Dryer Vent Cleaning in La Grange, KY
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Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Cold vents make lint stick
Your dryer pushes out warm, damp air every time it runs. From October through April, that air is moving through a vent sitting in cold space, with winter nights averaging 26°F. The air cools fast once it hits that metal, and the moisture in it settles on the walls of the vent. Lint sticks to a damp surface far more than a dry one.
Once lint builds up along those walls, the vent can't move air the way it should. The dryer has to push harder to get exhaust outside, and heat that should leave the house stays trapped in the duct instead.
- 26°F
- the average winter night, and cold vents catch damp lint
- 7 months
- October through April, the vent stays cold
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NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should a dryer vent be cleaned?
- Once a year is the standard, more often if you run loads daily or have a long duct run to the outside. Lint builds up along the walls of the vent even when the lint trap is clean, since the trap only catches what passes through it near the door. A vent that stays clogged makes the dryer run hotter and longer to dry the same load.
- Can I clean my dryer vent myself?
- You can clean the first few feet from the back of the dryer with a vent brush kit, but most homes have duct running inside a wall or up through the roof that a brush cannot reach. A contractor uses a rotating brush on a long cable or a vacuum system built for the full run, including the vent hood outside. If your dryer takes more than one cycle to dry clothes or the outside vent flap barely moves when the dryer runs, that is a sign the clog is farther in than a home kit can reach.
- 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 running longer than it used to, the outside of the machine feeling hot during a cycle, a burning smell, and little to no air moving from the vent hood outside when you check it. Lint collecting around the vent hood itself, rather than just inside the lint trap, means air is not moving through the duct the way it should.