It’s funny in life how we take care of some appliances and other property we own such as changing the oil in our cars but completely neglect other things such as changing the furnace filter or cleaning the dryer vent.
No question, if we forget to change the oil in our car it will lead to major problems such as a damaged or completely destroyed engine, and if we forget to clean the dryer venting it can lead to an overheated dryer motor burning it out or even a dryer fire.
Dryer fires are not common but also not uncommon with about 15,000 per year in North America, but more common is dryers that are burnt out way to soon because they don’t have enough free airflow due to clogged venting. Another costly symptom of a clogged dryer vents is that laundry can take two or three times as long to dry without proper airflow. The money you will spend and the time it will cost you are enormous.
Clean your lint trap after each load
The good news is that you can prevent these problems by cleaning your lint trap after each load and cleaning your dryer vent periodically depending on your needs. Homes that have more people and do large amounts of laundry or overly long dryer vent systems will need to have the venting cleaned more often.
Some dryer’s have built in airflow sensors
Many new dryers will have an airflow sensor built in that will inform you when the dryer does not have enough airflow to operate normally. If your dryer does not have an airflow sensor built in or you want added protection you can have a dry safer or the lint alert system. These simple to install alarms protect you from potential damage or disaster .
If you want to take your cleaning a step further you can take a vacuum hose and clean as deep as you can into the lint trap area, around the dryer, and after unplugging the dryer you can disconnect the hose at the back and can as much lint as you can reach.
Without the proper tools you are most likely not going to be able to clean the entire dryer vent system and should hire a professional to completely clean the system from time to time.
For more information about dryer vent cleaning give us a call at 780-932-7337.
