Why it's important to keep that dryer vent clean!

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I shall pass this article along to those who think I am a nut for taking the vent hose off my dryer and vaccuuming it and the inside of the dryer out several times a year. Of course, you know I am justifying my obsessive compulsive cleaning habits too.... :)
 
At least she was at home and paying attention when the fire occurred and was able to get help quickly. Cases where people have left their dryers run without being aware of what's going on, have ended up with serious damage to houses. Same old rule, always watch your appliances when they're plugged in & running. Except the fridge:-)
 
Dangerous dryers!

I've heard of this happening too. I usually replace my dryer vent hose every year. I use the aluminum type. I have always felt that the plastic ones are prone to getting overheated and melting and/or catching on fire. I also vacuum out the filter area for accumulated lint. It can get really gross in there!
 
I am still of the belief that dryer softener sheets are dangerous/harmful to the machine, to the environment and to the clothing.

It's adding wax to a hot place, sometimes a place with flames.

less detergent and less drying time will usually accomplish the same function as the sheets.
 
toggleswitch...

Good point about the dryer sheets being potentially dangerous...I don't use them because of the claims that they mess up the moisture sensors, which makes sense, and because I've heard they sometimes leave spots on synthetic fabrics, but never thought about the danger associated with them...thanks for the comment.
 
Years ago there was a 20/20(i think it was this show) episode of house fires. One segment was about people with Mr. Coffees with the timers that they went bad and burned the Kithcens. We never leave any counter top apps plug in. especially the coffee maker or toaster. The crock pot is the only exception. The other segment was on not cleaning the lint screens, Checking the vent hose, or the inside of the dryer. The irony was that one of the fires was from the dryer of the Fire Chiefs house. They rarely emptied the lint screen or checked the vent hose. I too check mine and clean it a few times a year.
 
You have to be very cautious of any appliance when running.
I purchased a new Whirlpool gold washer 3 weeks ago and last week while washing my alarms sounded only to find my laundry room on fire and my washer burning. It was a real mess, but thank god I was here or my whole house would have gone up!
A true lesson on never leave an applaince running when not at home!
 
Where does one draw the line on safety vs. convenience? Fear vs. need? Think about the millions of electrical devices that are running everywhere. Computers and network equipment, water pumps and water heaters and septic systems and irrigation equipment, stoplights, ice machines, self-serve gasoline pumps, clocks, idle VCRs, refrigerators and freezers, security lights, air conditioning and heating systems, and on and on. Accidents happen. How many people are willing to kill the main electric feed to their house and go live in a cave? How many people disconnect their electric range after every cooking session? Those burner switches and oven thermostats can go wonky, too. Safety is a good thing, but paranoia is crippling.

In my house right now, there are three candle warmers running. Two refrigerators, one with an ice maker that may trigger the water well to turn on during a fill cycle. A septic system with an aerator motor that runs for a few mins out of every hour and a sump pump that runs on a timer scheduled for 3:30 AM daily. A computer on a UPS (monitor is turned off). Two VCRs. Outside lighting run by a wall-switch timer that turns on at 6:30 PM, off at 4:00 AM. Several pieces of A/V equipment in stand-by mode. Four clocks. HVAC on a setback thermostat. A yard-sprinkler system that's set to Off mode but the timer is still powered. A blood-pressure monitor that's plugged in but off. Several lamps. Electric range, OTR microwave, and dishwasher all plugged in, "off" but actually in standby mode. Washer and dryer plugged in, "off" but also in stand-by mode. A tankless water heater in standby mode. I think that's everything.
 
I personally would love to see "hard-power-down" switches on electronically controlled appliances. Especially electronically controlled ovens!

I added a wall-switch to control the A/C outlet when I installed the separate line for it. This is a Whirlpool 10,000 BTU/h supplemental unit for the basement "dining hall/kitchen"

The computer panel ARRIVED defective, thank you so very much!
As such, I have very little faith in it/them.

(No Jason that is not THE blue towel. LOL)
 
They all now come with GFIs (Ground-fault[circuit]interruptors). UK==> Residual current interruptors.

I had to add a grounding adapter (as a spacer) because the moulding of the wood paneling was in the way of that huge plug.

(Yes the adapter has a screw-hole grounidng rpiece, and it is properly secured to the outlet plate-cover screw therby grounding the works).
 
re- why it's important

I think it was Sudmaster that offered the suggestion, in another thread, to actually wash and dry the dryer lint screen. Our Frig dryer was running a little long with cycle times so I thought I'd give this a shot; washed it with Dawn. Also windexed the moisture sensor. Viola!!! Like a brand new dryer. I always empty the lint screen after each use but never thought about washing the screen. Try it; it does make a difference.
 
Appliance Service News had an article a few years ago,about a service tech working on a Whirlpool dryer.After fixing the problem,he took the blower and vent assembly apart,to clean it,and found a live 12GA shotgun shell,in the vent near the blower.

kennyGF
 
"Appliance Service News had an article a few years ago,about a service tech working on a Whirlpool dryer.After fixing the problem,he took the blower and vent assembly apart,to clean it,and found a live 12GA shotgun shell,in the vent near the blower."

Well, someone has to work on the Vice-President's appliances.
 
Thank you JerseyMike.

Glad to see the article on dryer safty. Where I work I was on paint crew one summer about 2 years ago when my supervisors
wife were at home for lunch and she had put a load of clothes in the dryer and both of them went off back to work. Well needless to say my supervisor got back to work when he got a call to go back home from the fire department, that his house was on fire and by the way they lived in a mobile home. The whole house was distroyed. It had started from the dryer. So the moral of the story is don't run your dryer when you are not there. One other bit of advice is when buying a dryer Whirlpool recomends that you do not use dryer sheets fabric softerns as they have a wax on them and will build up in time and block the flow of air alowing heat to build up and starting a fire. If you do use softern sheets Whirlpool will void the warrenty. So be warned.

http://[email protected]
 
I can remember visits to the apartment building by the fire dept-dryer fires in the laundry rooms.Usually from folks that ran the dryers too long-and baked their clothes.Put too many dimes in the dryer!That was back in the days when a dime gave you about 10min dryer run time.I also would wonder how often the dryer vents were cleaned by the apartment building (or laundry co that furnished the machines)staff?Bet a LOT of lint congested in those vents.Esp in the main laundry room where they had the large style dryers that had the HUGE gas burners-was like a blowtorch when they were running-"American" I beleive was the brand of the large dryers-on each floor(hi-rise) they had standard size dryers with a coinmeter on them.
 
There's paranoia and there's prudence. Toggleswitch's toggleswitch on the AC is prudent. I unplug anything high-wattage when I'm not using it, and I don't leave high-wattage things running when I'm not home & nearby. I would be cautious about high-wattage things with standby controls, for example a large TV if I had one, would be unplugged (or turned off with a power strip) when not in use.

My base load consists of the fridge, clock radio, PBX (phone system) and computer network. Everything else is on when in use and off (generally unplugged) otherwise.

What would really be cool is a wall-mountable power strip with a separate switch for each outlet. The computer "power center" things aren't useful for this because they're designed to sit under your monitor, which is the wrong set of dimensions for wall mounting.

One can always scratchbuild. Take a standard plastic electrical box for six outlets (three columns wide); put two sets of two outlets each in there (two columns), and the third column is a double wall switch (typically the switches in these have horizontal throw, left/right rather than up/down). Each switch controls one set of outlets. Use a heavy duty grounded cord. Wall mount for convenience. Done. If need be, mount this in a wood enclosure and paint to suit. (Note, all connections should be made to the terminal screws or in standard wiring nuts, not with solder which can melt under the heat of high wattage and cause dangerous conditions.)
 
DADoES.....

I think of all the electric devices that i have plugged in here, the only one that REALLY bugs me is the sump pump. I mean it's in a deep hole in the basement floor. A deep hole that always seems to be full of water. Well, ok, maybe not full, but the water level is always higher than the top of the pump. And, I dont know, maybe it's just me, but anytime I see an electric cord plugged in, that disappears into water, I'm a tad uncomfy! =)
 
I have a client who works for the local Electric and Gas company who told me that one of the top causes for house fires is the dryer. People don't clean the vent or under it often enough.
 
found a live 12GA shotgun shell,in the vent near the blower.

WOW.

Remind me of something that happened to me. My neighbors in the co-opeative apt (NYC version of a condo)had keys and were allowed to use my W&D. Utilites were a flat-rate charge by magt and were un-metered to indivisual tenants.

Anyhoo. Mr. pretty-boy police officer neighbor left bullets in his pocket. Wifey washed and dried uniforms.

LIVE ROUNDS WERE TUMBLING IN MY DRYER.

I was cooking at the stove immediately next to the dryer, as it was running. [GOOD for them if all their clothes smelled like onion and garlic]. It's a miracle my jingle-bobs were not shot off.
 
And

Dont forget that even the best of dryers have their problems. On my dryer there was recall / replacement of a faulty batch of dryer sensors, unfortunatly it didnt happen in time for me, I loaded the dryer and set Auto programme2, which gives a normal dry sensor programme.

I went back upstairs to the office, 3 floors away, and about an hour later was aware of a burning smell, house is tall and the kitchen / utility act like a chimney, the stairs being in the centre of the house.

I started to walk downstairs and could hear this very loud rumbling noise, and could see a blue haze etc..legged it into the laundry and the dryer had overheated, (faulty sensor) the clothes where smoking, the elements glowing red at the back, the bottom panel had come off on one side due to the plastic holding bracket had melted, the panel was rattling on the floor as the drum turned hence the noise.

I couldnt touch the clothes by hand, behind the lower panel the condensor fan and chamber had distorted with heat and the condensor cover panel was open as the tabs had warped.

Couldnt fault the service, dryer quickly exchanged along with the matching washer because of the differnce in stainless steel.

Just goes to show sometimes even the best appliances /cars /consumer goods fail simply because of one small faulty part.

It certainly made me re-think my appliance work practices.

Steve, GFIs in UK = RCD, Residual Circuit Device (tend to be hard wired) or RCB Residual Circuit Breaker, a portable plug in device used for outside appliances like garden tools/power tools...or my antique washing machines n vacs etc...
 
Polkanut....some people call it archaic, but I also hang wash whenever possible, to me it smells so nice. A friend of mine said "Your sheets that smell so nice are acting like giant HEPA filters hanging on that line". Never thought of it that way, but guess it's kind of true, however I still like to do it.
 
Another Great Reason...

Aside from what your local fire marshall will tell you (point taken) is that a clean vent that is free of obstructions will allow your dryer to flow freely and dry the clothes much faster. This will prolong your dryer's life, decrease your energy bills, and cut down on drying time. Let's face it friends, you just don't want your dryer to work any harder than it has to.
 

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