Did you know that 10% of your home’s heating could be escaping through your clothes dryer vent? It’s true. Yet many of us don’t think of the dryer vent when we think of all the things we need to do to weatherize our homes.

Is your laundry room the coldest room in the house? It is for many people because in the winter cold air leaks into your home through the dryer vent at the same time your heated air escapes outside.

Many dryer vents have a sheet metal flapper that is supposed to reduce the air leakage, but very few do an adequate job of creating a positive seal to stop the cold air from coming in. In addition to the fact that the flapper design is rather primitive, lint from the dryer will often clog the flapper valve causing it to stay open…letting even more cold air into your house. It’s as if you left a window wide open all winter long.

The great news is the problem can be fixed very inexpensively by installing a dryer vent seal. In addition to being energy efficient these seals provide another benefit by keeping out pests, bees and mice.

The vent will remain closed unless the dryer is in use. When the dryer is in use, a floating shuttle rises to allow warm air, lint, and moisture to escape. The dryer vent seal is available online from the Green Products Company.