Dryer Vent Retrofit Kit

Over 15,000 homes are lost annually because of fires resulting from dirty dryer vents. Additionally, from an environmental standpoint, extra energy is being used because dryers are having to run harder and longer because of dirty dryer vents.

Insurance companies will help cover the expense of installing the retrofit kit to help reduce the risk of house fires due to dirty Dryer Vents.

What's the challenge?

Cleaning the dryer vent can be difficult to do. It requires someone to attach a long flexible rod with a brush on one end to a drill. Then in various ways this rod has to be pushed through the dryer vent from the back of the dryer and from the top of the roof. The drill is the used to spin the brush to free the lint and debree that has accumumated in the vent. The curve in the vent from the roof and from the back of the dryer is what makes the cleaning job tough, dangerous and time consuming. The rod can break or get stuck during the cleaning process.

How does this innovation help?

By replacing the vent cover located on the roof with the retrofit kit, this allows all of the future cleaning activities to much easier and faster. The same flexible rod and drill attachment is used but rather than having to negotiate a curve, it can now be used straight in and out of the vent. Additionally, numerous technology enhancements can be added to make it even more important.

The retrofit kit solution is to make the cleaning process easier by enabling the removal of the Dryer Vent cover a much easier proposition. Additionally, technology can be added to help monitor the flow of air through the vent. Finally, capabilities will be added to the retrofit kit to make it even more appealing. These features will include monitoring rain levels, wind speed and to add a high fidelity wifi camera pointed to the sky to provide a view of the stars at night.

Here are the proposed procedures of how the retrofit kit could work.

Step 1 - 3

The first three steps detail the careful removal of the top portion of the vent. It's important to leave the rectangular portion that is attached to the roof.

---

Step 4

The fourth step shows our the retrokit sleeve is slid onto the remaining retanguler based that is attached to the roof. A sealer will need to be added to ensure that the sleeve and the based form a water proof bond. The sleeve contains marks showing where self tapping screws are used to further secure the sleeve to the base. Additionally, the sleeve contains screw posts where wing nuts will be used to attached the Dryer Vent cover.

---

Step 5

Once the adhesive bonding the sleeve to the rectangular base has set, step 5 illustrates the Dryer Vent cover sliding onto the sleeve.

---

Step 6

Step 6 shows notches washers used to hook the Dryer Vent cover to the screw post where the wing nut is then screwed on to secure the cover to the retrofit sleeve.

*** The top portion of the Dryer Vent cover will be a solar panel connected to a battery supply. This will be used to power the anemometer to calculate the flow of air through the vent (With notifications sent to an app, SMS, etc if when a significant reduction is flow is detected) and general wind speed over the roof, along with the rain sensor and HD camera.