www.hvactechgroup.com - forums

Hi all,
We just moved into a house in Ontario and noticed the AC unit is only about 6" away from the dryer vent outside. We can see the lint piling up in it and are hesitant to even turn it on. It is a rental and the company says it was installed in the house in 2019. A quick google search "highly recommends" the AC unit be 3+ ft from the dryer vent (I know I know, "google says").
Is there any law/regulation/requirement that confirms this??
The rental company says it's fine and "it was installed in 2019, so we're sure it's fine" and want to charge us 2500+ to move it away from the vent.
Have also reached out to manufacturer (Carrier) to see what their requirements are for installation but have yet to hear back.

Thank you

You could check to see if your municipality has any bylaws, but most do not and there isn't any building code requirement to place the AC a minimum distance from a dryer vent.

If it's a rental air conditioner and the dryer vent causes parts to fail prematurely, it will be the rental company's problem. 

I would recommend hosing off the outdoor coil as it is your electric bill that will increase if the outdoor coil becomes plugged.

You could also install a secondary lint trap on the dryer vent to reduce the amount of lint blowing outside.

Post a picture of the wall where the dryer vent is located.  There may be other code infractions that will force them to take action.

If you can, post a picture of the air conditioner installation outside as well.

Six inches is way too close in my opinion. Even if it's not technically against code, dryer lint getting sucked into the condenser coil can definitely hurt efficiency.  Wait to see what Carrier says about their clearance requirements,but the fact that lint is already building up on the unit would concern me more than the rental company explanation.

Carrier might recommend a minimum distance between the AC and dryer vent, but that would not be considered a mandatory requirement.

You can find a more reasonable price and just pay to have it relocated.  The rental company would have no idea.
 
Had the original install required more material and time to install it further away from the dryer vent, the price would have increased.  Somebody opted for the cheaper option.

And did you not have this house inspected before purchasing?  That would have been the time to negotiate the cost to have the AC relocated.