What is Your Dryer Duct and Why Do You Need To Clean It?

What is a Dryer Ventilation System?

Just like a stove, an oven, a refrigerator and freezer, and a washer, a dryer is one of the rudimentary appliances that just about everyone owns (since you can assume that everyone needs to wear clothes for daily life), and dryers are appliances we really put to good use and put through their paces. On average, each dryer will take care of two to three loads of laundry per person per week (even more frequently if they have specialized jobs that may require daily drying, such as food prep).

The setup of an electric dryer is fairly simple: a large motorized drum, a convection fan, a casing, controls, and a ventilation system, which is necessary to carry out all the dust and loose fabric that falls off during the drying process. These ventilation systems are filtered with a mesh screen commonly called a lint trap, which is very effective at catching a lot of these materials.

Lint traps aren’t infallible, however. They are prone to tearing or perforation or user neglect, and the free material can often, inconspicuously, get caught up in the dryer vent, often clogging and clumping in the exhaust hose without the owner’s knowledge. If this happens on a home dryer, cleaning is relatively easy: detach the hose from the flange, pull out the lint, and dispose of it. However, commercial dryer services often have manifold ducts connected to one exhaust system, which would be difficult for an untrained user to diagnose, dismantle, and clean alone.

Here are a few key reasons why it’s important to hire the best professional dryer vent cleaners to service your ventilation system:

1. Safety.

At the top of the list is, inarguably, the most important reason to have ventilation systems professionally cleaned. The purpose of a dryer vent is to exhaust the warm air that bellows into the drum to dry the load. If this air does not exhaust, the dryer could labor and possibly overheat, posing the risk of a fire. As well, dryers can emit a nominal amount of carbon monoxide gas, which is colorless, odorless, and very dangerous; it could kill you in minutes. A blockage can cause carbon monoxide to back up. Finally, excess heat mixed with moisture can create ideal conditions for the growth of mold and bacteria.

2. Lifespan.

Your dryer is prone to deterioration, like anything else, and its lifespan can be drastically shortened if accumulation in the lint trap or the dryer vents restricts ventilation. The back pressure will make the machine work harder, and it will make clothes more difficult to dry. Dryer replacement parts, such as motors, often have to take weeks to order in, and they can be very expensive. Routine dryer vent cleaning greatly reduces this likelihood.

3. Saving Energy and Costs.

Like a fridge, a dryer is a highly gluttonous appliance when it comes to energy use. The aforementioned risks to safety by overheating and increased labor means a greater consumption of power, which will inevitably show up as extra costs on your electricity bill. The more effort the dryer has to put forward in order to dry a load, the more electricity it will use, and the more it will cost you.

4. Conclusion.

Dryer vent maintenance is an easy thing to overlook, but it can be vital to preventing several avoidable catastrophes. The process is simple and cost-effective, and it can lead to less costs in replacement, power usage, and repair.

Alliance-Enviro is an environmental company that specializes in services such as mold remediation, asbestos abatement, demolition services, dryer duct cleaning, HVAC duct cleaning, lead paint removal, trauma clean up, etc. in Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino, Sacramento, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Ventura, and Santa Barbara. For more information, visit https://info.alliance-enviro.com/blog.

I'm a freelance copywriter and I write on a variety of topics.