It's been more than a year since the last cleaning and you're wondering if it's time to clean your dryer vent in Baltimore, Maryland. The hot, humid air produced when drying clothes leaves your home through the dryer's vent hose. Over time, lint accumulates in the hose and in the lint collector, reducing the efficiency of your machine and increasing the humidity in your home. A dirty dryer vent hose can also reduce indoor air quality and even cause a fire.
If you're a resident of Baltimore, Maryland, and you're wondering if it's time to clean your dryer vent, there are a few signs that you should look out for. If drying takes longer than usual, clothes get hot, smell burnt, or you haven't done it recently, it's time to clean the dryer vent. If you smell a burning smell when you use the dryer, it's probably fluff. Dryer lint is highly flammable and the smell of burning comes from small parts of the lint in the dryer trap or hose that get very hot.
The fluff can even get so hot that it catches fire. If anything near the dryer smells of burning, turn off the appliance until it is inspected by a professional. The outdoor ventilation interface is where the air from the dryer leaves the house. The outside ventilation opening is a 4 inch wide tube.
If you see lint or grass debris around the opening, clean the dryer's airway. If the outer vent cap doesn't open when the dryer is running, it means that the lint has blocked air flow and you should clean it as soon as possible. But if the dryer vent is clogged with lint, that humid air remains in the dryer, making it difficult for clothes to dry. If you have a large family or the dryer is in the center of the house and has a long duct or pipe outside, you may need to clean the dryer's ventilation grille.
That's why, when you go looking for damp and warm clothes, consider scheduling an annual cleaning of the ventilation grilles. The signs that you need to clean the dryer vent are when warm, humid air coming out of the clothes is passing from inside of the dryer through the vent pipe to outside. You can clean it yourself with a dryer grille cleaning kit, or hire a professional to clean the dryer vents for you. If you tried to clean the dryer's ventilation system and drying times are still slow, you probably need to repair or replace the ventilation.
If the dryer vent grille becomes clogged, humid air from drying process will have nowhere to go, so energy is wasted, utility bills increase, and dryer's heating element and fan wear out more quickly. When vent doesn't blow air out properly, dryer will feel very hot to touch at end of normal cycle. That's what happened to this family who lost everything because their house caught fire due to build-up of lint in dryer vent hose. When air flow from dryer vent is slow because ducts are clogged, appliance will feel hot, and laundry and clothes will also feel warm.
Have dryer's hoses or vents cleaned and inspected every year to save energy, help dryer run faster, and prevent dangerous fire or carbon monoxide poisoning. If you've tried to clean dryer's ventilation system and still having problems, you may need to repair or replace ventilation.
