Santa's Friend Chimney Service Blog

Are Your Dryer Vents Really Clean?

Spring is the time of year that your thoughts turn to doing some deep down cleaning. Cleaning your closets and throwing out those clothes you don’t wear anymore, going through your drawers, even washing the windows. It feels so great to walk in and see the sparkling windows, smell the fresh spring air, and know that everything is right with the world. However, one thing that you don’t often think about cleaning is your dryer vents. Unlike your drawers or closets, if you neglect cleaning your dryer vents, you could be putting your home at risk!

How to Clean Your Vents

When you think of your dryer vents, you probably think of cleaning the lint tray after every load dried or every couple loads dried. This is a great thing to do. Plus, it does help prevent an excess buildup of lint. The thing is, even with regular cleaning of the lint tray, dust and other small particles get through and can lodge in the dryer duct work. Although most of these particles get out into the great outdoors, some get stuck in the duct work. Consequently, as that builds up, serious problems can occur.

Common Problems

When you have a build-up of lint in your dryer vent, the most catastrophic occurrence is fire. If that lint catches a spark from your dryer, it will instantly explode into a full-blown fire. It can quickly follow the trail of dryer lint in the hose and cause a major house fire if it isn’t caught immediately.

There are also health risks involved with having a full dryer vent. When moist dryer air blows through a dryer vent that is full of soft, fluffy lint, mold and mildew can begin to grow. If someone in your home has allergies, asthma, or other breathing conditions, this buildup can actually exacerbate the situation.

Another negative of having a full dryer vent? It makes your dryer run less efficiently. When there’s a build-up of lint and dust in your dryer vent, it causes less space for the air to get through. This causes your dryer to put extra effort in to get the clothes dry. How often have you run clothes through one cycle, only to discover that it is still damp?

If you run it through and don’t get to it right away because you think it’s going to be dry and then find out it’s still damp, you may find a load of clothes that smells musty and needs to be rewashed. Not only is this an annoyance, it also means you may be getting bigger electric bills. According to the National Filter Supply website, having a full dryer vent can also cause added strain to the motor of your dryer. This could mean having to replace your dryer sooner than normal.

Call in the Experts

It is recommended that you have your dryer vents cleaned at least once a year. When you call Santa’s Friend Chimney Service, you can be sure of getting your dryer vents cleared completely. You don’t have to worry about any of the risks listed above. Give them a call today to get your vents cleaned. Then rest assured knowing that your house is truly spring cleaned!

The Dangers of a Clogged Dryer Vent

Unfortunately, many homeowners do not realize the dangers of dirty dryer vents until it is too late. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), clothes dryers were involved with an estimated 16,800 residential fires that caused 51 deaths, 380 injuries, and $236 million in property damages in 2010. The leading cause of these fires was failure to clean clogged dryer vents. Santa’s Friend Chimney Service can help prevent your clothes dryer from being a fire hazard with our professional dryer vent cleaning services. Recommended by the NFPA, the Chimney Safety Institute of America, and other national fire safety organizations, an annual professional dryer vent cleaning also has other advantages. We would like to tell you more about the benefits of having your dryer vent professionally cleaned.

Reduce the risk of a residential fire

The statistics from the NFPA speak for themselves. Clogged dryer vents are dangerous fire hazards, and a professional dryer vent cleaning from Santa’s Friend Chimney Service can keep your home from becoming part of these statistics. The reason why clogged and dirty dryer vents are such fire hazards has to do with lint. Although your lint screen does trap a great deal of the lint produced from drying a load of clothes, lint still gets into the vent where it can accumulate to the point of blocking the vent. Lint is so flammable that it is recommended to start campfires by the Boy Scouts of America, so when the clogged vent causes the dryer to overheat, lint can easily and quickly ignite into a fire that can spread throughout your home. Our experienced technicians will be sure to remove every bit of lint to reduce this fire hazard.

Improve the efficiency of your dryer

When the dryer vent is dirty and clogged, your dryer has to work harder to operate, and this causes the appliance to overheat. If you continue to use your dryer as it overheats, it will cause important components like the heating element to wear out prematurely. Repairing the heating element can be very expensive, and it could even be more economical to replace your dryer. A professional dryer vent cleaning will actually prolong the life of your dryer. After Santa’s Friend Chimney Service has cleaned your dryer vent, you will notice a big improvement in the efficiency of your clothes dryer.

Save money and energy

If your dryer vent is clogged, the dryer will have a hard time drying a load of clothes in one cycle. If you have ever noticed damp clothes at the end of a complete drying cycle, your dryer vent is most likely clogged. Having to run your dryer twice the time to dry a load of clothes not only wastes energy, but it is also very costly. You will see a reduction in your utility bills after a professional dryer vent cleaning from Santa’s Friend Chimney Service.
You should never ignore the dangers of a clogged dryer vent. Contact us at Santa’s Friend Chimney Service to schedule an appointment for our dryer vent cleaning services.