Clogged dryer vents are the leading cause of residential fires in the U.S. According to the Consumer Products Saftey Commission, there are an estimated annual 15,500 fires, 10 deaths, 310 injuries and over $84,000,000 in property damage resulting from clothes dryers.
Indoor air quality is a major issue for building owners and accumulation of lint and reduced exhaust airflow provide conditions ripe for a fire. Lint is highly combustible and is actually one of the main ingredients for home-made fire starters.
Benefits of Dryer Vent Cleaning
Efficiency – A clean exhaust duct allows discharge of the heat, moisture and combustion byproducts in the case of a gas-fired dryer without resistance. The resistance will create back-pressure in the system. Without good exhaust flow through the system, clothes take much longer to dry resulting in wasted energy, natural resourses and time. The result will show up in increased utility costs
Appliance wear - If a dryer takes twice as long to dry clothes as it should, the number of loads of clothes it will dry is cut in half. You will effectively only receive half of the dryer’s service life. The dryer running at unnecessarily higher temperatures can decrease the life even more. This can lead to the heating element burning out, or fire could ignite as a result of worn out safety controls.