The other day I was outside in the backyard pitching a wiffle ball to my kids so they could hit. They love to hit. As I was waiting for them to retrieve a missed strike, I looked up at the house. The dryer vent on the roof was full of lint. That is not good. There are two major reasons why everyone’s dryer vent should be cleaned.
1. A clogged vent is filled with flammable material with hot air going by. Everything needed for a fire.
2. It takes longer to dry clothes. Which means it costs more money and takes more energy to dry clothes, and with 4 daughters in this house it also means there is a constant backup of clothes.
I didn’t do anything right away, the usual things like making dinner and paying bills got in the way, but then my dryer shut down. There is a sensor in newer models that stops the dryer when the dryer vent overheats. When I called the repairman, he told me I had to get the vent cleaned before he would come fix it because it would just break again and it would not be safe until I did get the vent clean. I tried to clean it out myself, but the length of the vent was too long. So I called a professional vent cleaning guy, but he was too busy for the next few weeks. So I called a handyman service. They came over and with a leaf blower fitted with an opening the same size as the dryer vent opening, they blew the excess lint out of the vent.
My drying time has been significantly reduced. I think I am saving at least half of my previous drying costs and I can get more clothes cleaned. Average costs for drying are estimated at about $10 per month at the high range and I think with four girls (and two of those teenagers), we are in the high range. So my bill has probably been reduced by at least $10 per month. And I have reduced a fire hazard at my home.
Besides all of this good safety and efficiency news, since the professional vent cleaner recommends a yearly cleaning, he has put me on his tickle file and we will set up an appointment next year.
I wonder about all of the other home owners who need their dryer vents cleaned, but I also wonder about laundromats, apartment buildings and rental homes. How often are their vents getting cleaned? Apartments and rental homes have their owners separated from the buildings and normal renters would not notice longer drying times, nor would the owners worry too much about it since dryers are usually coin-operated. They make even more money with a clogged dryer vent! My parents owned a laundromat for a while and they never had the dryer vents cleaned. They had more pressing issues like getting machines fixed and counting all of those quarters.
