One of the important services we offer here at Comfort First is dryer vent cleaning. While this isn’t likely a popular HVAC service you’ve heard of, it’s an important one!
Read on as we uncover what exactly dryer vent cleaning is, and why it is so important. It benefits not only your convenience and energy savings but also your safety and peace of mind. Read on to learn more!
Your Dryer Vent Removes Heat from the Clothes Dryer
The dryer vent is a hose that connects from the back of your dryer to an exterior vent. These vents may go through the attic, or alternatively through the sidewall of your living space. The vent exhausts hot air from your clothes dyer, and this also removes moisture, of course.
Unless the moist, hot air is expelled to the outdoors, the load in the dryer won’t get effectively dried off. So if the dryer vent is clogged with lint and other debris, you’re going to have an ineffective clothes dryer.
The Vent Collects Lint: A Major Fire Hazard
Here is a very important thing you need to know about dryer vent cleaning–it actually helps prevent house fires.
The air that moves out through the vent also contains lint from the clothing, towels, and other fabric in the dryer, and a layer of the lint will become lodged in the vent hose lining. Lint, once dry, is highly flammable. Because heated air moves through the vent hose, it can trigger a fire in the lint that will spread rapidly. Around 15,000 house fires per year start because of clogged dryer vents.
Cleaning the Lint Filter Alone Won’t Do the Trick
The lint filter in the dryer must be cleaned out after every load. You probably know this and are diligent about cleaning out the filter each time. But this is not enough to protect you from clogged dryer vents in the long run. It will slow down how long it takes for lint to build up, but eventually, enough lint will get through the filter to clog the dryer vent and create danger.
Clogged Up Dryer Vents Create Other Issues
A fire hazard is a good reason on its own to remember to have dryer vent cleaning done routinely. But fires are not the only problem a clogged dryer vent creates. If the dryer can’t effectively remove moist air from the loads, it means clothing and other fabrics won’t dry off enough unless you run the load a second time.
This is a warning sign you need dryer vent cleaning! The exterior of the dryer will also become hot to the touch because of the trapped heat inside, and this is another way to tell you’re overdue for a cleaning.
Dryer Vents Need to Be Cleaned By the Pros
Don’t try to find DIY techniques for dryer vent cleaning. These methods aren’t effective, and the work involved in moving around a heavy dryer to access the vent isn’t worth it. Instead, get in touch with us to schedule an inspection to see if we need to do a full dryer vent cleaning.
You can schedule this as part of regular HVAC maintenance services: we’re glad to add dryer vent cleaning to help keep your house safe.
Comfort First Heating and Cooling, Inc. is your trusted resource for professional dryer vent cleaning in Bolingbrook, IL. Contact us today!