When was the last time you cleaned a dryer vent at home? If your answer was when you took clothing out of the dryer, that’s incorrect. While it’s true that is a vent in the machine, the dryer vent that is more critical involves the exit exhaust for the machine to the outside. This vent provides the needed exit for all the hot, humid air that the dryer extracts from wet clothes as it operates. However, because of all the lint, bits of clothing, dust, and humidity that flows out, that same vent can become clogged. When that occurs, the back pressure in the dryer not only creates operating problems, it can also trigger a home fire.
Heat and Fire Risk
The risk of fire thanks to a dryer machine comes from the nature of what it does. A working dryer generates a sizable amount of hot air fueled by natural gas and flame. This feature then creates enough heat to cause moisture to evaporate from clothes. However, that humidity has to go somewhere, so the dryer also needs to extract and move the same air out of the machine for the clothes to fully dry. When doing so, small bits of clothing, as well as dust coagulate with the moisture. As the water moves out the vent and dries up, the dust-fiber material dries out and stays wherever it is trapped. That then makes a very flammable material if it gets hot enough.
Ignition occurs when a material reaches a state of heat where it begins to turn to gas. In the case of solids, that happens when a burning event occurs. In a home, that lint or dust fire can spread and start to damage the home itself. And a good amount of dust and lint can end up in the dryer exit vent if it’s not cleaned out regularly.
The Benefits of Professional Cleaning
A dryer vent cleaning service provides a homeowner a professional approach towards cleaning out the exit vent and making sure a dryer is operating correctly at the same time. Access to the dryer vent is typically behind the dryer, tucked away. The channel is taken care of with flexible aluminum tubing that then connects to an exit in the home wall and outside through a box vent. All of this needs to be cleaned out to make sure lint deposits aren’t starting to create a heat risk inside.
Because of the curves and bend nature of a typical vent channel, it’s actually very easy for lint to aggregate and not be noticed by a homeowner. The only giveaway before it becomes a problem is that the dryer struggles to dry clothes because the humidity can’t escape well. A cleaning service takes care of the entire channel, so there is no residue left over, and the venting system will run smoothly for months until the next cleaning.
Regularly maintaining equipment like pressure washers is just as important, and services like RJP Hotsy can ensure your tools are in top condition.
The Benefits of Dryer Vent Cleaning
Once a cleaning treatment service has been applied, a homeowner is likely to realize a number of immediate benefits, including:
- Improved drying speed of the dryer involved
- Removal of musty or moldy smells from the laundry room
- No more burning smells because the lint that was heating up has been removed
- Far less lint backing up in the machine vent filter
- A reduction in the electricity bill with the dryer not needing to run as long or as hard
Again, there’s no question that a dryer vent cleaning can help. And, it also contributes to avoiding preventable house fires caused by a laundry dryer’s heat. Clothes will smell better, the laundry room won’t feel as damp and a homeowner will have a bit more peace of mind using the dryer too.
