Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

Something as simple as your dryer vent could be costing you money.

Essentially a dryer vent is a hole in your house. In the winter, a draft of cold air can enter right in through it.  And in the summer, hot air can also enter, increasing your costs of running an air conditioner.

Fortunately, there’s an inexpensive upgrade.  This “super-efficient” dryer vent seal is supposed to save you up to 10% in energy costs.  (10% seems a bit optimistic if you ask me, but certainly every little bit helps, and this device costs less than $35, so it looks like a worthwhile home improvement.)

It works a bit like a damper in a chimney.  The dryer vent seal stays shut until the dryer is turned on.  Thus this hole in your house that is usually there 24/7 is now only open when the dryer is in operation.

In addition to saving you money in energy costs, the vent seal keeps out bugs, birds, snakes, and other critters that might decide to wander in.

From the reviews on Amazon, it sounds like it is easy to install, and it can also be painted to match your house (hey, you don’t want to save money at the expense of curb appeal, do you?).