LintAlert ALRT31 Dryer Safety Alarm

The concept of the Lint Alert is intelligent and simple. As lint builds up in the exhaust of a dryer, it becomes more difficult for the dryer blower to get rid of the hot, moisture laden air. As this build-up occurs, two things can happen: 1.it takes longer and longer to dry a load of clothes and 2. it's possible for exhaust temperatures to climb to dangerous levels. Fires can occur with a clogged dryer exhaust.Comes the Lint Alert. As the clogging increases, air pressure at the dryer outlet builds as the blower tries to force the air out. Very simply, the Lint Alert monitors this so called "back pressure" and gives a visual alert as gradual clogging occurs, and sounds a buzzer if the pressure build to dangerous levelsI installed one and it was quite easy. The instructions tell it all. But how well does it work? Not wanting to wait months on end for the clogging to occur, I tried another test. As my wife watched the Lint Alert visual readout, I went outside and manually forced the flapper shutter closed. As I gradually closed this flapper, the visual alert LEDs on the Lint Alert climbed just as they should. When the shutter was nearly closed, representing a potentially dangerous condition, the aural alert sounded. While I had no way to measure exactly the back pressure, it seemed to perform just as advertised.This is a relatively inexpensive, but well thought out product that can save you from a potentially dangerous fire at some time in the future. Check with me somewhere down the road, but for now, I'm very glad to have installed the unit.

Easy installDecent PackagingSimple Device, simple instructionsWorks well.Only real complaint avoiding 5 stars is that this uses plastic nipple for the dryer vent & it strongly recommends installation in a flex tube (metal).So here's my gripe: the instructions clearly acknowledge that the plastic tubing is not recommended for use on a dryer. Anyone who knows anything about dryer's would agree, including the local fire department. SO WHY PROVIDE A PLASTIC NIPPLE? I realize it wont burn up, but still, provide metal! And also, this plastic nipple is clearly very frail, easy to break, be EXTRA careful with it.This cheap plastic is probably why they recommend "flex" tubing. The Big Box home stores shouldn't even sell flex tubing - it should be outlawed.Lastly, the manufacturer should NOT be recommending metal flex tubing either because again, any HVAC Pro, or Fire Company, or Building Inspector will tell you you SHOULD ONLY USE METAL RIGID TUBING. A device like this is helpful in all dryer installations, and is a great tool to avoid fire, but as a safety aid, the manufacturer should be recommending the proper solutions not what is against code in nearly every location in the USA (and probably anywhere!).So for $60.00, this product should be more durable, using at least a metal device at the dryer vent ductwork, and the instructions should be recommending proper code compliant solutions.

Rather, it might have been okay. The unit I received was salvage stock and broken when I received it. I decided not to try again, regardless of the seller.

The peg off to the side that the air hose installs onto, broke immediately. LintAlert sent us another unit immediately (I give them a five star for their service). Once the replacement one was installed, none of the lights go on, even after following the instructions on three occassions. No lights, dead unit. Not worth the frustration. We will just keep our dryer vent free of lint buildup without any warning alarms. Thank you

The lint alert installation took longer than expected because they recommend using semi-riggid aluminum duct instead of the spiral vinyl duct that had been on the dryer for the last 30 years. This involved three trips to the home store for duct and connectors and clamps. Once the duct work was installed, the setup and calibration was straight forward. The LintAlert works as it claims. We have a long vent run through the garage, and it has clogged several times over the years, so I was glad to see a product that will alert me to the need to clean the duct.

This is fairly easy to install and takes about 1/2 hour to do so. Just make sure the ventilation pipe/duct that goes between your drier and the wall inlet is of the rigid type. You can get this at Home Depot or any other reputable hardware store. It makes it easier to install the sensor into a rigid metal duct than the original cheaper flexible aluminum foil type duct that normally comes with the drier. Secondly, it is a lot safer because lint can collect in the ridges formed by the wires used in the flexible ducts.If you are going to install this, don't skimp - go the whole way and install the rigid ducts.Also, make sure you clean the vents out as instructed before installing the device - you can also buy this brush kit at HD for about $20. We were surprised how much lint was already in the vent in the wall of the house after a few years and we diligently clean the drier filter after every load.The device appears to be working and we are happy with the extra peace of mind.

I bought the LintAlert detector thinking that one day it might give a warning if the dryer vent ever got clogged. As instructed, I cleaned the vent before installation, running a 6 foot vent brush as far as it would go. But after installing the detector, it would not calibrate, claiming that the back pressure was too high to be normal. So I traced the vent up into the attic and, voila! right at the exit to the roof there was a big blob of lint partially blocking the pipe! I cleaned it out, and once the vent was REALLY clear, the detector calibrated successfully and is now monitoring normally. Not only do I know it works, but it gave me the early warning that a clog was forming well before it became dangerous. I highly recommend this detector. One caveat: check your dryer model and be sure that it has a single motor driving both the barrel and the fan. If the dryer schematic has a single motor, you're good to go. The dual motor dryers have too much variability in exhaust pressure and won't work with this detector. Highly recommended!