Dryer vent fires are now the number 1 cause of all dwelling fires within the US, outpacing chimney fires. Dryer vents are a kind of out of sight, out of mind things which you can’t afford to ignore. Once you realize that the lint trap on a dryer (even a new one), only removes or stops eighty% of the lint – you’ll be able to see the importance of cleaning your exhaust system once a year.
Dryer lint is highly flammable and under the precise conditions can cause a dryer fire, often spreading through the vent system which in turn spreads the fire quickly throughout your home. As a dryer does it’s job, about half a pound of water is removed, lint is trapped by your lint trap, and air is forced via your dryer exhaust system. Throughout time, this extra lint backs up in your dryer and the exhaust or venting system. Airflow is restricted, your dryer works harder and the motor overheats. With extra lint buildup, your dryer is now a ripe candidate for a dryer fire.
Dryer Safety and Inspection Tips
1. Make sure your lint trap has no rips and also you clean it earlier than each drying cycle. If the lint is wet on your lint trap, it might imply that it is time to clean your dryer vents. Also, the lint screen ought to be lightly scrubbed each week and washed with light dish washing soap.
2. Visually inspect your exterior vent hood on the side of your house when the dryer is operating. Are the flaps moving, can you’re feeling any airflow? If not, it is time to get your dryer exhaust system cleaned and your dryer inspected.
3. Examine round your dryer for lint on the floor. This is a warning sign that your dryer exhaust system must be cleaned.
4. If your garments are taking more than one cycle to dry, this might be a sign that your dryer exhaust system needs to be cleaned proper away.
5. By no means dry any clothes or rags which have been soaked with any flammables. It will possibly cause an explosive situation in your dryer.
Dryer Vent Cleaning Recommendations
There are some on-line products available that you should utilize to clean your vents comparable to brushes with rods that can be connected to a high powered drill. Most of these products are inferior and do a less than satisfactory job for dryer vent runs over 10′. It’s important for you to call a professional when doing dryer vent cleaning because of the totally different situations that can and will be encountered. A few of these conditions are wrong vent types, loose or disconnected vents, or vents with too many angles and bends. A dryer vent cleaning professional usually has different types of cleaning equipment relying on the situation. It is necessary so that you can ask the dryer vent professional in the event that they will do on site repairs or upgrades as approximately 50% of the roles encountered will need something of this nature.
Dryer Vent Repairs
A number of the repairs that may be needed may embody: rerunning or altering out the dryer vent exhaust duct work, adding or altering a vent hood that exits the site of the building, going into the attic or crawl area to do repairs, cleaning from the top of the roof starting from the place the duct exits towards the dryer, and even tearing into the wall or ceiling to repair a vent that has come loose. If you aren’t a handy individual that can do all of the before talked about repair items, leave it to a dryer vent professional.
Bear in mind, to forestall dryer vent fires in your house, get your dryer exhaust system cleaned once a year. Should you live in a condominium complex make sure your property manager knows the importance of dryer vent maintenance. Apartment owners should also make dryer vent cleaning in their units a previousity.