Each year, clothes dryers cause nearly 3,000 home fires in the United States. According to the National Fire Protection Association, improperly cleaned dryer vents cause a whopping 34% of dryer-related fires. Most of these fires are contained within the dryer, but they can occasionally cause injury or death in addition to thousands of dollars in property damage. These fires are easily preventable with proper dryer vent maintenance and regular cleaning.
What clogs up dryer vents?
Clothing lint accounts for most dryer vent clogs. Most of the lint from your clothing collects in your dryer’s lint trap during the drying cycle, but some smaller particles will inevitably get through the filter and be carried along the duct work. Moisture in the air makes the lint sticky and causes it to collect on the sides of the duct. Over time this collection of lint builds up on duct walls, partially blocking off the duct and inhibiting air flow through the vent.
In addition, birds and other small animals can sometimes get into your dryer duct and build a nest. The warmth is very attractive to small animals, and the duct is generally sheltered from predators, making it an ideal place to raise animal young. Unfortunately, a nest also prevents air from flowing freely through your dryer vent, creating a fire hazard and making your dryer have to work that much harder to dry your clothes.
How can you prevent dryer fires?
Regular, thorough cleaning of your dryer vent is essential to prevent dryer fires. Depending on your level of use, a dryer vent should typically be cleaned once every one to three years. It can be difficult to determine when it’s time for a cleaning, but one indicator is drying time. If your dryer seems to take an unusually long time to dry your clothes, you have a clog.
In addition to dryer vent cleaning services, Doigg’s offers the DrySafer alarm. The DrySafer monitors the level of air flow passing through the vent and alerts you when the air flow is dangerously restricted. This takes the guesswork out of dryer vent maintenance.
Why choose Doigg’s?
There are kits available to clean your dryer vent from home, but these only do part of the job. Do-it-yourself kits tend to focus on either vacuuming the debris out of the vent or forcefully blowing it out the other end. These methods leave a surprising amount of lint stuck to the duct walls, and if an animal nest is causing your clog, it can be difficult to remove with a DIY kit. Our system uses a brush powered by a motorized cable to actually scrub the walls of the dryer vent for a complete clean that is unmatched by any at-home kit.
Our equipment can thoroughly scrub any type of duct, all the way from end to end. A thorough clean lowers your risk of fire and makes your dryer run more efficiently, lowering energy costs.
Don’t wait! Call Doigg’s today to schedule a dryer vent cleaning. Your family’s safety depends on it.