Pesky Invaders

The Danger of Skipping Your Dryer Vent Cleaning

Your dryer is probably not something you ever think about as long as it’s working properly. But dryer vent cleaning is a critical aspect of home maintenance. Read on to learn more about the danger of skipping this annual appointment.

What is a Dryer Vent?

We all know it’s important to clean the lint trap in the dryer door, but there’s a vent connector that leads to an outside vent and it also gets full of clothing fuzz. The problem with this is that heat escapes from your dryer. Dryer sheets exacerbate the issue because they leave sticky debris.

House Fires

When dryer vents become clogged with debris and lint, it restricts the airflow, and exhaust gases become trapped. Your dryer then has to work harder to create heat. Not only is this a nuisance because clothes stay damp, but it causes thousands of house fires each year.

Vent blockages can also force the deadly gas carbon monoxide to backup. This is especially dangerous because it’s odorless.

A pest invasion isn’t as dramatic as a house fire, but too much lint can prevent your exterior dryer duct’s hood flap from closing all the way. This creates an entry point for birds or rodents looking for warmth and shelter. Cleaning your dryer vent will help keep your home free of critters. You can also consider installing a pest guard.

Your Energy Bill

A dryer that’s burdened with lint simply won’t function as well, which means higher monthly energy costs for you. It might not seem like much, but those extra dollars can add up over time.

Scheduling Your Dryer Vent Cleaning

The Irish Sweep has been in business since 1979. Our top priority remains safety, and we tailor services with our client’s best interest at heart. We hope you found this article informative. To schedule your dryer vent cleaning appointment today, give us a call at (510) 521-4088.

HOW TO INSTALL A DRYER VENT

It’s been over 100 years since the first clothes dryers were invented. They initially used barrels but nowadays they are fully electronic. Modern dryers require a way to ventilate the dryer so the lint and moisture can exit. But, how do you install a dryer vent? The process takes five steps:

DUCT ROUTE

The first step is to determine the best route to have the duct go from the machine to the home’s exterior. You try to make this short and with minimal bends. This will ensure less possibility for excessive buildup and a potential fire hazard. We highly recommend making the distance no more than 15 feet, if possible.

PREPARING THE EXIT

Once you have the route, you need to create a hole within the home’s exterior to account for the piping. Do this hole carefully as you are impacting the integrity of the home. Creating a smaller, “practice” hole is a good idea to ensure you are heading in the right direction and there is no blockage.

PLACE THE CAP

With the hole in place, it’s time to secure the dryer vent cap to the exterior of the home. Once you’ve installed it, place calking around the opening to keep any other elements out.

CONNECT THE DRYER DUCT

With the route created and the cap installed, measure the length of the distance from the cap to the dryer. Cut the amount of ducting needed and attach the dryer vent duct to the dryer and cap.

TEST

With the vent installed and connected, you now need to run the dryer to test that it is all properly connected.

If you have questions about your dryer vents, contact the experts at The Irish Sweep.

THE IMPORTANCE OF DRYER VENT CLEANING

Among the top appliances that homeowners rely on to manage a household is the dryer. Don’t let your dryer turn into a fire risk by not cleaning it routinely and appropriately. The lint that builds up is like kindling for a fire. Add the heat of the dryer and a safety hazard exists in every home.

Homeowners often disregard fundamental dryer support until something breaks, but that plan is a fire risk you don’t need. Consistently cleaning the dryer vent is a simple method of reducing laundry expenses, increasing fire safety, and minimizing maintenance while getting better laundry drying results.

Here are some of the reasons to have your dryer vent professionally cleaned on a schedule:

CLOTHING DRYING:

A dryer with a clogging vent will take more time drying clothes. This is because of restricted airflow, which is why it also reduces the effectiveness of your lint trap! You’ll find your clothes are more damp and more linty than if you had dried for the same time with a clear dryer vent system. You can save time waiting for things to dry AND time spend with your lint roller by getting vents cleaned.

EQUIPMENT FAILURE:

Given that you don’t clean your vent routinely, you’re setting a superfluous measure of strain on the dryer. Warmth will eventually slaughter the hardware that power each apparatus available. What’s more, a dryer that is working more diligently than would normally be appropriate will experience parts like course more rapidly. Cleaning the dryer vent routinely can spare you substantial dollars in fixes during the life span of the unit.

UTILITY BILLS:

Moderate evaluations keep up that a normal dryer will use at any rate $0.75 worth of power during a standard drying cycle. A dryer with a messy or obstructed vent can accept twice as long to accomplish worthy outcomes. This implies a common family unit will squander about $100 towards power in a year. Regardless of whether the cushioned service bill doesn’t concern you, the unnecessary carbon emanations should.

UNWANTED GUESTS:

In all honesty, a linty dryer vent is an extraordinary method to pull in an assortment of irritations to your home. Build up garbage in and around the surge pipe are the ideal condition for a number frightening critters. Rodents specifically love to relocate to a comfortable, trash stopped up vent. The moist smaller scale atmosphere encompassing a dryer with a messy vent is a prime area for termites and ants.

FIRE HAZARDS:

As indicated by the National Fire Protection Agency, somewhere in the range of 15,000 to 18,000 structure flames are brought about by grimy dryer vents each year. Build up development alone is a debacle that is constantly building. Notwithstanding something as innocuous as electricity produced via friction can rapidly start a huge blaze under the correct conditions. Exhausted dryers that are near the edge because of stopped up vents can without much of a stretch blow a circuit and begin an electrical flame.

As should be obvious, dryer vent cleaning is indispensably critical to the well being and security of your whole family. Set aside the effort to wipe out your dryer vent and investigate it in any event twice every year. The negligible measure of time you put resources into this will receive rich benefits in adding to the security of your home.

If you have questions or need your vents cleaned, contact the experts at The Irish Sweep.

Don’t lose your family heirlooms to fire!!!

The US Fire Administration reported 15,600 structural fires, 15 deaths and 400 injuries because of lint build up in the venting system of gas and electrical residential dryers.

The Chimney Safety Institute of America recommends that a Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician perform a duct inspection and cleaning on an annual

basis which in the long run saves money because of increased efficiency of the dryer and decrease of wear on your appliance.

SIX WARNING SIGNS THAT YOUR DRYER EXHAUST VENTS NEED TO BE CLEANED

1. Longer than normal drying time

2. Reduced performance

3. You see lint coming out of the dryer vent opening

4. Burning smell when your dryer is running

5. Dryer feels hot on the outside

6. You haven’t had your dryer vent cleaned in over 1 year.

DRYER VENTS: THE DANGER WITHIN

*”Very few people realize the danger of clothes dryer fires. However, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, there are an estimated annual 15,500 fires, 10 deaths and 10 injuries due to clothes dryer fires. Several hundred people a year are also subjected to carbon monoxide poisoning from improper lafayette dryer vents setups. The financial costs come to nearly $100,000,000 per year. In some cases faulty appliances are to blame,

but many fires can be prevented with proper dryer venting.” If you notice that your clothes require a much longer drying time, maintenance of the dryer exhaust system is imperative.

Dryer fires occur when the lint accumulation and reduced airflow feed on each other to provide the condition that ignites a fire. Most people don’t realize lint is highly combustible.

Once upon a time, dryers were always located in the basement of a home but today people have realized their ability to install a dryer closer to the dirty clothes source which is in the bedroom area of the home. Often that remodel will put the dry between interior walls of the home instead of directly venting through an exterior wall and the venting material is installed in longer runs which means the dryer or dryer vent parts has to work harder to push the products of combustion farther. The end results in a greater accumulation of lint, that highly combustible material.

It is important the lint is removed from the lint trap after every load that is dried. Even with that good behavior lint can still wander into your appliance. In our experience, lint screens located near the back of the dryer have less internal build up of lint than those with screens near the front door of the dryer. We do our best to clean as much of that as possible but sometimes it is necessary to call upon the assistance of a dryer repair company that is qualified to disassemble the dryer and access the interior surfaces that collect lint.

If you are undertaking a remodeling project of this nature, try to make the exhaust run as short as possible, straighter is always better and avoid the use of too many elbows which restrict the flow.

Use only 26 gauge venting material and avoid flexible connectors that are constructed of flammable material. Unfortunately, we see these flammable products sold in every local hardware store.

When pushing the dryer into position take care not to push the appliance so far back that it crushes the venting material. If it is time to purchase a new dryer, measure the existing space and be certain not to purchase an appliance that is too deep and will compromise the vent connector. If you notice a lot of “dust bunnies” in your laundry room, it could be because the venting connector has been crushed or has holes.

The dryer duct needs to vent to the outside atmosphere and not into an attic or crawlspace under the house.

Never use screws to put the venting material together.

For safety, never let your dryer vents run while you are asleep or out of the house and remember to read the manufacturer’s instructions regarding the safe use of their product and install as directed.

Need an appliance specialist? We have a great referral for you whom we trust with our very own appliances: Todd Anderson, Anderson Repair Services, 510-301-0223

*The source for this information is from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Flue, What Is It?

Flue: Most people say to me, “Will you close the flue once you complete the cleaning process?” What they are really asking me to do is to close the damper.

So what is the definition of the word flue? The Chimney Safety Institute of America defines this word as, “The passage in a chimney for conveying flue gases to the outside atmosphere.”

And Webster’s Dictionary defines this word as, “A channel or pipe in a chimney for carrying flame and smoke to the outer air.”

The inside of your chimney may contain one or more flues. It depends upon the number of fireplaces or gas appliances are in the home.