Dryer Vent Cleaning
Since the exterior division at ServiceMaster Clean Residential added dryer vent cleaning to its’ list of services, we’ve had great success performing this service for stratas around the GVRD. We’ve had a few questions from property managers and strata council members about dryer vent cleaning, so here are a few points to address those questions.
What is this service?: We clean the accumulated dryer lint from the ducting between the dryer and the vent from which hot air is expelled from the unit into the outside air.
Why do it?: This ensures each dryer is performing at its peak, and prevents fires. Heat from a dryer can cause lint clogging vents to ignite.
When is best to perform?: Unlike gutter cleaning, there is no ‘season’ for dryer vent cleaning to be performed during the year. Rather, it can be done at any time.
Frequency
According to dryer manufacturer Whirlpool: “Frequency of Exhaust System Cleaning – Every exhaust system must be inspected periodically and cleaned to ensure that it is intact and free from lint accumulation. The frequency of these inspections will vary, depending on thesystem and usage of the dryer. For single-family usage, an annual inspection is recommended. In commercial usage or in multiple dryer systems a more frequent inspection is recommended.”
Dryer Vents should be cleaned at least once per year, with common laundry room vents more frequency due to heavy use.
Who performs the cleaning?: Trained exterior division technicians.
How is this performed?: This is done using high pressure air, which blasts the lint out of the duct, without damaging the duct itself. The equipment used is a flexible snake system, which can be inserted into the duct from the vent located on the exterior wall or roof and blast the air backwards out the vent (to outside); it can be inserted at the point where the dryer unit attaches to the wall and blast the air forward and outside, or both. In most cases, from one end of the duct is sufficient. Some stratas prefer the cleaning to be done from both inside and outside of the units to ensure the most thorough cleaning possible.
Cleaning From Exterior vs. Interior and Exterior
The equipment we use to clean the dryer vent ducts is able to be used from outside of the residents’ suites and provide an excellent result. This means we do not need to disturb the resident by co-coordinating a time for access to their home, which may require they take time off work or leave a key with a neighbor or manager. Our technicians use the reverse snake system, inserting the flexible hosing into the vent, and moving it forward through the ducting to the point where the dryer is attached to the wall inside the suite. The high pressure air blasts all of the lint out of the duct, back toward the technician outside.
We can also perform the service from both inside and outside, by entering the tenants’ suite, detaching the flexible hose from the back of the dryer where it connects to the wall and inserting the snake system at that point. A different attachment is placed on the end of the flexible hose, which forces the air forward, pushing the lint once again out of the duct through the exterior vent. Once this is done, the technician will reattach the hose, then perform the cleaning from outside of the unit as described above.
If for some reason the vent cannot be accessed on the exterior of the building, cleaning from the inside of the suite is sufficient, as cleaning from one direction only can still remove all of the lint from the duct.