Dryer Vent Cleaning in Los Lunas, NM
Tell us about your home, and a licensed contractor who covers Valencia County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Cold vents make the lint stick harder
Your dryer pushes out warm, damp air every load. Once that air hits the cold metal of the vent, it cools fast, and the moisture in it turns the lint into a paste that clings to the walls instead of blowing outside. Winter nights here average 23°F from December through February, and the vent runs cold most of that time, so the buildup packs in tighter than it would in a warm pipe.
A vent that is choked with lint cannot clear the moist air fast enough. That air backs up, and the damp works its way into the lint and the duct itself, which is how a clogged vent turns into a fire risk instead of just a slow-drying load of laundry.
- 23°F
- the average winter night, and cold vents catch damp lint
- 7 months
- October through April, the vent stays cold
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should a dryer vent be cleaned?
- A contractor can tell you for sure, but a good rule is to have it checked once a year. If you notice clothes drying slower than they used to, or the dryer running hotter than normal, do not wait for the year mark. Lint builds up inside the duct even when you clean the lint screen every load, because the screen only catches what passes through it, not what settles in the vent run behind the machine.
- Can I clean my dryer vent myself?
- You can clean the part you can reach, but that is usually not the whole vent. Pulling the dryer out and vacuuming the first few feet of duct, plus wiping down the lint screen and its housing, is worth doing regularly. The rest of the run, especially if it has bends or goes up through a wall or roof, needs a brush and rod long enough to reach the outside vent hood, which most homeowners do not have on hand.
- What are the signs of a clogged dryer vent?
- Clothes that take longer than one cycle to dry, a dryer that runs hot to the touch on the outside, and a burnt smell during the cycle are the main ones. You may also notice little to no airflow at the outside vent hood when the dryer is running, or lint collecting around the hood itself. Any of these means air is not moving through the duct the way it should, and it is worth having someone check the full length of the vent.