Does Your Dryer Exhaust System Meet Safety Standards?
Posted on Sunday, November 16, 2008 at 6:32 amIf you are pretty good about the maintenance of your household appliances, you are quite a bit ahead of many other people. But there are some things you may not know to check for that can still crop up and cause you problems in your clothes dryer. One of these things is making sure you have the best dryer exhaust system for your dryer.
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.
Shortest Distance
Just like so many other things in life, the shortest distance to the destination is the best plan of action for your clothes dryer. The vent system has to carry hot air and lint out of your home and the more piping it has to work through the harder it has to work. Additionally, the more line there is to make it through the more chance that lint will get caught up in the line and start to clog up the pipes which can cause a fire hazard and reduce the efficiency of your dryer.
Bends and Elbows
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
It has been discovered that screws and fasteners holding sections of dryer ducts together can cause problems. Lint catches on the protruding screws and builds up to form a clog and restrict air flow. Sections should be fastened so that there are no protrusions on the inside of the ducts.
The parts that make up your dryer exhaust and vent system must meet today’s safety codes to ensure safety and efficient performance. If you are unsure of your dryer vent system, you should have a professional who specializes in dryer vent cleaning and maintenance do an inspection. The service fee is little compared to the energy savings of a healthy dryer vent system and the reassurance that your home is safe from a fire hazard.
