Dryer Vent Cleaning:

The Problem, The Hazards, and the Solution

The Problem:

Have you ever heard of a clothes dryer catching fire? If this is something new to you, don't feel bad because you're not alone. A large majority of the people in our area are not aware of the fire hazard found in their own laundry room .and what you don't know can kill you. Consumer Product Safety Commission figures show that in 1997 there were 16,800 dryer fires which caused 30 deaths, 430 injuries and 97.3 million dollars in property damage. And dryer related home fires are increasing at an alarming rate. 

How could this be? Because more and more new homes are being built with very long clothes dryer vents!

In the old days, when homebuilders located the washer and dryer out in the garage, the dryer vent was typically very short, exhausting directly through an exterior wall. Nowadays, in order to make life more convenient, architects are designing homes with the washer and dryer located somewhere inside the home.after all, who wants to do laundry out in the garage?!

But when the washer and dryer are located somewhere inside the house, how are you going to exhaust the clothes dryer to the outside? Why, just increase the length of the dryer vent, of course! If your home is newer than fifteen years old, it's likely that your dryer exhaust is quite long. Many newer dryer vents have exhausts which are ten to twenty feet in length, and some have so many turns that they would give Mario Andretti car sickness!

Have you ever heard of "clogged arteries" before? How about a clogged dryer vent? Did you know that every time you dry a load of laundry, microscopic particles of lint get past the lint screen in the dryer and deposit themselves in the long dryer vent? The more laundry you do, the thicker the lint buildup becomes on the walls of the vent.and before you know it, the dryer vent can become completely blocked!

In addition to lint buildup, there are some other common culprits that block dryer vents, as well. Birds, mice, rats, and other animal nests have been known to block dryer vents on a regular basis. Also, after painting the exterior of a home, exhaust vents are sometimes glued shut with fresh paint. Other home improvements such as having a new roof put on and installing new stucco or siding have also been known for completely covering the exhaust vent!

The Hazards:

- With a clogged exhaust vent, the clothes dryer has a difficult time doing its job safely!

•  Fire Hazard. First, and worst of all, when the vent is clogged, , flammable lint is more likely to back up into the dryer and ignite causing a fire which can spread to the rest of the home.

•  Carbon Monoxide Hazard. In the event that you have a dryer that is powered by natural gas or propane, a second hazard is carbon monoxide poisoning. With the exhaust vent clogged, carbon monoxide can get backed up into the home, further threatening the health of the occupants.

•  Longer Drying Time . When the vent is clogged, the clothes take much longer to dry, and consequently more energy is wasted. Higher utility bills and aggravation are the results of putting up with longer drying times. It's not uncommon to think that you need a new dryer because your current one doesn't dry anymore! Quite often the dryer is fine.just the vent is clogged! Unfortunately, it's not uncommon for a homeowner to pay an appliance repairman to come out only to tell them there's nothing wrong with the dryer! Or worse, yet, the customer purchases a whole new dryer only to discover that the new one doesn't dry, either! This is a frustrating way to discover that an inexpensive dryer vent cleaning was all that was required!

•  Dryer Overheats/ Wears Out Prematurely . The dryer can overheat causing the heating element and other expensive parts to wear out prematurely. Why pay repair bills or replace a dryer prematurely when you can avoid it?

The Solution:

An ounce of prevention is BETTER than a pound of cure! Truer words were never spoken.especially when it comes to keeping your dryer vent clean.

If it turns out that you do have one of the really long dryer vents, it is best to have it cleaned and inspected on a regular basis. With specialized tools designed specifically for dryer vent cleaning, A to Z technicians are able to clean long vents of any configuration thoroughly, regardless of length, twists, or turns.

Often during our first visit, customers are flabbergasted (and sometimes a little scared) to see the amount of dryer lint that comes out of their vent.

With regular scheduled maintenance, the chances of a dryer fire and carbon monoxide poisoning are drastically reduced, and the lifespan of the dryer is prolonged. When it comes to keeping your family safe, saving money on energy bills and avoiding expensive appliance repairs, A to Z's regular maintenance is your ticket to peace of mind.

How often should I have my vent cleaned?

When A to Z technicians comes to clean your dryer vent, they will help you determine how often you should have it cleaned. We honestly strive to strike a balance between value for your dollar, and your safety. Obviously you don't want to waste money on unnecessary cleanings, but you don't want to let it go so long that your vent becomes a hazard. A to Z's technician will help you determine how often your vent should be cleaned. After the frequency of cleaning is determined, the technician will set up a return appointment on the spot, and arrange for a reminder postcard and courtesy call a few weeks before your next appointment so as to make sure you are not forgotten.

The frequency of cleaning will depend on three main factors;

•  The amount and type of laundry you do.

The factor that weighs heaviest in the frequency equation is how much laundry your household does. A typical family that does 2-3 loads a day will likely need to have the vent cleaned annually. On the other end of the spectrum, households without children at home generally have less laundry, often only requiring a cleaning every 4-5 years. In extreme cases, we have commercial accounts such as hair salons, gyms, and physical therapy facilities whose dryers are drying fluffy towels all day, every day. In those cases, a cleaning every 3-6 months is highly recommended. And lastly, for those households who have young teenage daughters who tend to change outfits twenty times a day, we suggest just moving the dryer outside and bypassing our services all together.you'll never be able to afford so many cleanings!

In addition to the amount of laundry, the type of laundry is also considered. Items such as bathroom rugs, fluffy towels, pet bedding, etc. will tend to produce more lint than regular clothing. Also, fabric softener tends to make the lint more sticky, and therefore more apt to build up on the dryer vent walls. Lastly, long hair and pet fur tend to also increase the buildup of lint in the vent.

•  The length and configuration of your vent

The longer the vent, and the more changes in direction (elbows), the quicker lint will build up. Also, some exhaust termination caps on the roof or side of the house are more susceptible to clogging than others.

•  The design and condition of your clothes dryer.

Certain design features of different dryers will play a part in how quickly lint builds up in your vent. If the lint screen's holes are larger, or if it does not seat properly, a larger amount of lint will be allowed to bypass the screen. In addition, ripped or missing lint screens allow massive quantities of lint to build up in the dryer vent, and should be repaired as soon as possible.

How do I know if my dryer vent needs to be cleaned?

Nobody wants to waste their hard earned money on needless service calls, and yet, no one wants to put their family in jeopardy, either. How do you know if you need a dryer vent cleaning?

Here are some signs that may indicate it's time.

•  The dryer is taking a long time to dry your clothes. If you notice that your clothes are taking longer than normal to dry, or that you have to run the dryer two or three cycles, this is the strongest indicator that you are overdue for a cleaning.

•  Lint buildup, and excessively hot, humid conditions in the laundry room. Often when a dryer cannot exhaust to the outside because of a clogged vent, lint and moist air back up into the laundry room. If you notice that there is a lot of lint buildup and/or the laundry room seems really humid while the dryer is operating, your vent probably needs to be cleaned.

•  Visible Lint buildup at the vent exit. Go look at the place where your dryer exhausts to the outside. Is there excessive lint buildup? It may be time for a cleaning.

•  Dryer seems to be getting hotter than normal. Imagine your dryer's heating element as an air cooled Volkswagen engine. As air passes over the heating element and into your dryer, the air gets hot, and dries your clothes faster. If the dryer vent is clogged, not enough air can pass over the heating element, causing it to overheat and burn out (wear out) prematurely. Worse yet, an overheating element can cause flammable lint to ignite, causing a dryer fire to occur.

•  High Utility Bills. If you have to run your dryer two or three or more times to dry a load of clothes that normally should only take one cycle, how much energy was wasted? At least two to three times more than should have been used! Don't put up with high utility bills! Have your dryer's vent cleaned on a regular basis!

What can I do to reduce lint buildup in my vent?

Bewildered, people often see the mountain of lint we just extracted from their vent and say "But I clean my lint screen between every load of laundry!" We chuckle at this logic because cleaning the lint screen actually accelerates lint buildup in the vent by allowing more microscopic particles to bypass the screen! In other words, the more often the lint screen is cleaned, the more quickly the lint will build up in the vent!

So what is the answer to reducing lint buildup in the vent?! Obviously, one must keep the screen cleaned, so neglecting that task is not an option!

Here are some things you can do to try to reduce lint buildup in your dryer:

•  Avoid doing too much laundry. If clothes are clean, don't wash them needlessly. Husbands and wives, parents and children, we'll let you guys hash this one out on your own behind closed doors, eh?

•  Reduce usage of the dryer. In case you haven't noticed, the Sacramento area is plenty hot during the summers. Hanging your clothes out on a line may not be such a bad idea sometimes. If you're not a fan of hanging your underwear outdoors for the entire neighborhood to see, try just hanging dense, fluffy items such as bathroom rugs, towels, jeans, etc.

•  Try to avoid laundering pet bedding or other items which have a lot of long hair or pet fur. Hair and pet fur will clog your vent in a hurry. Laundry mats can be a good choice when it's time to clean Fido's bed. Shaving your Sheepdog bare might also help the laundry situation, in addition to keeping him cooler.

•  Avoid using too much fabric softener. Fabric softener not only makes your clothes soft and fragrant, but also make dryer lint sticky so as to make it build up in the vent faster. Going light on the fabric softener may help reduce buildup.

•  Get rid of your kids, pets, and while you're at it, your spouse, too. This will guarantee a lot less laundry.but it's a very lonely life. We don't recommend this last one at all.job security, you know!

What should I do to prepare for my Dryer Vent Cleaning appointment?

Clear all items from on top of, behind, on and around your washer and dryer. While working in confined areas such as laundry rooms, our technicians hate stepping in litter boxes, water dishes, or spilling laundry detergent. Please clear anything out of our way that would hinder our ability to move the washer and dryer units out of our way during cleaning. This includes clothing hanging above the washer and dryer. Don't worry if a load is drying when we arrive. It does not matter in the least. You can simply leave the load in the dryer.

What methods of cleaning does A to Z use to clean my vent?

Ancient Chinese Secret. Besides, if we told you, we'd probably have to kill you. Because cleaning dryer vents is such a closely guarded secret, we'll ask you to let us blindfold you and plug your ears when we arrive for the cleaning. Just kidding.

Just like any job, dryer vent cleaning is easy when you have the right tools, and the right knowledge. We have very special rods and brushes made specifically for dryer vent cleaning.

The brush heads are very soft stainless steel wire brushes which are perfectly shaped and sized to fit most common dryer vent configurations. This way, all the inner surfaces of the vent will be cleaned, and no spots will be missed.

The rods are very special (and expensive) vinyl coated coil steel which allow the brush to negotiate any twist and turn your vent can throw at it. You've got elbows in your vent? No problem. Our tools can handle it.

Much like a plumbers snake, the brush is inserted into the vent a little bit at a time while the brush spins around scouring the walls of the vent. As the lint is scoured from the vent walls, it falls wherever gravity will take it.

Once the entire vent has had the brush through it, the technician hooks up a 200mph blower to the inside where the dryer normally hooks up, and blows whatever lint may be left to the outdoors. Often this is our customer's favorite part of the service.you could call it the grand finale.

Everything said and done, the dryer is hooked back up, and wala! Your dryer works again, and you can do laundry with peace of mind knowing you're a lot less likely to have a dryer fire!

Why shouldn't I try to clean the vent myself? Why would I want to hire A to Z to clean my dryer vent rather than another company?

Beware that not all companies use the same methods for cleaning a dryer vent. Rather than using rods and specialized wire brushes to scour the lint from the walls of the pipe, some companies and homeowners attempt to just blow air through the vent in order to clean it. With resounding fervor, we proclaim that this method is not as good as scouring the inner walls with an appropriately sized brush.

To see what we mean, all you have to do is go to the exit point where your vent exhausts outside. Try to take some of the lint buildup off with your hands.do you notice how the lint is caked on? How difficult it can be to take off using your fingers? It sticks pretty good to that exhaust point, doesn't it? Do you think just blowing air across something that stubborn is going to do the job? Hardly! Now imagine using the wire brush that you clean your BBQ grill with. Don't you think scouring with a wire brush would do a much better job at cleaning the lint? We think you'll agree, the best method is used by A to Z.

One other word of caution. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE A PLUMBERS SNAKE TO CLEAN YOUR VENT!! Don't laugh, many people have attempted this and ruined their delicate sheet metal vent in the process. Plumbers snakes are made for aggressively burrowing through stoppages in heavy duty ABS and iron drain pipes. Your dryer vent is made of thin, delicate sheet metal. A plumbers snake can ruin your dryer vent faster than we can say "I told you so."

Dryer Vent Checklist:

• Dryer duct must be at least a 4" diameter and as large as the dryer outlet.
• Concealed ducts must be rigid metal (galvanized or aluminum) duct.
• Duct joints shall be secured with metal tape, do not use screws or rivets.
• Unless otherwise permitted by dryer manufacturer, developed length of dryer duct shall not exceed 25 feet. A 45 degree elbow counts as 2 ½ feet of pipe and a 90 degree elbow counts as 5 feet of pipe.
• Joints shall be installed so the male end of the pipe points in the direction of the airflow (away from the dryer) See figure 1 below.
• Dryer vents shall be independent of all other systems and terminate outdoors. (Do not vent into another chimney or vent)
• Outside termination hood should be equipped with a backdraft damper.
• Duct backpressure should not exceed 0.6 WC (inches of water column).  Higher backpressures indicate a poorly installed vent.
• Use flexible metal connectors between the dryer and the duct. Plastic connector ducting is not recommended.

The recommendations shown above are based on dryer vent manufacturer's information and local building code requirements. Consult your dryer installation manual for exact requirements for your dryer.