If you have a dryer in your home, you should know what happens if you don’t clean your dryer ducts!
Clogged dryer vents can be a major fire hazard. According to the U.S. Fire Administration , 34% of dryer-related fires are caused by a lack of dryer vent cleaning. The lint and debris that accumulates in your dryer vent can cause a build-up of heat, leading to potential house fires. To protect your home from this danger, regular vent cleaning is essential.
How Can You Tell If Your Dryer Vent Is Clogged?
Clogged dryer vents can be dangerous, so it’s important to know the signs it’s time to clean your dryer vent. One of the clearest signs is an unpleasant musty smell coming from the dryer. Other indicators include longer dry times or clothes feeling hotter than usual after a cycle. If you notice any of these warning signs, it’s time to get your dryer vent cleaned.
5 Ways Dryer Vent Cleaning Prevents Fires
Here are five ways that regular dryer vent cleaning can help to prevent house fires.
1. Dryer Vent Cleaning Prevents Heat Build-Up In Your Home and Duct Work
To understand what happens if you don’t clean your dryer ducts, you need to think about the purpose of the ducts . A dryer is an appliance that uses heat. Any time an appliance uses heat, it needs a way to prevent too much heat from building up inside itself. Picture steam coming out of your dishwasher when you run a heated dry cycle. In a similar way, your dryer uses its vent to push the extra heat out of itself and out of your house.
When dryers are not regularly cleaned, lint and other debris can accumulate in the dryer vent. This build-up of lint traps heat, which increases the dryer’s temperature and raises the risk of a house fire. Regular cleaning helps to prevent this dangerous buildup by removing lint from your dryer ducts and dryer vent.
2. Dryer Vent Cleaning Keeps The Dryer Itself Cool on the Outside
Regular dryer vent cleaning also helps to keep the dryer cool on the outside. One of the signs it’s time to clean your dryer vent can be the exterior of the dryer itself becoming too hot to touch. The buildup of lint and debris in the dryer vents traps hot air, which can cause the machine’s surface temperature to rise significantly.
This heat buildup is dangerous, as it makes your dryer more likely to catch fire. It can also turn things left on top of your dryer, like folded clothes, into serious fire hazards. Regular cleaning helps to address this risk by ensuring that hot air can escape freely.
You may be wondering how often should your dryer vent be cleaned to prevent this. While routine professional cleaning is essential, making sure you clean out the lint trap often is a quick and easy step to keep the dryer cool.
3. It Helps You Locate Unwelcome Intruders in Your Vents
It may be easy to forget the outside component of your dryer when thinking about what happens if you don’t clean your dryer ducts. But, the outside critters looking for shelter don’t forget. Rodents, birds, and other pests can make their way into dryer vents if they are not regularly cleaned, creating a fire hazard.
Regular vent cleaning can help you to spot any unwelcome intruders in your dryer vents. This is one area where professional dryer vent cleaning can make a big difference. It is part of a professional cleaning to inspect and clear the entirety of the duct work. This helps to keep these creatures away by removing potential nesting sites and identifying them before they become a problem.
4. Regular Dryer Vent Cleaning Keeps Your Dryer System Lint-Free
If you’re wondering, “How do I make sure my dryer vent is clear?”, the first thing to look for is lint! While it’s normal to find lint buildup in your dryer’s lint trap, there are other places it shouldn’t be. So, in answer to how you can tell if your dryer vent is clogged, one sign is when more lint is present or is building up in places it shouldn’t.
When you see lint floating in the air, piling up in the trap faster than normal, or collecting on other surfaces in your laundry room, these can be signs your dryer vent is clogged or is not properly attached. Both can lead to serious issues.
Lint build-up can cause dryers to run inefficiently, resulting in both higher monthly bills and a dryer that takes forever to dry clothes. It is also a fire hazard. Lint is highly flammable, which increases the risk of a dryer fire. Regular dryer vent cleaning helps to reduce this risk by removing lint from your dryer vent and dryer ducts.
5. It Can Help You Spot Electrical Issues Faster
Regular dryer vent cleaning can also help you to spot electrical issues before they become a serious problem. While understanding how you can tell if your dryer vent is clogged and following the above tips can reduce fires, making sure other components of your dryer are working is just as important.
Most people don’t look at or handle the wiring on their dryers unless they need to move them. This means there can be improper connections or issues that go unaddressed and become larger fire hazards. When dryers are not regularly cleaned, it is harder to spot any potential problems with wiring or other components that could lead to an electrical fire in your dryer system.
Dryer vent cleaning helps you be more aware of all the components of your dryer and spot these issues quickly. This can prevent them from becoming dangerous.
Signs It’s Time To Clean Your Dryer Vent
One of the best ways to prevent dryer fires is to recognize when it’s time to clean your dryer vent. Here are a few signs that indicate your dryer vent needs attention:
- Your clothes take longer than usual to dry
- Your dryer is hot to the touch
- You notice lint accumulation around the dryer vent
- You hear strange noises coming from the dryer
The answer to how often should your dryer vent be cleaned depends on a few factors, such as the size of your household and the volume of your weekly laundry. Typically once you’re seeing the signs above, you’ve already waited too long between cleanings!
For most homes, scheduling a professional dryer vent cleaning once or twice a year is enough to reduce fire hazards. Keeping routine, professional cleanings on the calendar is one of the only guaranteed answers to “how do I make sure my dryer vent is clear?”
How Do I Make Sure My Dryer Vent Is Clear? Ask our Experienced Team at First Call
Making sure your dryer vent is clean and able to keep heat out of your home is essential for preventing dryer fires. If you’ve noticed any warning signs or you can’t remember your last cleaning, it’s time to call our experienced team at First Call.
We specialize in all kinds of air duct maintenance, including dryer vent cleaning. During a free consultation, our team can answer your concerns about how often should your dryer vent be cleaned and set you up on the right schedule for your family. Fill out our contact form here to request your consultation and take a big step towards a safer home today!
