Is your clothes dryer at risk for a fire?

Posted Monday, September 30th, 2019

One of your home’s most essential necessities may be more dangerous than you think. While your clothes dryer has a lint trap that collects most of the debris from clothes, some of that lint will still travel through the vent system to rest inside your dryer ducts. Being highly combustible, it’s when the lint accumulates that the potential for fire increases greatly.

With over 17,000 house fires caused by clothes dryers each year, the lack of cleaning was responsible for a 34% of those fires, making it the leading cause.

Here are a few tips to help you and your family stay safe: 

Choose an outside meeting place (i.e. neighbor’s house, a light post, mailbox, or stop sign) a safe distance in front of your home where everyone can meet after they’ve escaped. 

Once you’re out, stay out! Under no circumstances should you ever go back into a burning building. If someone is missing, inform the fire department dispatcher when you call. Firefighters have the skills and equipment to perform rescues.

Closing doors on your way out slows the spread of fire, giving you more time to safely escape.

Unblock Exits. Items that block doors and windows in your home could prevent you from escaping in the event of a home fire.

Don’t run the dryer when you’re not home or are asleep. Only use your washer and dryer when someone who knows how to operate them is home and alert.

Avoid using plastic or foil tubing; dryer ducts should always be metal. With the plastic and foil tubing, low points will form in the tubing where lint will collect at the low point, increasing your risk for a dryer vent fire.

Have your dryer vents professionally cleaned regularly. Dryer vents should be inspected and cleaned yearly, but with increased household size and usage, you may want to clean them more frequently.

 

Call us today or schedule your dryer vent cleaning online with our NADCA certified technicians!

Cleaning Your Dryer Vents can Extend the Life of Your Dryer

Posted Monday, October 17th, 2016

Is Your Dryer Working the Way It Should in Mason?

Most of us want to plan and save to buy new appliances. Having to make a big purchase unexpectedly can be a real burden on a family, not to mention inconvenient. Although most of us are aware that a clogged dryer vent can result in a dangerous fire, did you know that it can also shorten the life of your dryer? The best way to keep your dryer working as long as should is properly cleaning the vent.

How Does a Dryer Vent Work?

Air that has passed through the dryer’s heating element is drawn through the clothes and then into the holes in the dryer door. From there it enters the space in the bottom the door and where an exhaust duct is covered by your lint screen. A fan sucks the now moist air out of this duct, and vents it outdoors. This allows more heated dry air to pass through your clothes.

Dirty Vents and Broken Dryers

Because the lint screen is not one-hundred percent effective at filtering lint, threads, and other debris, some of this ends up in the dryer vent, the exhaust duct, and the dryer hose. Eventually the obstruction begins to interfere with your dryer’s performance. You may notice that it takes longer and longer for a load of clothes to dry, or that the clothes seem dangerously heated when you take them out of the dryer. You could also notice a burning smell, or that the outside of the drying unit is too hot to touch when it runs.

How Does Dryer Vent Cleaning Extend the Life of Your Dryer?

When your dryer doesn’t vent properly, your dryer has to work extra hard to dry your clothes. This added wear and tear can lead to a breakdown. Plus, because your dryer runs longer, you waste energy. At the end of the day, between what you save on repair and energy costs, a regular dryer vent cleaning will practically pay for itself.

Keeping Vents Clear

It’s important that your dryer ducts are no smaller than four inches in diameter, and that the outdoor vent cover opens easily. You should also regularly clean your lint trap. If you want to take further steps at home, it is possible to disassemble and clean the dryer vent and hose yourself. A shop vacuum and some mechanical know-how are all it takes.

However, the best and simplest way to clean your dryer vent is to call the professionals at Modernistic. We have all the expertise and equipment to make this cumbersome chore no more difficult than dialing our number. Watch what we can do here, then contact us today, and schedule your appointment!

Why a dirty dryer vent is a safety hazard in your home

Posted Monday, September 26th, 2016

Oxford, Michigan: did you know your dryer vent could put your home at risk?

How much time do you spend thinking about your dryer vent? Probably not a lot, and that’s OK… most of the time. However, if you’ve never given your dyer vent any thought at all, it may surprise you to learn that a dirty dryer vent is a safety hazard in your home. Poorly-cleaned clothes dryers cause thousands of house fires every year, resulting in death, injury, and millions of dollars of property loss for many Americans.

Fortunately, there are several steps you can take to address this hazard in your home.

What can you do to prevent a house fire?

Lint is the usual suspect in a dryer fire. Uncleaned lint screens, or lint built up inside or around the dryer itself, can ignite if a dryer runs too hot for too long. However, the biggest risk comes from the vent itself. Here are some things to look out for:

  • Dryer vents made from flexible tubing, such as foil or plastic, collect lint in areas where it sags or bends. Long dryer vents are also a risk, especially if they make several twists and turns before venting outside. Examine your current setup, and replace any flexible tubing with a rigid, metal duct.
  • Pay attention to how well your dryer runs. If it feels exceptionally hot during a cycle, or if it regularly takes more than one cycle to dry your clothes, it may be time to clean your dryer vent.
  • Does your laundry room feel damp or have a musty odor? A blocked dryer vent can cause warm, humid air to backup into your laundry room. This could be due to lint, but it can also mean an animal has chosen to nest in your vent. Have a professional come in to clean it out.
  • Be careful if you’re washing clothes which have been stained with a volatile agent. If you’ve spilled gasoline, cooking oil, alcohol, cleaning agents, or other flammable substances on your clothes, wash them twice and line dry.
  • Don’t overload your dryer, and don’t dry anything against the manufacturer’s instructions. The same applies for any item with foam, plastic, or rubber, such as a bathroom mat with a slip-proof backing.

Have a professional clean your dryer vent regularly

If you aren’t sure when you last had your dryer vent cleaned, or if you’ve noticed any of the warning signs above, bring in a professional to take a look. Modernistic offers dryer vent cleaning in the Oxford, Michigan area, as well as throughout areas of southern and central Michigan. And if you’re having us in to clean your air ducts, ask about including a dryer vent cleaning in the service. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.