In recent years there has been many rumours about dryers catching on fire. Should we be concerned? Yes of course. We should take seriously anything that may put our family at risk.

Was the problem the dryer? Rarely. After investigating it is usually determined to have been the venting within the home catching on fire, and not the dryer.

Obviously appliance manufacturers are concerned about the possibility of any dryer related fires. They have made it a policy to advise both service companies and consumers that the use of plastic venting is prohibited. Also they have begun stressing not to exceed maximum limits for venting length. Let me try to explain the details of this problem.

The drying process ---------------------------

When clothes are being dried inside your family dryer there are two processes happening. Firstly, heat is applied to the air inside the dryer drum as it turns. This raises the internal drum temperature to approximately 175 Fahrenheit. This causes moisture to be driven out of the clothing fibres by evaporation. Secondly, there is a vast volume of air being passed through the clothes. Surprisingly, the real trick to drying clothes is the air.

Ever wonder why the clothes on the clothesline dry so fast on a windy day? The hero is the wind. Well, the same process takes place inside your family dryer.

To make them dry faster air is constantly blown through the clothes during the drying cycle. The tumbling action of the drum allows further exposure of the clothing to the hot air flow. As they tumble the air picks up moisture from the clothes, carries it down the venting, and dumps it outside the home. Most people think the venting is to push the lint outside. Actually, its primary purpose is to dump the moisture outside the home.

It is a process that works efficiently. That is, as long as nothing interferes with the process. Slow down, or stop the airflow and the process quickly fails.

In the past homeowners who wanted to vent their dryers did it using rigid sections of venting. The dryer would always sit against an outside wall in the basement. The sections were secured together (using screws or duct tape), and elbows were added if necessary to connect the dryer and venting to the wall outlet. Although time consuming to install, straight venting sections were durable and would usually outlive the dryer.

Then along came flexible venting. It was basically a coil of wire covered in a plastic sheath. It made installations and servicing easier. It turned an hour installation into a ten minute job. The flex though tended to become brittle and break easily. Also it was prone to blockage and needed to be replaced every few years.

But, since flex venting was so much more convenient we continued with its use.

Then came a change in lifestyle. As both parents went off to work the household dryer was moved to accommodate our faster paced lifestyle. To save us time it was moved from the basement to a ground floor laundry room. Although moved to the working level of the home, it was still near an outside wall.

So you are saying,