Clothes dryers can cause fire hazards to residential buildings when clogged. When lint build up, it causes the dryer to overheat, which results in fires. As such, it is worth considering dryer vent cleaning residential to avoid some of the effects that may result from dirt dryer vents.
The U.S Fire Administration National Fire Center Reports has a statistic of 12,700 fire cases annually caused by dirt dryer vent machines. According to Dryer Vent Cleaning today, these incidents can be prevented by opting for dryer vent cleaning residential services regularly. Click here to learn more.
How Dryer Vent Cleaning Works
When hiring a dryer vent cleaning residential professional, they bring professional cleaning equipment often mounted on a truck. The team does not start working on your vent immediately but first removes the dryer hose from the wall to create space for inserting their equipment.
After creating a path, the team puts in its equipment and start sucking debris and lint from your vent to get rid of the buildup from the inside.
Once the inside part is clean, the team goes to the outside and repeat the same. Professional cleaners do not use your roof when cleaning. Therefore, you can be sure of non-professionalism when you find a team insisting on using this part.
Why Should Your Dryer Vents Get Cleaned?
The lint trap collects most of the lint, but not entirely all. It means some escape to your ductwork in small quantities, which accumulate to form buildup after some time. This buildup clogs your ductwork making it hard for your dryer to work well. Consider using a cleaning professional for your system because:
- It helps in improving the overall efficiency of your dryer
- It is a way of protecting your property against fires created by such blockages, leading to the release of carbon monoxide into the environment
- You can extend the lifespan of your clothes
Common Signs You Need Residential Dryer Vent Cleaning
Some clothes dryers work more than others, depending on the size of a family in a home. Those that are often used obviously accumulate lint faster than those used less frequently.
It is recommended to have dryer vent cleaning residential services after 6 months when used frequently or once a year for the less busy ones. Otherwise, some common signs to look out for include:
- Your dryer working extremely slow to dry a load of clothes than it would normally do
- If you realize your dryer is producing a lot of heat in the laundry room even when your ventilation system is functioning properly
- When you notice clothes are getting out of the dryer too hot or too wet
- A strange smell on your clothes after removing them from the dryer.
Instead of ignoring all the warning signs, consider seeking professional help for your machine. It can help you protect yourself and your property from dangers caused by blocked vent dryers or poor handling of the machines, especially those that use gas. Besides residential dryer vent cleaning is not costly and doesn’t take long if you hire the right people.
Bonus: Things to Consider before Buying a Dryer Vent
Purchasing a dryer vent is a challenging process. You can find them in many land-based and online stores. However, a wide range of selection is not always a good sign. Buying the right one for your needs becomes more challenging in that case. That is the reason why people often make a mistake.
For every future buyer, it is essential to consider certain things before making the final decision. We will highlight the most essential ones and help you complete the job successfully. Let’s get started.
Material
Before everything, you need to know that dryer vents come in two different parts. Those two parts are the dryer hose and dryer cover. When we talk about materials, dryer hoses are usually made of steel wire and flexible aluminum foil. There is a good reason why hoses are flexible. In that case, people will need to bend them to run from the dryer to the vent. The most quality ones are always fire-resistant and they can resist high temperatures that dryers create during every process.
That is the reason why we would want to share an additional piece of advice. People often use vinyl hoses that are dedicated only to bathroom vents with clothes dryer vents. We recommend you do not do that for one simple reason. The dryer’s intense heat has the capacity to melt the plastic.
Dryer vents that attach to the outside of the home should contain durable vinyl or metal sheeting. On the other hand, indoor dryer vents consist of an aluminum screen that deals with lint. Despite that, they always come with polyester filters that protect the item from small dust particles.
Shape and Size
In most cases, dryer vents are around seven inches tall and seven inches wide. Their openings should be somewhere between 4 and 5 inches. You will manage to attach them to the home with a square mounting plate that usually comes with four screws. The houses, that we previously mentioned, are often around four inches in diameter. However, if you decided on purchasing a bigger dryer, the houses could be around six inches in diameter.
The shapes are also an essential factor that you should put into consideration. The most popular shape among people is the louvered vent. People place them on the side of the house while not using them. However, there are also angled vents that are getting the attention of many people. You can place them a few inches from the side of the house.
Final Thought
We hope that our pieces of advice will help you choose the right dryer vent for your needs. Despite that, we hope that you understand why your dryer requires regular cleaning. As we said, the effectiveness of your dryer will improve if you do that regularly. Despite that, the uncleaned dryer can cause costly damage. That is the reason why there is no need to be lazy. Collaborate with professionals that possess the necessary equipment and have experience with that type of task.