You load. You wash. Your dry. Sort of. No matter the dry cycle or the number of cycles, you clothes come out hot, but damp. Les Clow of North Texas Duct Cleaning knows a thing or two about air ducts, but also has a great deal of experience with dryer vent cleaning Plano, Texas home dryers. Here are his signs why you may need a dryer vent cleaning now.
“A dryer should only take one turn to dry your clothes, even if you have a crummy dryer,” says Clow. “It’s a zero sum game: it’s either hot and turns the clothes around inside or it doesn’t. If it is hot and it is turning the clothes around, it needs to be able to push the hot air out. If it can’t push the hot air out, it takes the clothes longer and longer to dry.” If this is happening with your dryer, Clow says it may be due to a restricted air flow in your dryer vent. The air flows outside and if the air is blocked, the dryer will not dry efficiently. Clow recommends pulling the dryer out from the wall and seeing if the attached duct has something blocking the air flow. You can make your boyfriend or husband do this. If you can’t feel or see anything, it may be too far for an easy fix, but you can call a dryer vent cleaning company like Plano, TX’s North Texas Duct Cleaning to take care of it if your hubby is not around. They will come out and use a special steel cable tool and cordless drill to clean the inside of the dryer vent.
Damp towels and sheets don’t seem like a big deal - it’s a nag, but you can just put them back in the dryer again, right? This little annoyance can actually add up. “Fifteen to 16,000 household fires are caused each year by dryer vents,” says Clow. The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission backs up this fact and adds that lint removal each cycle as well as regular cleanings can help prevent dryer vent fires. Know that a cleaned lint screen only traps about 75% of the lint produced inside a dryer. Consequently, lint builds up inside the dryer vent and can be a huge energy suck as well as a fire hazard. North Texas Duct Cleaning, an air duct and dryer vent cleaning company in Plano, TX can help with both the efficiency and safety of your machine. They also use the i2CAM™ video inspection system to find blockages in dryer vents - good for finding mold during duct cleaning as well!
Notable signs it may be time to have your dryer vent clean include lengthened cycles to dry clothes, damp but hot clothes (especially heavier items such as towels, sheets and jeans), a hot surface on the exterior of your dryer and an empty lint screen. If your lint screen is empty after a cycle, it may mean the lint is being pushed to the exhaust and clogging your system. If you are experiencing any of these issues, it’s time for a dryer vent cleaning! Plano customers, dryer your clothes in record time and protect your home from a potential fire.