Protecting the safety and integrity of their home, and therefore their family in it, should be at the top of every homeowner’s priority list. There are many ways that homeowners protect their homes, from installing complicated locks and sophisticated alarm systems, to ensuring their smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are working, to putting interior lights on timers to give the appearance of someone being at home. All of these are important steps in keeping the home and family safe, but they only address certain dangers. There are dangers within the home that pose a serious threat to the house and the family, but are often overlooked. One of the most ignored is clogged dryer vents.
If you have a clothes dryer in your home, you have dryer vents. These are the tunnels through which the heated air, lint and other particles are brought out of the dryer and out of the home during a drying cycle. This is critical for the operation and safety of the dryer. Unfortunately, if not properly maintained, these ducts can become clogged with lint, dust and even clothing and other articles that have been sucked into the ducts.
Clogged dryer vents are a problem for several reasons. The first is that a clogged vent does not allow the dryer to operate effectively. Because they air is not circulating effectively it is not able to dry the clothing well. This may mean you need to run your clothing through the dryer several times in order to get it dry, wasting time and energy. Having to run the dryer so much also puts a tremendous strain on the machine, causing it to break down more quickly than it should and require premature replacement.
These costly, time-consuming problems are not the most serious issue clogged dryer vents cause, however. Because of the heat produced by a dryer, sparks can happen. When they do, they can ignite the tightly-packed lint and fibers in the vents, causing a fire. Often this fire burns for quite some time, consuming the duct and moving into the walls and ceiling of the home, before it is even detected. Once it is detected, the situation is incredibly dire. The entire home can be consumed before help can arrive.
Air duct cleaning professionals can help you keep your home safe by cleaning out your dryer vents and ensuring they are operating at peak efficiency. This will ensure your machine is working as effectively as possible, while also running safely. Your vents should be cleaned professionally at least once per year, and more often if you use your dryer heavily.
