Dryer Vent Cleaning And Safety Tips

Dryer vent fires are actually the number 1 cause of all residence fires in the US, outpacing chimney fires. Dryer vents are a type of out of sight, out of mind things that you may't afford to ignore. While you realize that the lint trap on a dryer (even a new one), only removes or stops eighty% of the lint - you possibly can see the importance of cleaning your exhaust system once a year.

Dryer lint is highly flammable and under the best conditions can cause a dryer fire, usually spreading through the vent system which in turn spreads the fire quickly throughout your home. As a dryer does it's job, about half of a pound of water is removed, lint is trapped by your lint trap, and air is forced through your dryer exhaust system. Throughout time, this extra lint backs up in your dryer and the exhaust or venting system. Airflow is restricted, your dryer works harder and the motor overheats. With excess lint buildup, your dryer is now a ripe candidate for a dryer fire.

Dryer Safety and Inspection Tips

1. Make sure your lint trap has no rips and also you clean it before every drying cycle. If the lint is wet in your lint trap, it could mean that it is time to clean your dryer vents. Additionally, the lint screen needs to be lightly scrubbed every week and washed with light dish washing soap.
2. Visually examine your exterior vent hood on the side of your home when the dryer is operating. Are the flaps moving, can you feel any airflow? If not, it is time to get your dryer exhaust system cleaned and your dryer inspected.
3. Examine round your dryer for lint on the floor. This is a warning sign that your dryer exhaust system must be cleaned.
4. If your garments are taking more than one cycle to dry, this might be a sign that your dryer exhaust system needs to be cleaned proper away.
5. By no means dry any garments or rags which have been soaked with any flammables. It can cause an explosive situation in your dryer.

Dryer Vent Cleaning Recommendations

There are some online products available that you can use to clean your vents comparable to brushes with rods that may be hooked up to a high powered drill. Most of these products are inferior and do a less than satisfactory job for dryer vent runs over 10'. It can be crucial so that you can call a professional when doing dryer vent cleaning because of the completely different situations that may and will be encountered. A few of these conditions are incorrect vent types, loose or disconnected vents, or vents with too many angles and bends. A dryer vent cleaning professional normally has different types of cleaning equipment relying on the situation. It's important for you to ask the dryer vent professional if they will do on site repairs or upgrades as approximately 50% of the roles encountered will need something of this nature.

Dryer Vent Repairs

A few of the repairs that may be needed would possibly embody: rerunning or changing out the dryer vent exhaust duct work, adding or changing a vent hood that exits the site of the building, going into the attic or crawl area to do repairs, cleaning from the top of the roof starting from where the duct exits towards the dryer, and even tearing into the wall or ceiling to repair a vent that has come loose. Should you aren't a useful person that can do all the before talked about repair items, leave it to a dryer vent professional.

Remember, to forestall dryer vent fires in your house, get your dryer exhaust system cleaned once a year. Should you live in a condominium advanced make sure your property manager knows the importance of dryer vent maintenance. Apartment owners must also make dryer vent cleaning in their units a previousity.