A dryer vent cleaning is an important and often-overlooked service that improves home energy efficiency, reduces costs -- and can extend the life of your clothes dryer.
How long has it been since you had a dryer vent cleaning?
Cleaning your clothes dryer exhaust duct is an important service. This is a service that is often overlooked — and not doing it can cause water damage, possible fire hazard, health risk, higher electrical costs and even damage to your clothes dryer.
When a dryer duct becomes clogged, you are more likely to get moisture in your system, which can lead to corrosion and water damage. We commonly retrieve 2-5 gallons of lint and 2-4 gallons of water from dryer ducts when we clean them.
Experiencing long drying times?
Look for these indicators that your dryer duct needs to be cleaned:
- Clothes (especially towels or jeans) take a long time to dry.
- Clothes are hotter than usual at the end of the drying cycle.
- Flapper on vent hood doesn’t open when dryer is on.
Reduced airflow and the resulting lint build-up cause overheating by preventing a fast-enough drying action. When this happens, the high temperature limit safety switch has to cycle on and off to control the heater. Most high temperature limit switches were never designed to cycle on and off continuously which can cause them to fail over a period of time.
Proper Airflow:
A cleaner dryer vent means proper airflow, and that can decrease drying time and decrease operating costs. Full airflow helps prevent the dryer from operating on its high temperature safety limit control. Vinyl and foil duct venting materials can easily collapse when installed. The use of proper venting materials to achieve maximum performance may also extend the life of the dryer and increase the life of clothing due to lower drying temperatures.
Reduced Maintenance and Increased Home Energy Efficiency:
A key to effective dryer performance is optimal airflow. A properly installed all-metal dryer vent will help ensure this airflow. When clothes are given the appropriate amount of air, they dry quicker and are subject to less tumbling. This results in less wear on the clothing and less use of electricity or gas. Failure to properly maintain your dryer ducts can cause damage to your clothes dryer and, at the very least, a waste of your valuable time waiting for your clothes to dry.
And as if that weren't enough...
The Consumer Products Safety Commission estimates there are 24,000 clothes dryer fires each year in the United States, amounting to $96,000,000 in estimated property damage. Lack of maintenance is the leading cause of dryer fires, and LINT is the leading material to ignite. These fires can be caused by failure of mechanical and/or electrical parts within the dryer itself, improper materials being put into the dryer, and insufficient airflow as a result of improper installation.
Check your local codes!
Many state and local municipalities have placed requirements on new and remodeling projects to include all metal dryer venting.