Dryer Vent Cleaning in Vergennes, VT
Tell us about your home, and a licensed contractor who covers Addison County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Cold vent walls catch the lint your dryer pushes out
Your dryer pushes out warm, damp air. In Vergennes that air is moving through a vent that sits in a cold wall or a cold attic space most of the year, since homes here need heat from September through May. When that warm air hits the cold metal, it cools fast, and the moisture in it turns back to water on the vent walls. Lint sticks to a wet surface far more than it does to a dry one.
That buildup narrows the vent a little at a time. A dryer that cannot push air out through a clogged vent runs hotter and takes longer to dry a load, and the moist air it cannot expel outside ends up working its way back into the house instead.
- 12°F
- the average winter night, and cold vents catch damp lint
- 9 months
- September through May, the vent stays cold
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should a dryer vent be cleaned?
- Once a year is the standard for most households. If you're running loads almost every day, or if your vent run is long or has several turns before it reaches outside, check it more often than that. Lint builds up gradually, so a yearly cleaning catches it before it becomes a blockage.
- Can I clean my dryer vent myself?
- You can clean the lint trap and the first few feet behind the dryer yourself, but the full vent run is harder to reach. Most vents travel through a wall or ceiling before they exit the house, and lint collects along the whole length, not just near the dryer. A contractor has the brushes and rods to clear the entire run and check that the vent hood outside is actually opening and closing as it should.
- 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, or a burning smell partway through a load. You might also notice less airflow at the vent hood outside, or lint gathering around the outside opening instead of blowing clear. Any of these means air isn't moving through the vent the way it should, and it's worth having someone check the full run.