Frequently Asked Questions
Many people blame their dryer's inefficiency on the actual dryer, but most of the time it is their dryer vent that is causing the problem. We receive many referrals from dryer repairmen who get calls about broken dryers only to find that it is their vents that are clogged and their dryer is fine. Clogged vents don't allow the hot air and moisture to escape the dryer, so your clothes don't dry very well.
Cleaning your vents will most likely save you some money on your power bill since your dryer won't have to expend as much energy and you won't use as many cycles. Average savings are $18-24 per month. The dryer is one of the most costly appliances to operate.
The dryer vent can be cleaned from outside the house but it is much more effective if cleaned from the inside. If you prefer our technician not come inside please let us know and we will clean your vent from the outside.
It is helpful if you remove all clothing from the dryer and can remove anything on or around the dryer, so our technicians can have easy access to clean your vent as quickly and easily as possible.
- Video inspection offered to see if you need the service
- Quality equipment
- Owner operated
- Friendly, prompt and thorough technicians
- Same day service offered
- Flexible hours to work around your busy schedule
- Work Saturdays
- We regularly receive referrals from customers as well as calls to thank us
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reccommends having your dryer vent cleaned out at least once per year. HomeSafe believes that there are several factors to consider when determining how often you need your vents cleaned:
- How often is your dryer used?
- Is your dryer over 10 years old?
- Is it fullsize or small stackable dryer?
- Is your vent over 5 feet long?
- Does your vent have several bends or elbow joints?
- Do you have a bird guard covering your exhaust exit?
- I always clean out my lint trap before I dry clothes, do I still need to have my vent cleaned?
If your dryer vent is short (6 inches - 1 foot) you can most likely clean it yourself fairly easily. If your vent is longer, home improvement stores do sell dryer vent cleaning equipment. We have had multiple customers tell us that they bought it and tried it themselves, spent hours on end attempting it but were unsuccessful in cleaning the vents. At HomeSafe we have high quality equipment that can clean your vents in a very thorough and efficient manner, saving you time and big headache in the end.
The amount of time it takes us to do the job varies depending on how long your vent is, how bad the build up is and if we run into unexpected problems such as bird's nests and disconnected vents. It typically around an hour to complete a job.
We have high quality equipment that allows us to do a superior job. We can first assess the build up with our special video camera that we stick into the actual duct work. We start the cleaning by attaching a "y-joint" to the dryer vent opening, which allows us to use a rotary brush and a powerful vacuum at the same time. The brush is attached to a high powered drill and suspended with flexible rods that span the length of your entire vent system. The drill causes the brush to spin very rapidly scraping the vent walls, removing and loosening lint. At the same time that we are brushing the vents clean we use a very high powered(3 motors) industrial vacuum to easily suck all of the lint out of the vents, thus removing the problem.
The dryer vent is a ventilation system that connects your dryer to the outside of the house. Your dryer blows hot air through your wet clothes to dry them, this hot air gets blown out of the house through the dryer vent, taking bits of lint with it.
A seemingly simple question, but we have discovered that there is a common misconception as to what the "dryer vent" actually is. Some people believe it is the lint trap that they clean out each time they dry their clothes and others think it is the hose that connects their dryer to the wall, both would be mistaken. Your dryer vent(also known as dryer exhaust duct) is the duct work and/or hosing that run from the dryer, through the wall(s), and to the vent hood located on the exterior of the home (usually on a side wall or on the roof).