Dryer Vent Cleaning in Anderson, IN
Tell us about your home, and a licensed contractor who covers Madison County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Cold vents make lint stick
Your dryer pushes out warm, damp air, and that air has to travel through a vent that runs through cold space before it reaches outside. On a winter night here, with temperatures down around 22°F, the vent itself is cold. The warm air cools fast once it hits that metal, and the moisture in it beads up on the walls of the vent. Lint clings to a wet surface far more than a dry one, so the buildup happens faster in the cold months than it would otherwise.
A vent that is closing up with lint does two things. It makes the dryer run longer to dry the same load, and it gives that lint somewhere to collect right at the point where heat has nowhere to go.
- 22°F
- the average winter night, and cold vents catch damp lint
- 8 months
- October through May, the vent stays cold
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should a dryer vent be cleaned?
- Once a year is the general rule, and a contractor can tell you if your setup needs it more often. A long vent run, or one with several bends, traps lint faster than a short straight one. Between cleanings, watch how long a load takes to dry. If it's creeping up, the vent is telling you before the calendar would.
- Can I clean my dryer vent myself?
- You can clear the first few feet from inside, and you should clear lint from the outside hood by hand whenever you see it building up. What you can't do from either end is clean the full length of the vent, especially if it runs any real distance or has bends in it. A contractor uses a brush and vacuum system built to reach the whole run and pull lint out at the wall, not just push it further down the line.
- What are the signs of a clogged dryer vent?
- Clothes that take more than one cycle to dry is the clearest sign. The dryer or the laundry room getting hot while it runs is another. Check the vent hood outside too. If the flap doesn't open freely, or you feel weak airflow there while the dryer is running, lint is built up somewhere in the line.