Dryer Vent Cleaning in Terre Haute, IN
Tell us about your home, and a licensed contractor who covers Vigo County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Cold air in the vent makes lint stick
Your dryer pushes out warm, damp air every time it runs. From December through February, nights here average 23°F, and that vent run is sitting in cold air most of the winter. The warm air cools fast once it hits the metal, and the moisture in it settles on the walls of the vent. Lint that would just blow through a warm, dry vent sticks instead.
That buildup narrows the vent a little at a time. Air moves slower, so the dryer takes longer to dry a load and the exhaust stays wet longer on its way out, which only helps more lint stick.
- 23°F
- the average winter night, and cold vents catch damp lint
- 7 months
- October through April, the vent stays cold
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should a dryer vent be cleaned?
- Once a year for most households. If you dry more than a few loads a day, or the vent run is long with a lot of turns, check it more often than that. A vent that's clogged makes the dryer run hotter and longer to dry the same load, which wears the machine out faster.
- Can I clean my dryer vent myself?
- You can clean the parts you can reach, but that's usually not the whole job. Pulling the dryer out and vacuuming the first few feet of duct, plus clearing lint from the exterior vent hood, helps and is worth doing. The lint that collects deep in a long duct run or around bends takes a brush system built for the job to reach, and a contractor will have that equipment.
- What are the signs of a clogged dryer vent?
- Clothes coming out hot to the touch but still damp is the clearest sign. Others include a laundry room that feels warmer or more humid than usual, a burning smell when the dryer runs, and the outside vent hood flap barely moving or not opening at all when the dryer is on. If drying times have been creeping up load after load, the vent is the first thing to check.