5 Signs Your Dryer Vent Needs Cleaning

Lint is flammable, and a dryer vent is a warm tube that collects it with every load. Clogged dryer vents are a well-known cause of house fires, and the warning signs show up long before anything dangerous happens. Here are the five we see most often in San Antonio homes.

1. Clothes take two cycles to dry

A dryer works by pushing hot, wet air out through the vent. When the vent is restricted, that air has nowhere to go, the clothes stay damp, and you end up running a second cycle. If dry times have crept up over the last year, the vent is the first thing to check.

2. The dryer or the laundry room is hot

Heat that should be leaving through the vent stays in the machine and the room. A dryer that is hot to the touch on top, or a laundry room that feels like a sauna, is a restricted vent until proven otherwise.

3. Lint around the outside vent, or none at all

Walk outside and find where the vent exits the house. Lint stuck around the cover means the vent is pushing lint out but struggling. No lint and no airflow while the dryer is running means it is not getting out at all.

4. A burning smell

Lint sitting on the heating element or in the vent can scorch. If you smell something burning while the dryer runs, stop using it and have the vent cleaned before the next load.

5. The vent flap does not open

Most outside vents have a flap that lifts when the dryer is running. If the flap stays shut, the airflow is too weak to move it, which almost always means a blockage.

Why San Antonio vent runs clog faster

Many homes here have the laundry room in the middle of the house, so the vent runs a long way through the attic before it reaches the roof or a side wall. Long runs, bends and flexible foil duct all catch lint. Attic heat dries the lint out and packs it tighter.

What we do about it

Texas Heritage Air Duct cleans the full vent run from the dryer connection to the outside, not just the first few feet. It is included in our $49 special together with air duct cleaning, or as part of the $59 complete package with chimney cleaning. Either way you get a camera inspection so you can see the result.