Dryer Vent Cleaning in The Dalles, OR
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It takes about a minute.
Cold air and a long lint trail
Your dryer pushes warm, wet air out through the vent, and outside that vent the air is cold most of the year. Winter nights here average 27°F from December through February, and the vent runs through cold space on its way outside. The warm air cools fast inside that pipe, and when it cools, the moisture in it settles on the walls of the vent. Lint sticks to a damp wall far better than it sticks to a dry one.
That buildup narrows the pipe a little at a time. Less air moves through, so your dryer takes longer to dry a load and runs hotter doing it. Lint is also what catches fire when a vent gets blocked, so a narrowing vent is not just a slower one.
- 27°F
- the average winter night, and cold vents catch damp lint
- 10 months
- September through June, the vent stays cold
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should a dryer vent be cleaned?
- Once a year is the standard advice for most households. Lint builds up along the full length of the vent, not just in the trap, and a year is usually long enough for it to start narrowing the airflow. A household that runs the dryer more than most should check it more often, since more loads means more lint moving through the duct.
- Can I clean my dryer vent myself?
- You can clean the trap and the first few feet yourself, but that is not the whole vent. Most runs travel through the wall and out to a hood on the outside of the house, with bends you cannot reach by hand or with a household vacuum. A contractor uses a brush and rod system sized to the full length of the duct, which is the only way to know the whole thing is clear.
- What are the signs of a clogged dryer vent?
- Clothes coming out hot but still damp is the clearest sign. Others are a dryer that runs noticeably longer than it used to, a burning smell, the outside vent hood barely moving when the dryer is on, or the top of the dryer feeling hot to the touch. Any of these means airflow is restricted somewhere in the vent run, and it is worth having it checked.