Dryer Vent Cleaning in Monroe, MI
Tell us about your home, and a licensed contractor who covers Monroe County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
What cold turns lint into
Your dryer pushes out warm, damp air, and in a Monroe County winter that air is hitting a vent that runs through cold space most of the year. Nights average 21°F from December through February, and that cold soaks into the vent walls. The warm air cools fast once it's inside, and the moisture in it sticks to the sides instead of carrying the lint straight out. That's how a vent narrows from the inside, one load at a time.
A vent that's losing its draft this way doesn't announce it. The dryer just starts taking longer to finish, and the exhaust that should be leaving the house stays in it a little longer with each load.
- 21°F
- the average winter night, and cold vents catch damp lint
- 8 months
- October through May, the vent stays cold
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should a dryer vent be cleaned?
- Once a year for most households. If you run several loads a day, or the vent run is long with a few turns in it, clean it more often than that. A vent that's clear moves air fast enough to carry lint out on its own, so staying ahead of buildup once a year is usually enough.
- Can I clean my dryer vent myself?
- You can clean the section behind the dryer and at the outside hood yourself, but the full run is harder to reach on your own. Pull the dryer out, disconnect the vent, and clear lint from both ends with a brush made for this. If the vent run is long, has more than one turn, or goes up through a roof, a contractor has the rods and the camera to clear the whole line and check that it's still sealed at every joint.
- What are the signs of a clogged dryer vent?
- Clothes that take two cycles to dry, a dryer that runs hot to the touch, and a musty smell when it's running are the main ones. Check the outside vent hood too. If the flap barely moves when the dryer is on, air isn't getting through. A burning smell means stop using the dryer and have the vent checked before running it again.