How Often Should a Dryer Vent Be Cleaned?
Out of the 2,900 residential dryer fires, not cleaning the dryer vent caused 34% of the fires.
It’s likely not a figure you read about every day. If you don’t perk up when you hear this number, you may be putting your home, personal belongings, and family at risk.
The number is 2,900, and it’s the number of annual residential fires caused by clothes dryers. Dryer fires cause property damages, injuries, and deaths that could be avoided with one simple choice.
The first question is, “do dryer vents need to be cleaned?” Most people follow that question with this one—how often should you clean your dryer vent?
In this article, we’ll answer both questions. Read on for tips on keeping your home safe from dryer fires.
Do Dryer Vents Need to Be Cleaned?
Kudos if you clean the dryer lint trap after each drying cycle. It’s essential for efficient drying. If you allow dryer lint to build up in the lint trap, the dryer won’t heat up properly.
The dryer vent and lint trap, while related, aren’t the same thing.
If you look on the back of your dryer, you’ll see a round metal tube that sticks out around 6 inches. The tube fits into a metal or vinyl duct. The duct fits into a hole cut in the wall that leads to the outside of your house.
That’s your dryer vent set-up.
Even if you meticulously clean out the dryer lint trap, lint and other debris can still accumulate in and around the dryer vent. Over time, a lint clog develops, often causing the dryer to overheat. That’s because lint interferes with airflow.
How Do You Know Your Dryer Vent Needs Cleaning?
Unless you keep track of the last time you had the dryer vent cleaned, you’ll want to watch for signs that it’s time to schedule service. Experts at Lintless Dryer Vent Cleaning advise homeowners to keep an eye out for the following:
- Wet laundry
- Hot laundry or hot laundry room
- Laundry smells musty
- Excessive lint in the trap
- Dryer takes too long to dry
- Lint and debris around the vent hood
These are all signs your dryer vent needs cleaning. Aside from putting your home at risk for a fire, ignoring the signs could result in higher energy bills and costly repairs.
How Often Should You Clean Your Dryer Vent?
The question is ‘How Often.” Generally, homeowners should have dryer vents cleaned by a professional dryer vent cleaning company at least once a year.
Here’s the caveat.
The average family generates a few thousand pounds of laundry every year, while others do more. It depends on the size of your household.
If you dry more than 2,184 pounds of laundry—about the weight of an adult rhinoceros—you may need to schedule cleaning every six months.
Why schedule cleaning?
Professionals know how to clean a dryer vent using a specialized dryer vent cleaning kit. Most homeowners don’t own a dryer vent cleaner, and likely don’t have the time to do the job.
Contact Lintless Today to Schedule Dryer Vent Cleaning
So, do dryer vents need to be cleaned? Yes, and it’s an essential home maintenance task for every homeowner.
To keep your dryer running efficiently and reduce your risk of a dryer fire, you’ll want to put dryer vent cleaning on your to-do list today.
Contact the Lintless Dryer Vent Cleaning team for a free estimate. We can provide a one-time dryer vent cleaning or set up a dryer vent cleaning maintenance plan to meet your individual needs and wants. Do not put this off and have your home added to the list of 2,900 residential fires.