Dryer Vent Cleaning in Medford, OR
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Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Cold vents make the lint stick
Every load of laundry pushes warm, damp air out through the vent. In Medford winters, with nights averaging 31°F from December through February, that air cools fast once it hits the metal duct. The moisture in it beads up on the walls of the vent, and lint sticks to the damp surface instead of blowing outside. Layer by layer, the vent narrows.
A vent that cannot pass air makes the dryer run hotter and longer to dry the same load. That heat has to go somewhere, and a blocked vent is a known cause of house fires.
- 31°F
- the average winter night, and cold vents catch damp lint
- 9 months
- October through June, the vent stays cold
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NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should a dryer vent be cleaned?
- Once a year is right for most homes. Lint builds up inside the vent even when the lint trap gets cleaned every time, because not all of it gets caught there. A yearly cleaning keeps that buildup from turning into a clog.
- Can I clean my dryer vent myself?
- You can clean the part you can reach, but that is usually not the whole vent. A vacuum and a brush from the inside will get lint near the dryer and near the outside hood, but most vents run several feet through a wall or ceiling, and lint packs in the middle where you cannot see it or reach it. A contractor uses a rod-and-brush system built to clean the full run and check that the vent hood outside is opening and closing the way it should.
- What are the signs of a clogged dryer vent?
- Clothes coming out hot but still damp is the main one. Others are a dryer that runs longer than it used to, a burning smell, the outside vent hood not flapping open when the dryer runs, and heat or lint around the dryer door. Any one of these means air isn't moving through the vent the way it should, and it's worth having the vent checked before running the dryer again.