Dryer Vent Cleaning in Springfield, IL
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It takes about a minute.
Cold vents give lint a place to stick
Your dryer pushes out warm, damp air every load. Once that air hits the cold vent run, it cools fast, and lint sticks to the damp walls instead of blowing outside. On a night near 22 degrees, the vent near the outside wall is about as cold as it gets, so that is where the buildup starts.
Layer by layer, the lint narrows the path the air has to take. A dryer that has to push exhaust through a choked vent runs hotter and takes longer to dry a load. Enough buildup and the vent stops the air almost entirely, and the moisture that should have gone outside ends up back in the vent and the wall around it.
- 22°F
- the average winter night, and cold vents catch damp lint
- 7 months
- October through April, 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 whole length of the vent, not just in the trap you clean out after every load. A year is long enough for it to narrow the path air needs to escape, which is why cleaning stays on a yearly schedule rather than something you do once and forget.
- Can I clean my dryer vent myself?
- You can clean the first few feet, but most homes have too much vent to reach that way. A vacuum and brush handle the section right behind the dryer. The rest runs through the wall to an outside hood, often with bends, and lint sitting past those bends will not come out with a household vacuum.
- What are the signs of a clogged dryer vent?
- Clothes that take two cycles to dry, a dryer that runs hot to the touch, and a burning smell are the main ones. Check the outside vent hood too. If the flap barely moves or no air is coming out while the dryer runs, the line is blocked somewhere between the dryer and the wall.