Dryer Vent Cleaning in Lexington-Fayette urban county, KY
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Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Cold vents make the lint stick
Your dryer pushes out warm, damp air every time it runs. From October through April, that air is moving through a vent that sits in cold space, with winter nights here averaging 27°F. The warm air cools fast against the cold metal, and the moisture in it settles on the walls of the vent. Lint sticks to that damp surface instead of blowing through to the outside.
Layer by layer, the vent narrows. Less air gets out, so your dryer runs longer to do the same job, and the moist air it can't push outside has nowhere to go but back toward the house.
- 27°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 for most households. If you dry a lot of loads, or the vent run is long with several turns, check it more often, since lint builds up faster in those setups. A clean vent also matters more here with 7 months of heating season ahead, since a dryer fighting a clogged vent runs longer and works harder in the cold months when it's already doing extra duty.
- Can I clean my dryer vent myself?
- You can clean the lint trap and the first few feet of the vent yourself with a long brush kit made for this. What you can't easily reach is the rest of the run behind the wall and the outside vent hood, where lint actually collects most. If the vent is long, has more than one or two bends, or you haven't had it cleaned in years, a contractor can run a brush and camera through the whole line.
- What are the signs of a clogged dryer vent?
- Clothes that take longer than normal to dry, or come out hot to the touch, are the first sign. Others include a burning smell during the cycle, the dryer feeling hotter than usual on the outside, and little to no airflow at the outside vent hood when the dryer is running. Lint building up around the lint trap area or a musty smell in the laundry room also point to a blocked vent.