| One of the most often missed homeowner's | | | | times is the waste of energy, time, and money, |
| maintenance tasks is one that is also a potential | | | | just from having clogged vents. This simple |
| safety hazard. Cleaning out dryer vent ducts is | | | | procedure of cleaning out your dryer vent can |
| one of the most overlooked jobs most | | | | save all three and possibly save a mistake of |
| homeowners miss. If left unchecked, enough lint | | | | placing a call for a service technician to mistakenly |
| can build up in the vent ducts of a dryer where | | | | fix your dryer. They will quickly tell you all you |
| the lint could catch fire from the heat of the | | | | needed was your vent duct cleaned. You can |
| dryer. Most people who have this problem first | | | | have a technician do the cleaning for you, such as |
| mistakenly suspect the dryer itself. If you have | | | | at or do the job yourself if you have the right |
| this problem, one of the first things you'll notice is | | | | tools and some instructions. |
| that the drying times for your clothes will get | | | | If you do the job yourself, you will need a snake |
| longer and longer. Some of the lint is not caught | | | | as long as the dryer vent with a brush attached |
| by the grid catcher and goes into the duct. Over | | | | to the end. Clean out your grid catcher internal |
| time, depending on how much you use your | | | | exhaust of your dryer first. Then turn on the |
| dryer, it will then get to the point where enough | | | | dryer cycle to push thru air thru the vent. Then |
| lint will clog the vent and the clothes won't dry at | | | | go to where the opening of the outside vent is |
| all. The water vapor will not get a chance to | | | | located and gently push the snake thru the vent, |
| escape thru the vent to the outside, causing the | | | | swishing back and forth, until you've reached the |
| clothes to get hot, but still damp. This also causes | | | | end of the duct to the dryer. Then gently pull out |
| premature failure of the dryer heating element, | | | | the snake, sliding the snake back and forth on the |
| motor, or bearings. If your dryer has an | | | | way out. You may need to repeat this process a |
| automatic sensor it won't go off and your dryer | | | | couple times to get all the lint out of the vent |
| may be noisier than normal. | | | | duct. |
| Another bad side effect from the longer dryer | | | | |