Dryer Vent Cleaning in Milbank, SD
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Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Cold vents turn lint into a wall
Your dryer pushes out warm, damp air, and in Milbank that air is hitting a vent run surrounded by cold for nine months of the year. December through February, nights average 7 degrees. The moment that warm air cools against the vent walls, the moisture in it condenses, and lint sticks to wet metal instead of blowing through.
Each load adds another layer. Over a winter, that buildup narrows the vent until the dryer is pushing air through a smaller and smaller opening, and it has to work harder to push it through at all.
- 7°F
- the average winter night, and cold vents catch damp lint
- 9 months
- September 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, at minimum. Lint builds up along the inside of the vent run even when you clean the lint screen every load, and a full year of drying pushes a lot of lint through that screen and into the duct. A contractor can look at the length and shape of your vent run and tell you if yours needs it more often than that.
- Can I clean my dryer vent myself?
- You can clean the first few feet from the back of the dryer, but that is not the same as cleaning the whole vent run. Most vents travel several feet through walls or up through a roof cap, with bends where lint collects and where a household brush and vacuum cannot reach. A contractor uses rods and brushes built to travel the full length of the vent and clear it out from the dryer to the outside cap.
- What are the signs of a clogged dryer vent?
- Clothes coming out hotter than usual or still damp after a full cycle is the clearest sign. Others include the dryer running much longer than it used to, a burning smell while it runs, and the outside vent cap barely moving air when you check it during a cycle. Heat here is needed from September through May, so a dryer working hard through those months is worth checking if you notice any of these signs.