Dryer Vent Cleaning in Fond du Lac, WI
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Cold vents make lint stick
Your dryer pushes out warm, damp air every time it runs. That air has to travel through a vent that sits in cold space most of the year, and from September through May the walls of that vent are cold too. The warm air cools fast once it hits that metal, and the moisture in it settles on the sides. Lint sticks to a damp wall far more than it does to a dry one.
On a night at 13 degrees, the difference between the air leaving your dryer and the vent it moves through is even greater, so the cooling happens faster and closer to where the air enters. Over a winter, that buildup narrows the vent from the inside. A narrow vent means your dryer takes longer to dry a load, and the lint packed against those walls is what a vent fire needs to start.
- 13°F
- the average winter night, and cold vents catch damp lint
- 9 months
- September through May, the vent stays cold
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should a dryer vent be cleaned?
- Once a year for most households. If you run big loads often, or you have a long vent run to the outside, once a year still holds but pay attention to how long loads take to dry. A vent that's clogged makes the dryer run longer to do the same job, and that's usually the first sign something needs attention before the yearly cleaning comes due.
- Can I clean my dryer vent myself?
- You can clean the part you can reach, which is the section from the dryer to the wall. A vent brush kit works from that end and can pull out a fair amount of lint. What you can't do yourself is clean the full run if it's long, has turns, or exits through the roof, because you need to see the whole thing to know it's actually clear. A contractor can run a camera through it and clean end to end.
- What are the signs of a clogged dryer vent?
- Clothes that take more than one cycle to dry is the main one. Others are the outside vent hood flap not opening when the dryer runs, a burning smell during a cycle, the dryer or the room getting hotter than usual, and lint building up around the door or vent opening. Any one of these is worth checking before the vent goes fully blocked, since a blocked vent is a fire risk.