Most homeowners have never thought about having their dryer vent cleaned. By cleaning the lint out of the vent running from the dryer to the outside of the home it:

• Helps prevent dryer vent fires.
• Helps the efficiency of your dryer.
• Helps save money in energy cost.

The dryer vent may need to be cleaned if:

• Advised by an appliance technician or service personnel.
• The laundry room has excessive lint build up and/or moisture.
• Clothes take longer and longer to dry, especially heavy loads like towels.
• The dryer seems to get hotter than normal while in use.
• If you have a long run of dryer vent pipe from the appliance to the outside.
• An excellent visual indication that the dryer vent needs to be cleaned is if lint deposits or build up can be seen at the termination point where the vent meets the outside of the house (in the pipe, in or around the vent cover, or outside the vent cover).

Clean Sweep Chimney Service, Inc. highly recommends that the appliance itself be serviced by a qualified technician after the dryer vent has been swept. Especially, if it is the first time the dryer vent has ever been swept. The inside of the dryer may need to be cleaned, along with the heating elements cleaned or replaced. Having your dryer and vent serviced on a regular basis is a great way to take preventive fire measures.

Why should I clean my dryer vent?

It helps prevent dryer vent fires

Dryers and dryer vents are one of the leading causes of fires in the home. Lint is highly flammable and as it builds up in the dryer, laundry room and the dryer vent, the possibility of a fire in the laundry room increases. The Consumer Products Safety Commission has issued past alerts on dryers due to the increased number of fires. There are around 15,000 dryer fires in the U.S. annually. Smoke and/or heat detectors in the laundry area are an excellent preventive measure.

White vinyl hoses are now out of code and can be a fire hazard since they can melt instantly during a dryer vent fire. The flexible/expandable metal dryer vent connectors are best and can be replaced during our service call.

White vinyl dryer hose

Metal replacements types

It helps the efficiency of your dryer

Clothes dry faster if the section of vent pipe running from the dryer to the outside of the home is clean and free of lint deposits. As moisture and lint from the dryer flows through the vent pipe, lint clings or sticks to the pipe walls causing a build up. This causes a narrowing of the pipe and slows the air flow and the volume of air going though the pipe.

It helps save money on energy cost

If the dryer's exhaust (heat and moisture) can flow though a clean pipe easier the dryer will not have to work as hard to dry the clothes, and also the run times of the dryer will be shorter, saving you money on the electric bill.

Vent that is free of lint

Other dryer vent hints/laundry room recommendations

Avoid kinks in the hose from the dryer to the inside wall connection. A straight pipe is better and helps air flow. This can be simply accomplished by changing the position (or places) of the dryer and washing machine. This will avoid that tangle/kink of the vent hose behind the dryer, stretch it and give it a straight run from the dryer over to the wall connection.

Vent hose that makes too many turns and bends slows down air flow

Everyone knows to clean out the lint trap of the dryer but few people take it out with the trash. Lint is flammable and doesn't need to be building up in a laundry room trash can.

Heavy build up in the lint trap

Clean the lint out from behind the dryer and surrounding areas. This will reduce the amount of lint in the laundry room in case of a fire. Plus you just may find that sock you were looking for.

Birds love to nest at the termination point of the dryer vent where it comes out of the house. Bird guards and vent covers help with this problem.

Replace the rubber hoses to the washing machine with high pressure flexible metal hoses to help keep from bursting and flooding your home. This can also be done during our service call. If you still have rubber hoses you are supposed to replace those about every five years.

Old rubber style water supply hoses

Replacement high pressure metal type