Two clothes dryers on a single vent

Aug 24, 2007 6 Replies

A tenant called me regarding water in her dryer whenever the other tenant in the duplex did laundry. She said it's been happening ever since she moved in six months ago (this building's only been ours for six months).



Water in the dryer? This was a new one. Well what I found is that the laundry rooms back up to each other, and that two dryers have exhaust hoses that connect together, then to a single vent outside through about a six foot length of vent hose. When one tenant uses their dryer, part of the moist air goes back into the other dryer where it condenses and leaves a pool of water.



I thought of using two of those draft blockers, one on each section of hose before it reaches the Y connection, but I was worried that if both dryers are running at the same time that the back pressure will keep one or the other from opening.



Running another vent hose out the wall is another option I guess. Is there a hole saw for a 4" vent, or how do you cut a clean 4" hole through stucco?


Running a new vent would be the solution. Lenox makes a carbide tipped hole saw which would cut stucco, but it costs around $100. You can use a small masonry bit and drill a circle of holes in the stucco, then chip it out from the center

go to any local lumber yard and buy a regular holesaw as long as the stucco isn't supper thick it will cut through. You need two vents here, the shorter the better.

Yes, they make 4" hole saws.

Is the existing vent termination only 4"? Are these gas or electric dryers?

Just a hint, get a 4-1/8" hole saw. The 4" won't make a big enough hole.

steve

It is not another option, it is the only option to do it right.

In this case, venting them separately is the preferred choice. But, it's acceptable to common vent more than one dryer, if you following the instructions for multiple venting and IMC.

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