Dryer Vent Cleaning in Detroit, MI
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Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Cold vent walls catch the lint your dryer pushes out
Your dryer pushes out warm, damp air every time it runs. That air has to travel through a vent that sits inside cold walls for eight months of the year, October through May. On a night near 21°F, the warm air cools fast against the vent walls, and the moisture in it gives the lint somewhere to stick instead of blowing straight through to the outside.
Once lint sticks, more lint sticks to it. The vent narrows, the dryer has to push harder to move air through it, and the exhaust that should be going outside starts backing up toward the house instead.
- 21°F
- the average winter night, and cold vents catch damp lint
- 8 months
- October through May, 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, more often if you dry a lot of loads or you have a long vent run with bends in it. Lint builds up along the inside of the duct even when the lint trap looks clean, because the trap only catches what passes through it. A vent that stays clogged makes the dryer work harder and run hotter, and that heat has nowhere good to go.
- Can I clean my dryer vent myself?
- You can clean the first few feet near the dryer yourself, but the full run is hard to reach without the right brush and rod set. Most vents run several feet through a wall or up through a roof, with at least one bend, and lint collects right at those bends where a vacuum hose cannot reach. A contractor brings a rod long enough to clear the whole line and can check that the vent hood outside is opening and closing the way it should.
- What are the signs of a clogged dryer vent?
- Clothes that take more than one cycle to dry, a dryer that runs hot to the touch, and a burning smell are the clearest signs. You might also notice less air coming out of the vent hood outside when the dryer is running, or lint gathering around the hood itself. Any one of these on its own is worth a look, and together they mean the vent needs clearing soon.