Dryer Vent Cleaning Solutions

Fire and home safety experts recommend you make sure your dryer vent is cleaned out on a regular basis. I have taken it upon myself to put it on my calendar to do twice a year when I change the batteries in my smoke alarms when we need to change the clocks for Daylight Savings time.

Keeping your dryer vent cleaned out will help reduce your electric bill and dry your clothes in a much faster fashion. Most people think that you only need to make sure that air is coming out of the exterior vent cover, but if you have never cleaned one out, you may have no idea of what the air flow should actually be. Read further to discover something more about dryer vent cleaning.

You can move your dryer out from the wall and remove the flexible exhaust tube from the back of the dryer and turn the dryer on. Feel the amount of air volume coming out and then reattach the flexible exhaust tube, go outside and feel the resulting pressure from the dryer vent cover. If there is a marked decrease in air flow pressure you have issues in your dryer vent system.

If you feel your dryer has been performing poorly make sure you check beneath the lint trap. Lint can build up in the area that the air travels out of the dryer itself through the lint trap and then out the exhaust tube. If that area is clogged, your dryer will take longer to dry clothes and waste electricity.

There are times even in suburban areas where rodents can get into your dryer vent system and build a nest or store food for the winter. If it has been relatively wet and cold for the winter chipmunks and mice will try to find the closest warmer and dryer area to escape the weather. Your dryer vent system is ideal for their need for safety.

If rodent nests are the cause of your blockage you will need a nest removal tool attached to your cleaning system if you are planning on doing it yourself. A brush will not remove a rodent nest from a dryer vent. Performing the dryer vent cleaning is a job that even the most mechanically challenged people can do themselves.

The cleaning systems available at Lowes, Home Depot, Menards or on the internet are designed to be used with the common household cordless or corded drill. For tough rodent nest issues I recommend the use of at least an 18V cordless drill due to the resistance involved.

Dryer Vent Wizard is a company that actually specializes in this type of cleaning and offers franchises across the country. They offer some statistics that bring home just how pervasive the issue of dryer vent blockage is in the United States. There are over fifteen thousand five hundred (15,500) fires caused by blocked dryer vents each year.

Clogged dryer vents add to your electric bill between eighteen ($18) and twenty four ($24) dollars per month to your utility bill. Dryer manufacturers recommend buying new dryer vent cleaning equipment at least once a year. Regular dryer vent cleaning extends the life of your dryer as it is always operating efficiently, rather than struggling against a blockage in the vent system.

Dryer Vent Wizard recommends you replace your existing dryer vent tubing with either rigid metal or flexible metal tubing. Paper, aluminum foil or plastic dryer vents are fire hazards. There are three signs that you have dryer vent problems or your dryer is not working properly.

If your clothes are still damp after a normal cycle of drying or it takes longer than usual, especially for jeans and towels then you need to check your dryer vent. Your clothes are hotter than normal after a regular drying cycle is another sign. And finally, the flapper or vent cover does not move when the dryer is turned on shows that there is not enough air flow coming out of your dryer vent.

You may want to look into replacing your old flapper style of dryer vent with a new high efficiency energy saving dryer vent closure. If you feel a draft in the winter in your laundry room, it is a sign that your dryer vent cover does not close properly and allows the cold air to enter the laundry room.