After purchasing and installing a clothes dryer, most homeowners go on to use it multiple times a week but never consider having it cleaned or repaired by a professional. However, a clothes dryer is not an appliance that should be forgotten when it’s not in use. Like a chimney system, a clothes dryer vent needs to be regularly cleaned and maintained to keep it working and your home safe. The best professionals to help you look after your dryer system are your local chimney sweeps.
Dryer Vents and Chimneys Have A Lot in Common
A clothes dryer has a venting system that is similar to a chimney system. One of the main functions of a chimney is to take the exhaust produced from the appliance it’s connected to out of your home. A clothes dryer vent works similarly. It helps take the moisture and hot air produced when it’s drying clothes out of the dryer and out of your home. And just as dirty chimney is less efficient, so is a dirty dryer vent.
Where a chimney becomes clogged with soot and creosote, a dryer vent becomes clogged with lint. Cleaning your lint trap every time you use your dryer can help keep it clean longer, but eventually enough lint will settle in the vent and clog it if the vent itself is not regularly cleaned. Once lint blocks the airflow of your vent, moist air struggles to leave your dryer, making it much harder for it to dry clothes. When this happens, you’ll notice your clothes are taking longer and longer to dry, and you’ll waste money having your dyer in use for multiple cycles to dry just one load.
Local Chimney Sweeps Keep Your Dryer Safe
Like a dirty chimney, a dirty dryer vent makes your appliance more than just inefficient, but dangerous. A dryer vent not only takes moist air out of your dryer and home, but gases such as carbon monoxide. When lint blocks the airflow, this gas is prevented from fully leaving your home and puts your household in danger of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Furthermore, lint is extremely flammable. Every year thousands of house fires are started by malfunctions with clothes dryers, and a dirty dryer vent is the leading cause of these clothes dryer fires. A clothes dryer fire can spread to your home, put your family in danger and cause thousands of dollars in damages. In order to keep your home safe and your dryer working efficiently, it’s essential to have your local chimney sweeps professionally clean out the vent at least once a year.
In the southeast region? All Star Chimney Sweeps has locations in over 150 cities in the southeast, and we’re experts at keeping dryer vents clean and safe. Make an appointment on our online form today.