Regularly maintaining the line that vents your clothes dryer out of your home is one of the most important things you can do to keep your home safe. It also helps prolong the life of your dryer. Cleaning the vent on our clothes dryer is often the furthest thing from our minds. After all, we clean the lint trap after nearly every load of laundry, so how dirty could the actual line to the exterior house vent really be?
What Causes Dryer Vent Clogs
Several factors can play into build-up in the dryer vent duct.
- line length
- line elevation
- temperature and condensation
- frequency of cleaning the lint trap
- how well the exterior vent cover is working
- size of laundry loads
Why Dryer Vent Cleaning is Important
Nearly 3,000 home fires are caused each year by clothes dryers. The U.S. Fire Administration predicts that about 34% are caused by a lack of regular vent maintenance. Scheduling an annual cleaning, along with cleaning the lint trap regularly would help reduce this number significantly.
Machine Longevity
Regular dryer vent cleaning will also help keep the machine in good working order and prevent damage to parts. The thermal fuse is one of the most frequent parts to fail due to a clogged vent line. Thermal fuses are generally rather cheap to replace but can be rather a headache to change out and find a replacement.
Dryers are not cheap, and for most of us, our daily routines depend on them. New parts are often hard to find. In addition to the downtime while they are being ordered and shipped.
Have Dryer Vents and Chimneys Serviced Regularly
It is important to have dryer vent cleaning done on a regular basis for home safety. We recommend having your dryer vent and chimney serviced at the same time at least once a year. General maintenance helps promote health and fire safety, a service call is much cheaper than the alternative.