Dryer Vent Cleaning in Shelton, WA
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Cold vents make lint stick
Your dryer pushes out warm, damp air, and that air has to travel through a vent that sits in cold space most of the year. From December through February, nights here average 33°F, so the vent walls stay cold. Warm exhaust hits that cold metal and cools fast, and the moisture in it doesn't just pass through. It settles, and lint sticks to the wet walls instead of blowing out the hood.
Over a season that buildup narrows the vent. Your dryer has to push harder to move air through it, and the air that does get through carries more moisture back into the vent than it should. That is how a vent starts collecting lint faster the more it already has.
- 33°F
- the average winter night, and cold vents catch damp lint
- 10 months
- September through June, the vent stays cold
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should a dryer vent be cleaned?
- Once a year is the standard advice, and it holds for most homes. A household that runs the dryer several times a day or has a long vent run with a few turns in it will see lint build up faster, so the vent is worth a look sooner in those cases. Lint collects along the whole length of the vent, not just at the trap, and that's what slows drying time down.
- Can I clean my dryer vent myself?
- You can clear the first few feet behind the dryer yourself with a vent brush kit. Most vent runs go through a wall or up through a roof, though, and reaching the full length and the outside hood takes a rod system or strong shop vac suction, more than the small attachments sold for home use can manage. A contractor can also check that the vent still slopes the right way and that the outside hood flap opens fully, which matters as much as clearing the lint out.
- What are the signs of a clogged dryer vent?
- Clothes taking longer to dry than they used to, or coming out hot instead of warm, are the first signs. The outside of the dryer may feel warm to the touch, and airflow at the outside vent hood will feel weaker than normal when the dryer is running. A burning smell or lint collecting around the hood outside are both reasons to get the vent looked at soon, since a blocked vent makes the dryer work harder and run hotter than it should.