Dryer Vent Cleaning in Brainerd, MN
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Cold vent runs turn lint into a wall
Your dryer pushes out warm, damp air, and in Brainerd that air is hitting a vent that runs through a cold house most of the year. Nights here average 5°F from December through February, and a metal vent sitting in that cold pulls the heat out of the exhaust fast. When the warm air cools that quickly, the moisture in it has somewhere to go, and the lint riding along with it sticks to the damp walls instead of blowing outside.
Once that lint builds up, it narrows the path the air has to take. The dryer has to push harder to move the same air, and a vent that is more lint than open pipe is a fire risk sitting behind your dryer.
- 5°F
- the average winter night, and cold vents catch damp lint
- 9 months
- September through May, the vent stays cold
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should a dryer vent be cleaned?
- Once a year is a good rule for most homes. If you dry a lot of laundry, have a long vent run, or the vent has a lot of bends, once a year may not be enough. Lint builds up slowly and cuts down airflow before you notice anything wrong, so the yearly cleaning catches it before it becomes a problem.
- Can I clean my dryer vent myself?
- You can clean the lint trap and the first few feet behind the dryer yourself. Pull the dryer out, disconnect the vent, and vacuum out what you can reach with a vent brush kit. But most of the vent run is inside the wall or the ceiling, and lint further down or clogs at the outside hood need longer rods or a contractor's equipment to reach and clear properly.
- What are the signs of a clogged dryer vent?
- Clothes taking longer than usual to dry, or coming out hot to the touch at the end of a cycle, is the biggest one. Others are a burning smell, the dryer itself feeling hot on the outside, or the vent hood outside barely moving air when the dryer runs. Lint building up around the lint trap opening faster than normal is also a warning sign.