Dryer Vent Cleaning in New Brunswick, NJ
Tell us about your home, and a licensed contractor who covers Middlesex County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Cold vents catch more lint
Your dryer pushes out warm, damp air every time it runs. That air has to travel through a vent that sits in cold space, behind the wall or up through the attic, and from December through February the air outside that vent averages 26°F at night. The warm air cools fast against those cold walls, and the moisture in it turns to a film on the inside of the duct. Lint sticks to that film instead of blowing through to the outside.
Over a season the buildup narrows the vent. Airflow drops, the dryer takes longer to get clothes dry, and the lint sitting in there is what a vent fire needs to start.
- 26°F
- the average winter night, and cold vents catch damp lint
- 7 months
- October through April, the vent stays cold
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should a dryer vent be cleaned?
- A contractor can tell you the right schedule for your setup, since vent length and how often you run the dryer both matter. Longer vents and runs that go through a roof collect lint faster than a short, straight shot to an outside wall. The vent carries hot, damp air on every load, and lint builds up along the way even when you keep the lint trap clean.
- Can I clean my dryer vent myself?
- You can clean the section behind the dryer and the outside hood yourself, and that is worth doing. A vacuum with a hose attachment reaches a few feet in either direction. But most vents run several feet through walls or up through a roof, and lint further in needs a rod-and-brush kit or a contractor with the right length of equipment to do the job.
- What are the signs of a clogged dryer vent?
- Clothes coming out hot to the touch but still damp is the clearest sign. Others are a dryer that takes longer than it used to, a burning smell during the cycle, the outside vent hood barely moving air when you check it by hand, and more lint than usual collecting around the lint trap door. Any one of these means the vent needs a look before the next load.