Vent: A customer's dryer in Phoenix almost caught fire because of a clogged vent

I was on a call last Tuesday where the dryer was taking forever to dry clothes, and when I pulled the unit out, the vent hose was completely packed with lint. The homeowner said they hadn't cleaned it in over five years, and the heat buildup had already started melting the plastic hose connector. What's the most neglected part you see customers forgetting to clean?

3 comments

3 Comments

davis.ivan2mo ago

Honestly, that's scary but not surprising. Tbh, I'd say the dryer vent itself, the part that goes outside through the wall, gets ignored even more than the hose. People see the outside flap open and think it's fine, but the whole metal tube inside the wall can be totally packed solid.

avery_foster311mo ago

Yikes, that's a good point about the wall pipe. It makes me wonder about all the apartment buildings with those long, shared dryer vents that go up several floors. If one person's hose is clogged, it probably backs lint into the whole system for everyone else (and good luck getting the building to clean that out). That hidden pipe is a way bigger fire risk than most people ever check.

emma_butler872mo ago

My old house had a solid foot of lint in the wall pipe.