An important service Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning offers is dryer vent cleaning in Fresno, CA and the rest of the Central Valley. It isn’t the first HVAC service that pops into people’s minds, and they’re sometimes confused about what it is and why it needs to be done.
We want to clear up what dryer vent cleaning is and why it’s important—not just for your convenience and energy savings, but for the safety of your home.
1. The dryer vent removes heat from the clothes dryer.
The dryer vent is a hose that runs from the back of the clothes dryer to an exterior vent. These exterior vents can be through the attic or through the sidewall of your home. The vent exhausts the hot air from the clothes dryer, which removes the moisture along with the air. Unless this moist, hot air is expelled to the outdoors, the load in the dryer will not dry off.
2. The vent collects lint, which is a major fire hazard
Here is the big fact about dryer vent cleaning: it helps prevent house fires. The air that moves out through the vent also contains lint from the clothing, towels, and other fabric in the dryer, and a layer of the lint will become lodged in the vent hose lining. Lint, once dry, is highly flammable. Because heated air moves through the vent hose, it can trigger a fire in the lint that will spread rapidly. Around 15,000 house fires per year start because of clogged dryer vents.
3. Cleaning the lint filter will not do the job
The lint filter in the dryer must be cleaned out after every load. You probably know this and are diligent about cleaning out the filter each time. But this is not enough to protect you from clogged dryer vents in the long run. It will slow down how long it takes for lint to build up, but eventually enough lint will get through the filter to clog the dryer vent and create danger.
4. Clogged dryer vents create other problems
A fire hazard is a good reason on its own to remember to have dryer vent cleaning done routinely. But fires are not the only problem a clogged dryer vent creates. If the dryer can’t effectively remove moist air from the loads, it means clothing and other fabrics won’t dry off enough unless you run the load a second time. This is a good warning sign you need dryer vent cleaning! The exterior of the dryer will also become hot to the touch because of the trapped heat inside, and this is another way to tell you’re overdue for cleaning.
5. It requires professionals to clean a dryer vent
Don’t try to find DIY techniques for dryer vent cleaning. These methods aren’t effective, and the work involved in moving around a heavy dryer to access the vent isn’t worth it. Instead, get in touch with us to schedule an inspection to see if we need to do a full dryer vent cleaning. You can schedule this as part of regular HVAC maintenance services: we’re glad to add dryer vent cleaning to help keep your house safe.
Call Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning for dryer vent cleaning: “Quality Is the Cornerstone of Our Success” since 1952.