Our Company Blog

Now’s the Time for a Dryer Vent Cleaning

Did you know that one of the most dangerous fire hazards in your home is not the kitchen stove, the furnace, or the fireplace? The most dangerous hazard in your home is your clothes dryer! It is one of the most dangerous systems in your house because it is often overlooked.

If you hire a cleaning service, the housekeeper will only clean readily accessible parts of your house. If you hire a repairman for your clothes dryer, he may work on your unit and never give your dryer vent a second thought. The dryer vent is actually where the damage lies! Your clothes dryer vent is how the unit vents out excess heat and lint. Over time, this ductwork can get clogged with lint and eventually obstruct airflow. This is a dangerous hazard to any home with a clothes dryer, and you should schedule a dryer vent cleaning to avoid dangers.

Clothes Dryer Fires

In the U.S., over 50 percent of homes have a clothes dryer. However, only a handful of homeowners will have a professional installation and cleaning for their clothes dryer vents. Each year, there are nearly 3,000 home clothes dryer fires reported, resulting in about 5 deaths, 100 injuries, and $35 million in property loss, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. However, these fires are preventable.

Thirty-four percent of these fires are because of the failure to clean the dryer unit, which means 1/3, or about 1,000, of these annual fires, are completely preventable. At Chief Chimney Services, we agree that even one accidental fire is one too many. Since clothes dryer fires peak in January, we’re determined to reach as many customers as possible this summer. We want to clean out dryer vents throughout our service area to keep homeowners and their families safe.

Signs You Need a Dryer Vent Cleaning

When your dryer isn’t working as well as it once did, it’s time to schedule a dryer vent cleaning. Many homeowners repeat a cycle until the clothes are dry and think nothing of it, chalking it up to an old unit. This is a dangerous assumption! According to professionals, if your clothes dryer takes more than a normal cycle to dry a load and it’s less than 5 years old, it likely has a clog. If you have had your clothes dryer for more than a year, if you’re not sure how old it is or how long you’ve used it, or if it takes more than one cycle to work, it’s time to schedule a cleaning. Some other reasons to schedule a cleaning include:

• Lint and condensation cover surfaces in your laundry room or home
• The termination hood is clogged with lint or doesn’t work properly
• The lint trap is periodically empty of lint
• The dryer unit or the clothes themselves are excessively hot to the touch
• Running the dryer creates heat in your home

Running a dryer with clogged vents is costing you money. It costs more to cool your home, costs more to run multiple cycles, and it shortens the life of your unit. Don’t put your family at risk or waste your money any longer! Call Chief Chimney Services today or schedule online.

Have Your Dryer Vents Cleaned with Chief Chimney Services

Did you know your clothes dryer may be the most dangerous thing in your house? Most homeowners don’t give the clothes dryer a second thought after the purchase, delivery, and installation. The dryer should be serviced annually in order to work properly and to run without threatening a fire. Many homeowners don’t even realize that the dryer should also be professionally installed in order to comply with municipal safety codes and to vent properly. Improper ventilation can cause your dryer to work harder and need to be replaced and serviced more often. The best thing you can do is to have it professionally installed, and have it cleaned at the first sign of a problem.

Signs of a Dirty Dryer Vent
Your dryer will give you signs of a problem before you experience a fire or other malfunction. The most noticeable sign, and possibly the most overlooked, is the dryer that requires more than one cycle to complete the job. Many homeowners chock up the multiple cycles to a worn out unit, but manufacturers say this problem in a dryer that is less than five years old has a clog.
Other signs include:
-The dryer is too hot to the touch
-Moisture and lint fills your laundry room and covers surfaces
-Very little lint is left on the lint trap
-There is no lint or air moving out of the outlet

If you see signs of a dirty dryer vent, it’s important to have it taken care of quickly. The clean and efficient dryer vent will begin saving you money immediately. When you run two to three cycles to dry one load of clothes, you use two to three times more electricity AND shorten the life of your unit by two to three times! These costs add up quickly, but can be stopped in their tracks.

Call Chief Chimney Services
At Chief Chimney Services we strive for excellence and safety with all of our services and all of our calls. That’s why we continue to offer dryer vent services when many homeowners view this task as a DIY weekend job. In our 30 years serving the Suffolk County area, we’ve cleaned countless clothes dryer vents because we know the most important thing–the safest clothes dryers are those that are professionally installed and professionally serviced. We know that in order to be safe, your dryer vent must have the following:
Ducts less than 4” in diameter
Total length of ductwork less than 25 feet
Independent of all other systems
A termination hood that prevents backdrafts
Transitional ducts and flexible ducts

Did you know that your dryer can cause your home to be outside of code compliance? Did you know that you can schedule a dryer vent installation with a Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician (C-DET) from Chief Chimney Services, and your dryer will work properly and efficiently from the get-go.

Call Chief Chimney Services for your dryer vent cleaning and we’ll bring to your home all of the professionalism and expertise we’ve gained over more than three decades of work in our community.

Contact us online [https://chiefchimney.com/contact-us/] or call 631-863-2460.

The Importance of Dryer Vent Cleaning

During the summer, many homeowners stop using their dryers because they tend to heat up the house, add to the utility bill, and is also a headache. If your dryer is causing problems, then it may actually have problems. It is time to call the professionals for a cleaning.

Take Proper Care of Your Dryer

Your clothes dryer is expensive. According to manufacturers, they should last ten years. However, most dryers do not last that long.  In order for them to last their lifetime and work safely and properly for you, you must properly maintain them. Here are some ways to ensure they last a long time.

• Have your dryer vent professionally installed so it is up to code and safe for daily use.
• Clean the lint trap after every load and periodically check the vent discharge flap.
• Schedule routine dryer vent cleaning to prevent from a dangerous fire.

Schedule Your Dryer Vent Cleaning Service

Call the professionals at Chief Chimney Services to schedule a dryer vent cleaning to keep your family safe this summer while also keeping your electric bill low. Our technicians are certified exhaust technicians, and they come into your house with professionalism and care. When they come, they will thoroughly clean and check the entire dryer vent system.

We recommend getting your dryer vent cleaned at least once a year. However, there are definitely signs requiring your dryer vent to get cleaned more often. Here are some of the signs to get your dryer vent cleaned immediately.

• If your dryer takes more than one cycle to dry a moderate-sized load of laundry, then you have a clogged dryer vent. Many homeowners assume that it’s just worn out, but a dryer less than three years old should do the job properly with one cycle.
• If your dryer makes the house warm, puts moisture into the air, or accumulate moisture on surfaces of the home, then it is likely you have a clogged dryer vent. The excess heat and moisture should be carried out of the home by your vent. If it isn’t, then there is a clog or a leak in your dryer vent.
• If your dryer is using more electricity than usual, then it has an issue.

Other Ways to Prevent Dryer Vent Hazard

In addition, make sure you take preventative measures to protect your home against dryer vent fires. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, there are nearly 3,000 home clothes dryer fires reported each year. These fires are absolutely preventable by having your dryer vent cleaned.

Was your dryer vent professionally installed? Has it been cleaned in the last year? Is it performing poorly? Call Chief Chimney Services to find out about our dryer vent services today.