We get asked what you should do about a clogged dryer vent or how often you should clean your dryer vent all the time.
It’s a good question and there’s actually a little more to it than you may realize. So we thought that today we’d answer your question (plus a little more) by talking through some things you may not know about this topic.
In no particular order, here are the top 3 things you need to know about your dryer vent.
#1: Clogged Dryer Vents are the Leading Cause of House Fires in the United States
According to the National Fire Protection Association, nearly 17,000 fires linked to clogged dryer vents are reported each year, causing an average of 55 deaths, 380 injuries and nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in property damage.
That’s a lot.
Ask any firefighter you encounter and many of them will tell you to clean out your lint trap every chance you get because they’ve seen the consequences of not doing so first-hand.
#2: If your clothes aren’t getting dry, your dryer vent is probably clogged
Maybe lately you’ve noticed that getting your laundry to actually dry is taking a lot longer than normal. Or maybe when you run your dryer you’ve found that the outside of the machine is hot to the touch or even that there’s a burning smell as it goes through its cycle. If any of these warning signs have come to your attention, then your dryer vent is likely clogged.
#3: Home builders and contractors often don’t do a great job of constructing dryer vents
Most people think that when you pay to have a new home built that you’re getting the best of what’s available on the housing market. For the most part you may be right, but when it comes to dryer vents this often doesn’t hold true.
Many home builders (or contractors working with home builders) don’t understand how a dryer vent line really needs to work in order to be effective. Understandably, they are often more concerned with the aesthetics of the house and how pleasing to the eye the finished home will be to the buyer.
But keep in mind that the further away the laundry room or laundry hookups are from the outside vent, the further your dryer will need to push lint and debris. Unfortunately, most dryers are not powerful enough to do this over even a moderate distance, which means that if a builder places a laundry room in an area that necessitates a long journey for lint to reach the outside, you’re likely to get clogged up quickly.
Laundry rooms that are far from the outside vent also often have so many twists and turns that there’s no way you could remove all the lint or the entire clog on your own. Dryer vents like that need professional equipment and an experienced pro to ensure you remove the entire blockage!
Over the years, Hi Tech Duct Cleaning has cleaned thousands of dryer vents and we have never run into one we couldn’t unclog. Whether you have a crazy, long dryer vent that clogs up frequently, a bird’s nest built in the vent opening left over from Spring (yep, that happens all the time), or you just suspect a clogged vent is at the root of why your clothes aren’t getting quite dry, give us a call.
Hi tech Duct Cleaning can help!
(513)737-3200 or go ahead and request a free quote right now!