, a 120 volt booster fan would need to be installed. This fan will automaticly turn-on when dryer is started. Have the dryer pulled out from the wall and look at the connection on the dryer and where it attaches before the duct goes up.
You may find a biuld-up of lint that is choking the vent. Good luck.

Your vent is clogged somewhere between your dryer and the outlet. If you have a shop vac with reverse you can try to blow it out. Your vent outlet should have a hinged flap which keeps critters and debris from entering your vent piping. This flap will also prevent you from sucking the line clean, unless you can keep the flap open.If possible try blowing it first, if that does not work you should have someone climb on to the roof (taking appropriate safety measures) and they can open the flap while you try to vacuum the lint out of the vent. If that does not work, call a professional. For maximum effectiveness make sure you have a good seal on your vacuum hose. Try taping it to your outlet box.

There's probably some lint in the duct obstructing the vent. If you can get onto the roof and access the vent output, run the dryer and see how much air comes out. It should be as much of a volume as what comes out of the dryer with no vent attached. You might also have pinched the flexible vent duct coming out of the back of the dryer.

If you can't access the vent, try removing the vent duct from the dryer and then running it to see how long it takes. If the drying time is significantly reduced, you have an obstruction in the vent duct or the vent itself.

You can get a dryer filter that doesn't require a vent. It's basically a square plastic water bath filter that you attach the vent duct to and it sits in the laundry room. But, consider that it generates a lot of warm, humid air in the laundry area.

Another option would be to run a new duct out to a wall or something.

If you don't suspect that the ducting is the problem (no vent at all doesn't affect drying time), you might have an internal obstruction in the dryer itself, or a problem with the heater or thermostat.

Paul is correct, you have a venting problem, if you're dryer is heating it's not your element, most likely your vent tube is kinked somewhere or obstructed.

check the heating element. mine has gone out a couple of times

sounds like a lint problem.... check all around and make sure that it has not backed up somewhere

I also agree with Paul, you most likely have a venting problem, probably either a pinched tube/duct or something is clogged in there. Could be lint, or it is possible that some kind of small animal crawled in there and made a home because of the warmth from the dryer.