Video: burning dryer ducts

In last week’s blog post, I explained how foil dryer transition ducts are allowed by code and by some manufacturers. I also talked about DryerFlex, a foil dryer duct sold under GE at Home Depot stores and Amazon that is superior to most other products, even semi-rigid foil.

I set a bunch of these different dryer transition ducts on fire many years ago and made videos of all of that, but it’s high time for another test.

For the second round of testing, I teamed up with Family Handyman to help put a more consistent video together. I bought a 200 CFM fan, filled a bunch of dryer transition ducts with shredded paper, then started them on fire. Check out the video below to see the results.

So what’s the conclusion? While sometimes allowed, foil dryer transition ducts aren’t the best option for connecting a clothes dryer to the duct. My preferred options are DryerFlex or UL Listed semi-rigid ducts.

Author: Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections