Time To Clean Your Dryer Vents?

by | dryer vents, fire safety

A dirty dryer vent can cause a house fire. Keep an eye out for signs that tell you your dryer vent needs to be cleaned.

A dirty dryer vent can cause a house fire. Keep an eye out for signs that tell you your dryer vent needs to be cleaned.

In the chimney industry, we’ve worked hard through the years to spread the word about the importance of annual chimney inspections and regular chimney sweeping. Those simple maintenance appointments are key to keeping your chimney at the levels of safety and performance you expect, want and need.

But the need to regularly maintain dryer vents, by and large, hasn’t gotten as much attention. And that’s unfortunate, because when it comes to fire hazard concerns, dryer vents are just as important to consider as chimneys. We have a lot of sobering clothes dryer fire statistics up on our website (including the fact that the simple failure to clean gets cited in more than a third of annual U.S. dryer fires), because we think it’s important for our clients to know how important it is to regularly clean dryer vents.

How Do I Know When It’s Time To Clean My Vents?

We recommend an annual dryer vent cleaning appointment, to ensure that you’re removing and limiting lint build-up on a regular basis and maximizing your dryer’s efficiency, too. But if you want a few more practical indicators, we can help — your dryer will do a lot to tell you when it needs some attention.

Call Hudson Chimney To Schedule A Dryer Vent Cleaning If:

You’re Finding Wet Laundry After Running A Normal Load

If your vents are packed up with lint, air and byproducts aren’t exhausting properly, and your dryer is struggling to vent moisture and do its job, so you’re usually left with moist towels even after a load runs for the normal amount of time. Worse than spending extra time and money to dry your laundry, though: Heat can build up in those constricted vents, leading to a fire hazard.

You See Lint Build-up On The Dryer Termination

You know the termination that vents all that hot dryer air outside? If you see a lot of lint around the opening or inside, that’s an indication that you have lint built up throughout your vents. It’s time to clean.

Your Dryer and Laundry Room Feel Extra Warm

When your dryer is working too hard because lint build-up is stopping it from venting properly, heat will build up. And your hot dryer will make the room feel warmer too. That extra heat is a good indication that a vent cleaning is overdue.

Those are just a few indicators, and we’d be glad to tell you more about proper dryer vent maintenance. If you have any questions, or want to schedule a cleaning appointment, give Hudson Chimney a call!