Why Do I Need My Dryer Vent Cleaned?

Homeowners have no shortage of maintenance tasks around the house to worry about, so it’s understandable if something as seemingly minor as cleaning out your dryer vents slips your mind. However, this simple task is something that can not only help your dryer operate more efficiently, but can also protect you against one of the most common causes of house fires: clogged, dirty dryer vents.

How do you know it’s time to put some effort into in dryer vent cleaning in St. Peters, MO? Here are just a few of the most common warning signs indicating you need to clean out the dryer vent:

• The laundry room has started to feel excessively hot while the dryer is running, due to the clogged vent not letting hot air escape the area.
• Your clothes start to have a strange, almost burnt smell to them when you remove them from the dryer, due to the dryer vent not being able to ventilate out the warm air.
• Your clothes take significantly longer than normal to dry, sometimes requiring multiple drying cycles.

Common problems that result from clogged dryer vents

If you fail to heed the above warning signs that you need to clean out your dryer vent, you run the risk of experiencing some potentially severe problems with your dryer. Here are a few examples of some of those potential problems:

• Fire: The single biggest safety risk associated with clogged dryer vents is a house fire. The lint from your clothes can build up inside the vent, and it is highly flammable. Over time, the trapped heat and clogs can start a fire. Some estimates indicate dirty dryer vents cause about 80 percent of the house fires in a given year.
• Carbon monoxide poisoning: A clogged dryer vent will prevent carbon monoxide from escaping the home, resulting in it building up in the vent and potentially seeping into other areas of your home.
• Higher utility bills: Because clogged dryer vents result in less efficient operation of the appliance, this also means your energy bills will increase as you have to use more energy to get the desired results out of your dryer.
• Potential damage to the dryer: If you have to run your dryer longer to get your clothes dry, this puts a lot more wear and tear on the appliance over the course of time than it would otherwise experience. This means it becomes more likely that crucial components of the dryer will wear out earlier than they otherwise would, necessitating expensive repairs and part replacement that could have been avoided had you taken greater care of the appliance. In the long run, you might even have to replace the dryer sooner than you’d like.

These are just a few of the signs that indicate it’s time for dryer vent cleaning in St. Peters, MO and some of the issues that could befall your dryer if you fail to clean it out. For more information, contact the technicians at Crews Appliance Repair today.

Categorised in: Dryer Repair

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