Importance of Dryer Vent Cleaning

Right after Hurricane IVAN, a neighbor experienced a fire in their home. The fire consumed thirty percent of the home causing smoke damage throughout. It took one year before the family moved back in.

A fire is always devastating. I know! In January 1978, my family lost our home to a fire. We walked away by the grace of God with our lives and the clothing on our backs. I had on house shoes, a pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt. The fire occurred during the month of January.

While South Florida is not an exceptionally cold area of the state, at the panhandle we can get very cold. At times, we have temperatures dipping below twenty degrees. When this drop occurs, we pray for snow. At any rate, when the fire occurred, we walked away with just the clothes on our backs during an exceptionally cold time of the month.

When our neighbor experienced their fire, we later discovered the fire occurred due to a dryer vent. Our understanding was that the vent was full; the neighbors left the house with the dryer running. The fire occurred in the laundry room.

Being that I did work a full time job, I did this same thing quite often. However, I have recently discovered the magnitude in leaving a dryer running unattended. In January of this year, I discovered my dryer going for well over an hour to dry one load of clothing. I had an automatic sensor on my dryer. The unit will continue to run until all clothes are dry. Well, I discovered it was taking hours for my clothes to dry. I had a spare dryer in the garage, so I changed out this dryer with the spare. After a few times using the spare, the same thing began to occur.

I hate trying to figure out why something is not working properly. If it can be replaced for a couple of hundred dollars, I just go out and purchase a new item

Therefore, Best Buy got four hundred dollars of my hard-earned money. The new dryer was delivered. I tipped the young men who made the delivery. They stayed around until they were sure the dryer was operating properly. After a few weeks, the same problem occurred once again. I dried seven loads of clothing. Two days later, I washed a load of towels. Towels are absolutely the worst things to launder. I never go over two days without washing a load.

On this attempt to dry clothing, I noticed the new dryer blowing and continuously running, yet not drying. It was taking a lengthy period to dry the smallest load of clothing. The light came on! I thought; something must be wrong in the wall, power outlet or power source to the dryer.

I had the local power company send a technician out. They checked the power going into the dryer and washer. No problem! The technicians recommended calling an exhaust cleaner. The exhaust cleaning technician came out at a cost of seventy-five dollars. The technician cleaned the vent running into the back of the dryer. He expressed he could only clean at the connection and few inches into the wall. Due to local safety requirements, he could go no further.

I became a little angry. The reason for my anger was when I called his company I explained my problem. They said they could clean the exhaust system completely. However, when the technician came and checked everything out, he expressed they could only go into the exhaust from the dryer inside the home. If this did not clear the problem, I would have to call a company who were allowed by county to go onto the roof.

At this point, I realize I am getting the shaft. At this point, I will have to now call another company out to go into the exhaust system from the roof. What next?

Clean your vents. Go to your local home improvement store and purchase an apparatus that you can run the length of the exhaust system. You will spend possibly all of $100.

It's amazing to me, yet it is a lesson well learned. I have now paid out over $1000. I am sharing this advice with you to hopefully prevent someone else from spending thousands when you should have to probably spend no more than $100.

Oh, and by the way, keep your vents cleaned out at regular intervals. Once a month cleaning is not too much. You never want to feel the hurt and pain of losing a home due to something, which could easily be prevented. A clogged vent at just the right temperature can cause massive damage in addition to a loss of your home and God forbid someone's life.