How Often Should You Have Your Dryer Vent Cleaned Out
One of the biggest home fire hazards is a dirty dryer vent. And even if clogged dyer ducts don't pb to household impairment right abroad, it'll waste material your time, energy and money.
A dryer connected to vents filled with lint, dust, and dirt won't work well either. If your dryer one time polished off wet loads in one cycle or less but now needs two or fifty-fifty three, check your ductwork. Chances are information technology's non your dryer that's faulty -- only grimy venting that's the issue.
Also read: The best laundry detergent: 2019 review of pods and liquid detergents |All-time robot vacuum of 2019: iRobot Roomba, Neato and all other robot vacuum cleaners
Your dryer vent usually enters the laundry room wall and exits outside through an external wall.
Chris Monroe/CNETStep 1: Locate your duct
In social club to properly make clean your dryer'southward ventilation organization, you take to showtime know where it is and where it ends. In back of most dryer units is a short four-inch diameter frazzle. This frazzle connects to dedicated ductwork inside the wall through an aluminum elbow or other pipage. Hot air travels along these metal pipes to eventually sally through an opening on an outside wall of your firm.
Sentry this: Supercharge your dryer by cleaning its vent
In my detail setup, the dryer exhaust joined a duct at the foot of a wall inside my laundry room. Located in the basement, from there information technology runs to an go out vent at ground level and a few feet to the right of my front door. Capping the be is a louvered plastic cover. Information technology opens to permit warm air escape just stays close otherwise to go along animals out.
The other end of the vent should be exterior.
Chris Monroe/CNETFootstep two: Safely disconnect the dryer
At present that you know the start and end points of your duct, it'due south time to disconnect the dryer. It'south a simple task if you lot own an electric dryer. Start unplug the machine'southward power cord from the wall outlet. Adjacent remove any metal tape or clamps keeping the dryer vent pipe stock-still to its exhaust. If information technology's easier you might simply want to remove material attaching the vent to the duct within the wall.
Discover your dryer'due south frazzle vent on the back of the appliance.
Brian Bennett/CNETGently pull the vent pipe abroad from the wall duct. If your dryer is electric you should be able to push the appliance out of the fashion without any problems. This volition open up more than space to work.
Homeowners with dryers that run on natural gas need to be more than careful. Make certain not to disturb the dryer's gas line too much if you need to reposition the unit. Like gas ranges, the fuel hookup usually consists of a flexible steel hose. The hose should be tightly fastened only it's all-time to play it safe. Gas leaks are serious and unsafe business. If at any point you're unsure, call in a professional.
Footstep 3: Clean, clean, clean
At this point you lot should have articulate admission to the dryer duct opening at the laundry room wall. You lot can also easily go at the exit point outside the house by removing its duct flap or duct cover. Next you lot need to buy a specialized dryer vent cleaning kit. I picked this one up at my local Dwelling Depot for $19. It consists of a lint brush and vi 2-foot-long flexible segments. You bring together these parts together to form a rod that spans a full 12 feet.
In my case I purchased an additional unit which both doubles its accomplish and provides a back-up brush caput for safe keeping. The end of the bang-up contraption also fits inside standard power drill chucks. So armed, you lot'll exist able to spin the brush with a skilful corporeality of speed and ability.
Insert the castor end of the rod into your duct. I decided to enter from the exterior of the house since that's its highest point. The idea was to apply gravity equally an aid to clear lodged droppings. It's easier to collect lint on my laundry room flooring too than it is from inside my mulch-covered flower garden.
While spinning the rod (counter clockwise to avert unscrewing its segments), button the brush as far every bit you tin down the duct. Hopefully you'll have enough length to attain the duct's other stop. Keep in mind the process might accept a few tries depending how many twists and turns your ductwork may have.
Step 4: Tidy up, reconnect everything
If your dryer vent is anything like mine, expect a lot of lint to come flooding out of the wall. The amount of junk that littered the laundry room floor brought my upright vacuum to its knees. In the end I had to clean out the vacuum twice to return information technology to working order. In hindsight, I suggest using a uncomplicated broom and dustpan.
Carefully move your dryer back into position and reconnect it.
Chris Monroe/CNETLater everything is tidy, put everything back the way it was -- with i exception. If your dryer used a soft foil-style vent to link to the wall duct, get rid of information technology. These hoses are a known fire gamble. I personally replaced the original semi-rigid venting with a pair of 90-degree aluminum elbows. Adjustable yet hard, they're durable and provide the best airflow period.
Step 5: Do a trial run and smile
No dubiousness about it. Giving your dryer duct a thorough cleaning is sweaty, messy work. Ii years of duct neglect was all information technology took to effectively cripple my old dryer. A quick trial run post-cleaning, however, confirmed the apparatus had regained all its power. Not but would I not have to buy an expensive new unit, I'd put the kibosh on the risk of a scary dryer fire. Now that's a worthwhile chore.
When it'south all said and done, your vents should demonstrate greatly increased air flow.
Chris Monroe/CNET
Source: https://www.cnet.com/home/kitchen-and-household/heres-how-to-clean-your-dryer-vent-in-5-steps/
Posted by: allenlairieve.blogspot.com
0 Response to "How Often Should You Have Your Dryer Vent Cleaned Out"
Post a Comment