Seems like a good idea. You could duct-tape a hair dryer nozzle to the vent and blow air through it to clean out the pipe. Or shove your vacuum cleaner hose into it part way to suck out old lint. If you have access to the outside, you might check whether any flapper opens freely and that nothing obstructs the vent. I've once saw bits of straw sticking out of one; I think birds had built a nest inside the vent pipe.

-- amateur

I can't answer your question but I am curious -- why are you switching back to vented? I am considering going with a ventless when I over-haul the laundry.

wdccruise/dadoes - thank you but I’ll most likely get someone else to do it

mxk3 - for a number of reasons, main ones being that I miss the efficiency of a vented dryer and I hate the way the dryer adds heat to the apartment. We originally had a Miele stacked, vented unit that was superb. They worked beautifully until the dryer gave up after 15years. Miele couldn’t fix it and recommended we “upgrade“ to their new ventless model. They also recommended we replace the washer although we had no issue with it. As we’ve always used Miele in different countries and trusted their appliances we went with their new ventless dryer/washer combo (t8023/w3038) despite misgivings about a ventless unit in an nyc apartment. The washer is fine but the dryer is frustrating to use as it takes longer to dry clothes, adds heat to the apartment and generates a layer of fluff/lint into the apartment. The dryer broke down 4 times in the first year of use and they replaced it. Their customer service was also very disappointing.

I seem to have gone off on vent (!) about Miele when you only asked why we were planning to switch back! Hope I answered your question anyway

Yes, you did - thank you. I'm on the fence about it. My dryer is very inefficient due to the extremely long vent run, and I can't figure out how to get around that. But, I have some time and will probably call in a contractor for the re-do (cabinets, counter, new layout, etc), they'll probably have some tricks up their sleeve to fix the venting problem. But, I am leaning toward smaller/compact machines to get more functional room space (it a mudroom/laundry combo), and the ventless certainly take up less room.

Curious mxk3 if you decided to go with a ventless. Like you, I would like to use compact units to save space in a combo mud/laundry room in a beach cottage. I think most compact dryers are ventless. I don't need the capacity of full size units, but I am concerned about the drying time.

Remember that "ventless" can be condenser or heat pump. Heat Pumps work like a refrigerator in reverse. There is very little heat sent into the room. It is not heat free, but it is a lot less than a 1st generation condenser.

Almost all vented compact laundry will disappear in the next 3-5 years. It uses 3-4 times the amount of energy compared to a heat pump. heating air to just send it outdoors is inefficient. Most vented dryers also pull conditioned air from inside the building and send it outside, which adds to the inefficiency.

This is why you don't see any vented models on European laundry appliances. Even the large professional models are transitioning to heat pumps. The amount of money that is saved in energy alone will usually pay for the machine over it's design life.