Introduction: Why are dryer vents important?
As a homeowner, you should understand the importance of changing your air filters, maintaining your lawn, and cleaning gutters. Likewise, it’s equally important, if not more, to clean your dryer vent. However, cleaning dryer vent isn’t what most homeowners pay attention to. For this reason, you can hire professionals for dryer vent cleaning in Sugar Land to improve the appliance’s efficiency, maintain its condition, and mitigate the fire hazard. After all, putting your dryer vent through extra strain won’t do any good to you.
If your dryer vent needs cleaning, consider hiring experts for the job. But for DIY fans, our team has made cleaning the dryer vent easy with five simple steps.
How to clean your dryer vents without mess or damage: The 5 steps.
A dirty dryer vent is one of the biggest home fire hazards. It accounts for thousands of house fires in the United States. And if clogged dryer ducts don’t cause damage to your home directly, they will waste your money, energy, and time.
A dryer is connected to vents. But if the ducts are filled with dust, dirt, and lint, it won’t work well. If your dryer once does loads of clothes in one cycle or less but now requires several processes to do the same job, check the ductwork. In this case, your dryer might work fine, and it’s the grimy vent that’s causing the issue.
Follow these five simple steps when cleaning your dryer vent.
1. Locate the duct
To correctly clean your dryer vent, you first need to know where it’s located. There’s a short 4-inch diameter exhaust in the back of most dryer units. This exhaust is connected to ductwork inside the wall via a pipe. High-temperature air travels along these pipes to eventually escape through an opening outside your home.
2. Carefully disconnect the dryer
Now that you locate your duct and its starting point and ending point, time to disconnect the dryer. If you own an electric one, unplug the machine’s power cord. Next, remove tape or clamps that kept the pipe fixed to its exhaust. Carefully pull the pipe away from the duct to open up more space to work. But if your dryer runs on natural gas, you need to be more careful while doing that. Gas leaks can be hazardous and cause severe damage to your home or business. Call in a professional if you’re unsure at any point.
3. The actual cleaning
Now you have clearer access to the duct opening at the laundry. You can also easily remove the duct cover to get to the ending point outside your house. Next, you need to get a specialized cleaning kit for the dryer vent. Make sure to invest in a more useful one for better speed and power.
You should insert the brush into your duct and spin the rod (containing the brush head). While spinning the rod in a counter-clockwise direction, push your brush down the duct. Make sure the rod has enough length to reach the other end of the duct. This step might take a few turns and twists, so be patient and focus on cleaning.
4. Reconnect everything
If you’re cleaning your dryer vent after a while, you may expect a lot of lint coming out of the wall. Use a simple dustpan and broom to collect dirt. A vacuum might work fine for cleaning less amount of dirt. After everything is cleaned, you should put them back the way they were. But if your dryer had a soft foil-style vent, you should toss it out as it contains a fire risk. It would be best to replace it with the semi-rigid venting with right-angled aluminum elbows since they are hard yet adjustable and offer highly durable and better airflow.
5. Verify if the dryer has regained its power
You’re almost there, congratulations! All you need to do is test how it went. Do a trial run to verify that your dryer has regained its might. If it’s working correctly, you neither have to buy a new, expensive unit nor risk your health and house.
Benefits of cleaning your dryer vents
Cleaning your dryer vent has several benefits, including fire hazard prevention, the improved lifespan of the appliance, and its efficiency, to name a few. Let’s talk about the benefits in detail.
Cleaner clothes
Lint, dirt, and moisture can collect and make the clothes dirty. You can avoid this when you properly maintain and clean the appliance. This will help your clothes retain their shine and come out of the dryer cleaned and dried.
Increased airflow
By cleaning your dryer vent, you will have increased airflow in the system. People often go to install add-ons to improve the airflow. While this practice may work fine for some people, you can achieve optimum airflow by simply keeping your dryer vent cleaned.
Your health
Clogged and dirty dryer vents are a threat to your life and home. It can produce toxic gases and increase fire risks. So many things can go wrong if your dryer vent is poorly maintained. As a homeowner, you should thoroughly clean dryer vents to avoid such dangerous situations. The best way to have peace of mind is to allow the experts to care for your dryer’s maintenance.
Increased efficiency
A dirty dryer vent significantly reduces the efficiency and power of the appliance. However, properly maintaining and cleaning will allow the dryer vent to work up to its full potential. Your clothes will take less time to dry and maintain their shine. It will also save you electricity costs as you won’t need multiple cycles to do the job.
Improved life span
Properly cleaned dryer vents last much longer than appliances that are poorly maintained. A clogged dryer vent often results in overworking the machine, which adversely affects its functioning. When needed, cleaning your dryer vent will increase the appliance’s lifespan and save money on unnecessary replacements.
Saved Money
As you already know, a cleaned machine works longer and more efficiently. It will also help you save money. You won’t need to spend money on costly repairs and replacements. Moreover, your utility bills will reduce as the machine will do the job without overworking.
Conclusion:Dryer Vent Cleaning in Sugar Land
Clogged and dirty dryer vents cause an array of problems for homeowners. The worst part is most homeowners aren’t even aware that their dryer vent needs to be cleaned. Not only do they increase the risk of fire hazards, but also they help make the machine lose its efficiency and power. These cases often end up in costly replacements and danger to the family’s health and house. You can avoid all these problems by following the method we have listed above. But the best way is to hire Air Quality Experts in Sugar Land, TX. And if you decide to clean on your own, make sure to call a professional whenever you’re unsure. We will ensure the best functioning of your ventilation system and keep power costs at bay. Our experts will ensure your dryer vents are cleared of debris and adequately cleaned, so your appliance works as designed for many years.
Check: Henry Glass Fabric
Some of this lint winds up in the lint filter of the dryer. However, a large portion of it winds up in the dryer vent, which leads outdoors. This might pose issues in the long run since lint can clog the passage of expelled air. Therefore, it’s a good idea to have a professional dryer vent cleaning in Sugar Land, Texas, inspect your dry vent regularly.
