Cleaning Your Dryer Vents

When a homeowner schedules a professional duct cleaning, they don’t always consider their drying vents. Household dryers consume a tremendous amount of energy. To keep them working at their best, dryer vents must be cleaned regularly. Besides working faster and saving on energy, clogged vents are a potential fire hazard. Truth be told, over 15,000 fires in U.S. homes were reported by the National Fire Protection Association in a single year. The root cause of these home fires was unkept filters.

Concealed Dryer Vents

About 60 percent of debris collects in the lint trap, but the remaining 40 percent flows through the dryer venting system. The challenging part is that about 98 percent of the dryer vents is unseen. The hose and exhaust are visible, but the main portion is hidden in the attic, walls, crawl space, etc. Once lint accumulates in the dryer vent, duct air flow is reduced. Over time this can lead to back up in exhaust gases, which can cause a home fire.

When to Seek Professional Help

To avoid having clogged dryer vents cause a house fire or carbon monoxide poisoning, conduct annual maintenance inspections. If you have never had your dryer ducts professionally cleaned, here are a few things to watch out for:

• Detect a Burning Odor: Lint is a highly flammable substance. It can catch on fire if it gets too hot.
• Problem with the Vent Hood Opening: If the hose is enveloped by lint, or if you can see the opening, or the duct hood flap won’t close properly, chances are you have restricted air flow.
• Clothes Take Longer to Dry: If it you have to keep running the dryer over and over again to dry a single load, something isn’t right. Your dryer vent might be blocked, which will take a toll on your machine.
• Clothes are unusually hot when you take them out of the dryer.

Conserve Energy

Besides posing a potential danger, clogged dryer vents use a lot of energy. You can save a lot of energy has to have your vents professionally cleaned every year. An annual duct cleaning by a pro will help keep your home safe, protect the environment and keep your dryer working efficiently, longer.