How often do you have your appliances professionally inspected for safety? Most people have the furnace checked every year, but how often do you have your clothes dryer inspected? Sadly, most people never even think about this unless they have experienced a dryer fire. Like furnaces, clothes dryers also must be properly maintained. The dryer exhaust system should be inspected to be sure it is up to code.

UL Safety Standards

The Underwriters Laboratories (UL) has tested products for consumer safety for more than a century. They apply the UL rating to appliances; it should be printed on a label somewhere on your clothes dryer or in the paperwork that it came with. Newer clothes dryers probably meet UL safety standards, but if it was purchased and hooked up to the existing dryer exhaust system, there could be a problem. Safety standards have been updated and older dryer vent systems have been found to be unsafe for a number of reasons.

Vent Tube Length

If your dryer is located on an upper floor or in the basement, the dryer duct will be longer as it leads to the vent outside. The dryer duct is the exhaust system that carries hot air, moisture and lint from the dryer drum to the outdoors. A longer exhaust system means your dryer will work harder to do its job. When the moist lint builds up on the sides of the vent tube, it reduces air flow and causes overheating, eventually leading to a fire. This also causes the dryer to work harder, thus, increasing your energy bills.

Twists and Turns

Not all clothes dryers are located on an outside wall where the vent tube is very short and goes straight outside. Sometimes there are elbows and 90 degree bends to bypass whatever obstructions there may be before it leads to the outside vent. This will cause your dryer to work harder to do its job and increase the chance of lint clogging the system. The restricted air flow causes the hot, moist air to stay in the dryer drum, with your wet laundry. Your dryer will run longer to get the clothes dry, use more energy and eventually, overheat and cause a fire.

Rough Inside

What does your vent pipe feel like inside? While you may not think it matters, it does. You want the inside to be smooth and free from obstruction, like screws and fasteners, for lint to get caught on and accumulate.

The pieces and parts that make up the exhaust system for your clothes dryer are very important aspects of the entire system that gets your clothes dry at the end of the day. If you don’t know what makes up the rest of the system, it’s time to find out, or call in a professional to inspect and evaluate your dryer vent system.

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