kai463•2mo ago

Warning: my neighbor's dryer situation made me check my own vent

I was out back last week talking to my neighbor Rick about his new fence when he mentioned his dryer was taking like 3 cycles to dry a load of jeans. I told him that sounded like a clogged vent, figured it was no big deal. But then he said his utility bill jumped $40 last month which got me thinking. I went home and pulled my own dryer away from the wall and the vent hose was totally crushed behind it, packed with lint. I vacuumed it out and pulled like a full grocery bag's worth of fluff from the line going to the outside. Now my clothes dry in one cycle and I'm wondering how much cash I wasted running it all clogged up. Has anyone else found a hidden vent problem that was costing them money without realizing it?

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2 Comments

kelly.parker2mo ago

Read somewhere that dryer vents cause like 2,900 house fires a year. Definitely worth checking before it gets bad.

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chen.jenny2mo ago

Oh man, that grocery bag visual is horrifying. I had almost the exact same thing happen last year, pulled my machine out to fix a leak and found the vent hose had a kink in it that I never noticed. The lint was so packed in there it was basically solid, took me forever to clean it all out. It's crazy how much money we waste without even knowing, between the extra electricity and the dryer working twice as hard. Good on you for catching it though, that's a win in my book.

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