Regular dryer vent cleaning is the real method to save money.
Why Clean the Dryer Vents?
Reduce the risk of Dryer Vent Fires with periodic dryer vent and duct cleaning
It is a little known the fact that dryer vents are one of the biggest causes of residential fires.
Dryer lint that accumulates over time in the dryer vents combined with high levels of heat
cause by several factors in the drying process makes it high combustability and danger to
your home.
The Fresh Living offers a dryer vent cleaning process which involves a combination of
powerful suction and rotating air whip, so that dangerous lint is removed safely and
effectively, both in the ducting system and in the dryer itself. At the end of the process,
the dryer is tested thoroughly for proper airflow by our highly skilled and experience
technicians.
What Are the The Benefits of Dryer Vent Cleaning ?
1. You can save money with regular dryer vent cleaning and maintenance.
A half inch lint build up in a four foot dryer vent could slow down your dryer by up to 50%
making you need to do extra cycles to get through a single load of laundry. This not only
does this eat up precious time off your busy day, it also inflates your monthly electric bill
needlessly.You can save up to $25 each month in electric usage.
2. Clean dryer vents help prolonging the life-span of your dryer
If dryer vents have lint build up, it is forced to work extra hard to be able to get the job done
and this will only hasten its deterioration. Less time running the dryer, meaning the dryer
will last longer.
3. Clogged and dirty dryer vents is a common fire hazard
Lint is very flammable. A single spark can start a localized flame that can easily spread
when it comes into contact with other highly flammable items like clothes and fabrics. Your
dryer produces and uses hot air in order to dry your clothes and having lint build up on your
dryer vents will make your dryer retain more heat because its exhaust is clogged so there is
no way for the heat to escape.
When Should I Get My Dryer Vent Cleaned ?
Do your clothes dry fast enough?
Does your dryer overheat?
It is recommended that you have your dryer vent cleaned annually.
You may be necessary to have you dryer vent cleaned if you are experiencing the following
problems with your dryer:
Taking apparently longer time to get through a single load of laundry.
Noticing that the exterior of your dryer becomes extremely hot, it may be signs that you need
to call a professional dryer vent cleaner to get your vents checked.
What Are the Common Problems about Dryer Vent?
Lint accumulation and reduced airflow feed on each other to provide conditions ripe for a
fire. Lint is a highly combustible material, which, interestingly enough, is one of the
ingredients in a recipe for home-made fire starters. A number of dryer vent problems
contribute to this.
Location Problems
Traditionally, most clothes dryers were in the basement. However, nowadays many newer
homes tend to have dryers located away from an outside wall in bedrooms, bathrooms,
kitchens and hall closets. These new locations mean dryers tend to be vented longer
distances and vents are generally installed with sharp turns and bends to accommodate
the structure of the home. As a result, dryer vents are harder to reach, and also create
more places for lint to gather. The ideal solution is to have short, straight, dryer duct
venting. However, a dryer vent booster, while not the ideal approach, can improve your
dryer venting in cases where your venting is longer and/or has more bends than it should.
In addition to creating a fire hazard, if the venting is too long and/or has two many bends, it
will cause your dryer to take much longer than necessary to dry loads.
The Problems inside the Dryer
Lint is the biggest culprit here. As you know from cleaning out your lint filter, dryers produce
very large quantities of lint. Most people assume their lint traps catch all the lint, and that all
they need to do is clean them out after each load. However, a significant amount of this lint
is not caught by the lint trap and builds up inside the dryer-even on the heating element!
If you are skeptical, try this experiment: pull out the lint trap and look underneath it- you
may find large mounds of lint staring at you. Lint can build up on the heating element and
in other places inside the dryer, causing it to overheat and possibly catch fire. As a rule, a
fire starts from a spark in the machine. However, improper clothes dryer venting practices
outside the dryer can play a key role in this process.
The Problems Outside of the Dryer
There are many improper dryer vent practices which restrict airflow and lead to lint buildup,
the two main preventable causes of dryer fires.
Some of the most common and important dryer vent mistakes are:
1. Dryer vents are too long and/or have too many bends, but don't use a dryer duct
booster, resulting in lint buildup. When it comes to dryer vents, shorter and straighter is
better.
2. Use of flammable, flimsy plastic or foil duct extenders. Only metal vents should
be used, which is what most manufacturers specify. Metal vents also resist crushing better
than plastic and foil, which allows the air and lint to be carried out of the system. Reduced
airflow from build up or crushing can cause overheating and wear out the clothes and
appliance faster. In fact, many state and local municipalities have placed requirements on
new and remodeling projects to include all metal dryer venting.
3. Inadequate clearance space between dryer and wall. Many people create problems
by putting their dryer right against the wall, crushing the venting material in the process. The
cumulative effect of reduced airflow and the resulting lint build-up prevent the dryer from
drying at the normal rate. This causes the high temperature limit safety switch to cycle on
and off to control the heater. Most high temperature limit safety switches were not designed
to continuously cycle on and off, so they fail over a period of time.
4. Failure to clean the dryer duct.
How to Avoid the Dryer Vent Fires?
Only you can prevent clothes dryer fires. Proper installation and choice of building
materials are important. You can do as the following to avoid dryer vent fires:
1. Make sure the dryer duct is made of solid metallic material. Both vinyl and foil are
combustible and spiral-wound surfaces tend to catch lint more readily.
2. The dryer duct should vent to the exterior and in no case should it vent to the attic
or crawlspace. Avoid the use of inside heat recovery diverter valves or termination boxes,
which do not comply with current standards.
3. Avoid kinking or crushing the dryer duct to make up for installation in tight quarters
this further restricts airflow. If you really want to save the extra space, the Dryerbox is a new
invention that allows the dryer to be safely installed against the wall.
4. Minimize the length of the exhaust duct (maximum recommended lengths depend
on a number of factors, such as number of bends, and vary by model-check with your
manufacturer for their specifications). If this is not possible, you can install a dryer duct
booster.
5. If at all possible, use 4 inch diameter vent pipe and exterior exhaust hoods that have
openings of sixteen square inches or more, which offer the least resistance to air flow.
6. Don't use screws to put your vent pipe together -the screw shafts inside the piping
collect lint and cause additional friction.
7. Clean your dryer and dryer duct regularly and keep your dryer as lint-free as
possible
This will reduce the fire hazard, increase the dryer's efficiency and increase its lifespan. In
addition, you are less likely to experience water damage.
By keeping your dryer clean, not only will you significantly reduce the fire hazard, you will
also save money as your dryer will run more efficiently and last longer.
To keep your dryer clean:
A. Use a lint brush or vacuum attachment to remove accumulated lint from under the
lint trap and other accessible places on a periodic basis.
B. Every 1-3 years, depending upon usage, have the dryer taken apart and thoroughly
cleaned out by a qualified service technician.
C. Clean the lint trap after each load.
8. Never let your clothes dryer run while you are out of the house or even worse, when you
are asleep.
