Month: October 2006

I am an “Enterpriser”

I don’t normally do online “surveys” because most of them are made up, stupid, or grossly faulty, providing pointless conclusions.

However, I came across the Pew Research Center‘s 2005 Political Typology survey. It says I am an enterpriser. I am satisfied with that label, but I depart somewhat from Pew’s description of this group:

  • I am more religiously observant than the nation as a whole.
  • I rarely watch Fox News. Most of my news comes from left-leaning sources like NPR, CNN, BBC, and The Dallas Morning News. (I supplement with Drudge Report.)
  • I do not favor government intervention in moral issues. I strongly support a robust separation of church and state. Mingling the two causes tyranny and corruption.

Rigid dryer vent eliminates minimal fire hazard

After getting a hoax email on the fire danger of dryer sheets (see Consumer Reports’s refutation), I remembered that I need to replace my flexible dryer hose with a rigid type. Apparently, rigid hoses are less of a fire hazard because they don’t collect lint.

My flexible hose setup:

Notice the nice sag in the middle to (theoretically) catch lint:

In fact, closer inspection showed the entire duct was pretty clean despite 3 years of use. The worst part was actually near one of the ends:

Far from clogged!

The inside of the dryer and the outside vent were clean:

So much for the dire warnings of dryer lint fires!

Next I installed the rigid vent. All I needed were two elbow connections and a 2 foot straight section. This is the first elbow, inserted into the outside vent:

Then I cut the middle section to fit, using about four test fits to get it right:

The tubing is thin, so I was able to cut it with traditional, black-handled scissors. (It comes in a sheet; you snap the the length side together along a seam.

A picture of the top, with the seam visible on the bottom right:

Then, with a little coaxing and finagling, I got it in place:

In only 40 minutes, I eliminated a trivial fire risk! Yay.

I think the dryer may run more efficiently. The exhaust no longer goes through a long, snaking tube.