Dryer Vent Cleaning in Elizabethtown, KY
Tell us about your home, and a licensed contractor who covers Hardin County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Cold vents make lint stick
Your dryer pushes out warm, damp air every load. From December through February, nights here average 27°F, and that vent runs through cold space before it reaches outside. The warm air cools fast once it hits that cold metal, and the moisture in it settles on the walls of the vent. Lint sticks to a damp surface far more than it does to a dry one.
That buildup narrows the vent a little at a time. Air moves slower, so the vent stays damp longer after each load, and more lint catches the next time. Over a winter that runs seven months long, it adds up.
- 27°F
- the average winter night, and cold vents catch damp lint
- 7 months
- October through April, the vent stays cold
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should a dryer vent be cleaned?
- Once a year, at minimum. Lint builds up inside the vent run every time you dry a load, and a year of use is enough to narrow the airway even if the dryer still seems to work fine. If you run large loads often, or dry a lot of towels and bedding, check it sooner. A vent that runs longer than a straight shot to the wall also collects lint faster at each bend, so those runs deserve a look before the year is up.
- Can I clean my dryer vent myself?
- You can clean the parts you can reach, but that is usually not the whole vent. Pulling the dryer out and vacuuming the first few feet of duct, plus clearing lint from around the outside vent hood, is worth doing regularly. The lint that causes real problems tends to sit further down the duct, especially at bends, and reaching that takes a brush and rod system long enough to run the full length. A vent that runs any real distance or has more than one turn is hard to clear completely from either end by hand.
- What are the signs of a clogged dryer vent?
- Clothes coming out hot to the touch but still damp is the clearest sign. Others include the dryer taking noticeably longer than it used to, the outside of the dryer or the vent hood feeling hot during a cycle, and little or no airflow at the outside vent when the dryer is running. A burning smell is a sign to stop using the dryer and get the vent checked before running it again. If the vent hood flap barely opens while the dryer runs, air is not getting through the way it should.