Dryer Vent Cleaning in Moses Lake, WA
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It takes about a minute.
Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Cold vents catch the lint your dryer pushes out
Your dryer pushes warm, damp air out through the vent. On the nights here that average 25°F from December through February, that vent runs cold long before the air makes it outside. The moisture in the exhaust cools fast against those cold walls, and the lint riding along with it sticks instead of blowing clear.
Over a winter that buildup narrows the vent. A dryer working against a clogged vent takes longer to dry a load and runs hotter than it should. That heat has nowhere to go but into the lint packed around it.
- 25°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 is a reasonable starting point, checked against how the dryer is actually behaving. If the vent run is long, has several bends, or goes out through the roof instead of a wall, lint builds up faster and it should be checked more often. A dryer that's taking two cycles to dry a load is telling you the vent needs attention sooner than your schedule says.
- Can I clean my dryer vent myself?
- You can clean the first few feet on both ends, but the full run is hard to reach without the right rod and brush kit. Most vent runs go through a wall or ceiling, around bends, and out through a hood, and lint collects in the bends you can't see from either end. A shop vac at the dryer end and at the exterior hood will pull out surface lint, but it won't reach what's packed in the middle of the run.
- What are the signs of a clogged dryer vent?
- Clothes coming out hot to the touch but still damp is the clearest sign. Others are a laundry room that gets noticeably warmer during a cycle, a burnt smell, the outside vent hood barely moving air when you hold your hand near it, and lint showing up around the dryer drum seal. Any one of these means the vent is restricted enough to make the dryer work harder than it should.