Dryer Vent Cleaning in Vancouver, WA
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Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Cold vents give lint somewhere to stick
Your dryer pushes out warm, damp air every time it runs. On a winter night near 35°F, that air hits cold metal the moment it leaves the drum and cools fast. The moisture in it beads up on the inside of the vent, and lint sticks to those damp walls instead of blowing straight through to the outside.
Once lint builds up along the vent, it holds onto more moisture and traps more lint behind it. Airflow drops, the dryer takes longer to dry a load, and the damp air has to go somewhere. Some of it works back into the house instead of venting outside.
- 35°F
- the average winter night, and cold vents catch damp lint
- 9 months
- October through June, 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 the standard rule, more often if you dry a lot of loads or the vent run is long. Lint builds up inside the duct even when the lint trap looks clean, because the trap never catches all of it. A vent that has not been cleaned in a year or more is worth checking regardless of how often the dryer runs.
- Can I clean my dryer vent myself?
- You can clean the part you can reach, but most of the vent run is inside the wall and out to the roof or side of the house, and that part takes a brush system built for it. Pulling the dryer out and vacuuming the first few feet helps, but it will not clear lint further down the line or check that the vent hood outside is opening and closing the way it should. A contractor brings the length of brush and the camera to see the whole run.
- What are the signs of a clogged dryer vent?
- Clothes taking longer to dry than they used to is the first sign. Others are the outside of the dryer getting hot to the touch, a burning smell during the cycle, and little to no airflow at the outside vent hood when the dryer is running. Lint building up around the lint trap door faster than normal is another sign the vent behind it is not moving air the way it should.