11/15/07 – Last month was National Fire Prevention Month which is timed to precede the heating season, but there is a year-round fire hazard that you need to know about.
It’s your clothes dryer vent. Now, that is not the lint screen that you pull out ted right out to the back yard. Home builders started putting the laundry facilities in the interior of the home – for the convenience of the homeowner - so if the vent pipe went right through that wall, the dryer wound be venting into a bedroom or living room, so a pipe was put in the walls and through the roof or side wall to take the clothes dryer exhaust out of the house. Over time, this pipe gets clogged with lint build up and needs to be cleaned.
This is a huge fire hazard. The Consumer Product Safety Commission tracks fires and their cause and they state that there are over 12,000 clothes dryer fires each year. If you think about it, when we were growing up, many of us used clothes dryer lint on campouts to help start the campfire, because lint is so flammable.
How do you know that your clothes dryer needs to be cleaned and how often should we do this?
The key to this is when your clothes start taking longer than 30 or 40 minutes to dry. This is the indicator that there is a problem. The lint builds up faster if you do laundry for multiple people and if there are elbows and bends in your dryer vent pipe.
Also, your clothes dryer vent in the walls should be 4 inch diameter rigid metal, not flexible, PVC pipe, or vinyl. If yours was not installed correctly, it should be replaced right away.
So, who does this dryer vent cleaning?
Chimney sweeps have been doing this work because they are “venting professionals”. In fact, the national credential is the “Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician” (CDET) which is earned through the Chimney Safety Institute of America.
Can a homeowner do it themselves?
Sure, if they are handy. There is some information online and you can purchase the $24.95 manual for do-it-your-self-ers at http://CleanYourOwnDryerVent.com
What are some other tips?
If you use softener sheets, you need to clean your lint screen with soap and water. The softener leaves an invisible film on your lint screen. It is a wax-like substance and needs to be washed off with a de-greasing soap like Dawn. Be careful not to tear the screen when you are washing it and make sure it is well rinsed and thoroughly dried before you use it again.
Also, if your clothes dryer is in a utility closet, keep the door open – at least a little while the clothes are drying so your clothes dryer does not have to work so hard to pull in replacement air.
This article was written by Alisa LeSueur, the Dryer Vent Lady. She is a CDET (Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician) and her information is at http://DryerVentLady.com or call 210-340-9508.
|
