Dryer Vent Cleaning in Boston, MA
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It takes about a minute.
Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Cold vents make lint stick
Your dryer pushes out warm, damp air. Once that air hits the cold vent run, it cools fast, and the moisture in it turns to dampness on the inside walls of the duct. Lint sticks to a damp wall a lot easier than it does to a dry one.
Winter nights here average 23°F from December through February, and the vent stays cold for the eight months a year your house needs heat. That is a long stretch for lint to build up layer on layer instead of blowing clear out the hood. A vent that is closing up like this pushes hot, moist air back where it came from instead of outside.
- 23°F
- the average winter night, and cold vents catch damp lint
- 8 months
- October through May, the vent stays cold
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NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should a dryer vent be cleaned?
- Once a year is the general rule. If you run loads almost daily or notice drying times creeping up, get it checked sooner. Lint builds up along the whole run, not just in the trap, and it only takes a partial blockage to slow drying down.
- Can I clean my dryer vent myself?
- You can clean the first few feet from the back of the dryer, and that's worth doing. But most vents run several feet through a wall or ceiling to an outside hood, with bends along the way, and lint sitting deep in that run won't come out with a vacuum or a brush from either end. A contractor uses rods and a brush sized to the duct to clear the whole length and check that the outside hood is opening and closing the way it should.
- What are the signs of a clogged dryer vent?
- Clothes that take more than one cycle to dry, or that come out hot to the touch instead of just warm, are the clearest sign. Check the outside vent hood too. If the flap barely moves or you feel weak airflow when the dryer is running, lint is backing up somewhere in the run. A burning smell or a dryer that shuts off partway through a cycle means it's overheating and should be looked at soon.