If you’ve noticed that the clothes in your dryer are coming out damp after each cycle, and you need to keep the dryer running longer to dry them thoroughly, you may think something is wrong with the appliance. But this problem is often a warning that the dryer vent is clogged up with lint. This is more than an inconvenience… it can turn into a significant fire hazard for your house.
The Importance of Dryer Vent Cleaning
Each time you put in a new load of clothes into the dryer, what’s one of the steps you need to take? That’s right, clean out the lint catcher. The amount of lint found in the catcher after running a load will give you a good idea of how much lint escapes into the hose and vent that exhaust the heat and moisture from dryer to the outside. Over time, the hose and vent will become heavily congested with lint.
When this happens, the dryer will become less effective and less energy efficient. Clothes will take longer to dry, and you’ll pay more to run the dryer than usual. You may also notice that the cabinet of the dryer is hot to the touch when it’s running, which indicates that too much heat is trapped inside the dryer rather than being safely vented outside.
And this leads to the biggest concern about a congested dryer vent: the danger of fires. Clothing lint is a highly flammable material. (This is one the reasons that hikers take dryer lint along with them to help start their campfires.) The heat inside the hose and vent can cause the thick layers of lint to ignite and start a fire. In fact, this is one of the leading causes of house fires in the U.S., with more than 15,000 occurring every year!
However, it’s easy to arrange for dryer vent cleaning when you notice the warning signs. Simply call our team. Our professionals will disconnect the flexible vent hose from the dryer and thoroughly clean it and the vent shaft. We can then set up a regular dryer vent cleaning schedule to prevent future problems.
Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning offers dry vent cleaning and other ventilation services in Fresno, CA.