Product review (3 stars): Good product but still not perfect...
I would not hesitate to buy this one again but may try Heartland next time to see what the difference is.  Being energy savvy and seeing the future of energy efficient homes, I test out products on my own home "within reason" before designing it into a client's home.  This is the best dryer vent concept available that I have found in the USA and performs very well but is made of Polystyrene a form of plastic also used in making scale models.  The plastic is not protected against UV rays and will eventually degrade unless it is painted which will still only add a little more life to the product.  There are much better versions available in Canada that cannot be shipped across the border for use in the USA for some odd reason.  Canada has better products for cold air issues due to its extreme winter conditions and hopefully these items can be seen in the USA as global warming is really not an issue here in MD...thus prompting me to install this item to keep my laundry from being in the upper 30's due to poorly designed exhaust vents.  Hopefully codes will change and enforce better use and better products to help energy efficiency in the near future.  It only took 20 minutes to install because I planned ahead but keep in mind that the plastic is brittle so blocking or a plate (like a light mounting plate)of some sort may be necessary for vinyl siding.  For those of you whom are concerned with lint issues, you need to clean the dryer exhaust line periodically to prevent issues and blockage PERIOD so do not ever expect a maintenence free product and at that a maintenence free home...it just does not exist unless you are the Jetsons.  If they could have an option made of abs plastic or even aluminum (how awesome would that be?)with an integrated J-channel for vinyl siding, they could have a much better niche in the market with a good quality product.  It is well worth the investment as it stands but seriously "plan ahead" this product is good and I only gave it 3 stars because of the type of plastic it is made of.