In this section, we’ll look at WHY you need to clean various cooling and heating systems in your home.
Dryer vent cleaning
Little cotton materials in your dryer vent can cause reduced airflow, which in turn causes overheating. This can cause the high-temperature limit safety switch to go on and off, which can cause them to fail. Since lint is combustible, over-accumulation in your dryer vent can cause a fire outbreak.
Anyone that has a dryer needs to clean its vents constantly. However, if your dryer is located in second-floor laundry rooms or inside walls, you need to clean its ducts more often. The reason is that these locations need your dryer to be vented longer distances.
If you notice the following signs in your dryer, know that it is no longer functioning correctly, requiring cleaning.
The dryer vent hood flapper doesn’t open
It takes more than one cycle to dry your clothes
The clothes that come out of the dryer are hotter than normal
Excess lint behind the dryer
If your dryer vent is clogged, it can accumulate excess lint behind the dryer. Typically, a properly working dryer vent moves lint through the dryer vent system to the exterior of your home. But once the vent becomes clogged, airflow is restricted in the vent so that air cannot move the accumulated lint to the outside of your home. This forces the lint into the area behind your dryer. Once you notice that there is excess lint behind your dryer, seek the services of a professional to clear and clean the vent to avoid dryer fire incidents.
Longer drying time
When airflow in your dryer vent becomes restricted due to clogging, your clothes, especially jeans and towels, could be taking a long time to dry. Besides causing your dryer to work at lower efficiency, you also incur more power bills when the drying time of your dryer is higher.
Overheating shut off
Your dryer vent will be overheating if the vent is clogged with lint. This could cause your dryer to be going on and off at intervals, which is not the best for you.
No lint on the lint screen
After a drying session, lint is supposed to be on the lint screen. If this is not so or the lint is collecting on the wrong side of the screen, it is a clear indication that the lint is backing into your dryer rather than collecting in the lint trap. Clean your dryer vent to avoid overheating and possibly fire if you notice that lint is no longer collecting on the screen.
Excess lint on clothing
If there is excess lint left on your clothes after a drying session, it could be an indication that your dryer vent is already clogged, hence preventing lint from collecting on the lint screen. Other signs that indicate that your dryer vent needs cleaning include:
- When lint start collecting around the door seal
- When your dryer and clothes start getting really hot after each drying session
- If the top of your dryer is hot to touch while operating
- If your clothes start having moldy smell after dry cycle
When you notice any or all of these signs in your dryer, know that it is time to seek a professional to clean the vents. Remember that a clogged dryer vent is a recipe for a fire disaster.
Benefits of a clean dryer vents
- Fire safety: every year, thousands of dryer fires occur, leading to loss of lives and properties, and a clogged dryer vent is usually fingered as the leading cause of these fires. By cleaning your dryer vents, you will be doing well to help prevent these fire incidents.
- Prevents carbon monoxide poisoning: carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless, tasteless, and difficult-to-detect gas that kills fast when inhaled by humans. If you run a poorly maintained dryer vent, you could stand a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. When dryer vents are clogged with lint, they could make it hard for harmful gases from gas dryers to be appropriately vented to the outdoors. If these toxic gases get redirected into your home, you could stand the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
- Energy saving: since a dryer with a clean dryer vent takes at most one drying cycle to dry clothes, you will be saving energy with clean dryer vents.
Other benefits include:
- It eliminates mold issues
- A clean dryer vent extends the lifespan of your dryer
- A clean dryer vent increases clothing life
- Above all, a clean dryer vent saves you drying time
There are benefits of having clean dryer vents above. Next, we’ll look at how and why you should clean your chimney.
