Knowing how your appliances work, can benefit you in the long run. Strange sounds, smells, and longer cycles are all hints that something may be amiss in your appliance. This is especailly true when it comes to your clothes dryer! Don’t just assume everything is working properly, learn more about it yourself so you can decide if there is a problem. When you put your clothes in the dryer and turn it on, the drum of the dryer turns. The arms on the drum carry the clothes to the top, and then they drop to the bottom. The process is repeated again and again. As they fall, the warm air that is circulating through the dryer blows through the clothes, and this is how they become soft and dry.
The Danger of Lint
As your clothes get washed, tiny particles of cloth get agitated off of the clothing. While the drying process is taking place, those particles get blown off the clothes and have to go somewhere. The air blows them through the vent, and they get caught in the lint screen. This forms that blanket of lint in your lint screen that needs to be cleaned out after every load or two. Unfortunately, not all is caught, and some of that lint goes through to the vent. From there it floats through the vent on the way to the great outdoors. But this lint is damp, and that makes it stick more easily to the sides of the vent tubing.
Flammable and Blocking
As more and more lint goes down your vent, the layer that gets stuck gets thicker and thicker, and this is negative for a couple of reasons. First, it is highly flammable. If the electrical equipment strikes a spark or if your clothes have too much static, it can cause this lint to break into flames, causing a dangerous house fire. Another less serious problem is that, as the layer thickens, the space for air to blow through gets smaller. This means that it takes more work for the motor to push that air through, and your energy bills will be higher as a result.
If you notice that it’s taking longer and longer for your clothes to dry, and you’re running clothes through the dry cycle two or three times to make sure that they’re really dry, chances are that your dryer vent is becoming clogged with lint. In order to protect your pocketbook and your home, it’s time to call in the professionals at Chimney Doctors of Colorado. Although many people don’t realize it, having your dryer vents cleaned is a job that should be done at least once a year. At Chimney Doctors of Colorado, we have the tools and the experience to make sure that the job is done properly. Give us a call today, before the weather gets too much colder, and you’ll be sure that your family is kept safe from a dryer fire all winter long.