Dryer Vents

Just another thing for home owners to think about. Dryer fires are something we should keep in
mind. Check with your insurance agent because I know here in BC Canada if a fire is traced back
to your dryer and you are still using a plastic flex hose for exhaust your insurance will not cover your loses. The code now is an aluminum flex hose which runs under $20 and can be picked up at any hardware store. With the plastic flex hose the condensation was building up inside them,
trapping the lint and causing build ups inside the hose. This would cause the dryers to over heat resulting in dryer fires or element burn outs. When you are choosing a new aluminum flex hose please make sure that the one you choose is the bendable type. You do not want the rigid types because there is no give at all in them. If you try to bend them too much they will break.
Do not use duct tape to attach the hoses. We are dealing with heat, which will dry the glue on the
duct tape.Make sure you use a foil tape which is made for heat.
You should look at having your dryer vent cleaned every other year if it is less then 25 feet in
length, any thing longer should be cleaned every year and you might want to look at having this
re-plumbed to a shorter distance. Typically a dryer vent starts to clog up at the furthest point
away from the dryer. The last 4 - 6 feet is usually the problem but in longer systems the dryers
just don't have the power to blow the lint to the end so it starts building up way before the end
of the system. I have seen vents so long that dryer lint wasn't the problem. Water was! Because
it was so long the dryer couldn't even get rid of the condensation inside the pipe and it just kept
building up. If you’re dryer vent is this long (more then 40 feet) then seriously think of
re-plumbing it. Your Power-Vac company can take care of this chore for you.
An absolute no-no with dryer vents is to not put a screen on the vent outside your home. It
takes no time at all for these screens to clog up and then you've got problems with drying.
Another issue is birds. They love to nest inside dryer vents. Make sure you have a flap on yours
at the very least. Pest guards are available at any hardware store and this is what I would
suggest using. No blockage and peace of mind knowing no birds can get into your vent.
How will you know you need to clean out your dryer vent? If you are constantly replacing
heating elements, if a load of wash is taking more then one drying cycle to dry or if you see a lot
of lint on your roof or sidewalk underneath your vent then you should start thinking about
having it cleaned out.