Dryer Vent Cleaning in Fort Madison, IA
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Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Cold vents make lint stick
Your dryer pushes out warm, damp air every time it runs. From October through May, that vent runs through a house working to hold heat against nights averaging 20 degrees outside. The air cools fast once it hits that cold metal, and lint sticks to a damp wall instead of blowing through to the outside.
Once lint packs into the vent, the dryer has to push exhaust through a narrower path. Moisture that should leave the house stays in the line instead, and a clogged vent is a known cause of house fires.
- 20°F
- the average winter night, and cold vents catch damp lint
- 8 months
- October through May, the vent stays cold
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NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should a dryer vent be cleaned?
- Once a year is the general rule. Lint builds up gradually inside the duct even when the trap gets cleaned every load, and a yearly cleaning keeps that buildup from turning into a blockage. If drying times start creeping up before the year is out, that is a sign to move the cleaning up rather than wait.
- Can I clean my dryer vent myself?
- You can clean the lint trap and the first few feet of duct yourself with a vent brush kit. What you can't easily reach is the rest of the run out to the exterior hood, especially where it bends through a wall. A contractor has the equipment to clean the full length and check that the hood flap outside is opening and closing the way it should.
- What are the signs of a clogged dryer vent?
- Clothes taking longer than usual to dry is the first sign. You might also notice the dryer or laundry room running hotter than normal during a cycle, a burning smell, lint collecting around the outside vent hood, or the hood flap barely moving when the dryer runs. Any of these means air isn't moving through the vent the way it should, and it's worth having someone check the full run.