Dryer Vent Safety in San Diego County
Regular dryer maintenance (cleaning the lint screen before and after each load) and an annual professional dryer vent cleaning is recommended to remove flammable lint accumulation that can cause a dryer fire in your home. In addition, properly maintained dryer ducts allow your dryer to operate more efficiently, save energy, time and money, reduce household dust and humidity, and help preserve clothing.
Dryer Vent Inspection
When was the last time you inspected the back of your clothes dryer? If it’s been never or over 6 months it’s time to call a professional San Diego dryer vent cleaning service.
Dryer Vent Safety: The International Association of Certified Home Inspectors state that a vent that exhausts moist air to the home’s exterior has a number of requirements:
- It should be connected. Is your clothes dryer actually connected to the vent?
- It should not be restricted. Is your dryer vent bent or constricted in some way behind the dryer?
- Constructed of rigid metal. This means that the flexible plastic ribbed vents used in the past should no longer be used. They should be noted as a potential fire hazard if observed during an inspection.
Dryer Vent Cleaning
Like most busy San Diego residents cleaning a dryer vent is the last thing on your busy schedule. The vent is behind the dryer, out of sight and out of mind.
But there are Dryer Vent Warning Signs that you may have noticed which indicates lint accumulation in the vent and restricted air flow!
- Your dryer is still producing heat, but it takes longer and longer to get your clothes dry
- Clothes are still damp or hotter than usual at the end of the drying cycle.
- Your clothes dryer is hot to the touch
These are all indications that your dryer vent needs to be inspected and cleaned by a professional to prevent a lint fire and increase the efficiency of your dryer.
Fire Prevention
Lint can accumulate in an exhaust duct, reducing the dryer’s ability to expel heated water vapor, which then accumulates as heat energy within the machine. As the dryer overheats, mechanical failures can trigger sparks, which can cause lint trapped in the dryer vent to burst into flames. This condition can cause the whole house to burst into flames. Fires generally originate within the dryer but spread by escaping through the ventilation duct, incinerating trapped lint, and following its path into the building wall.
