 | Dennis Heidrick is the president of Heidrick’s which includes three locations Heidrick’s Appliance Westside of the square Girard, Heidrick True Value at 15th & National in Fort Scott. Both of these store carry Frigidaire, Whirlpool, Samsung and Fisher Paykel washers and dryers. The third location is Heidrick True Value at 321 East Maple Columbus this location does not carry washers and dryers but is a hardware retailer. Dennis also can be found on KKOW 860AM radio at 8am Wednesday mornings for the Best Little Home Improvement Show. Dennis can be contacted by phone 800-606-3678 or email dennis@heidricks.com or website www.heidricktruevalue.com. |
Appliances
2011-06-01 12:22:00
Running your clothes twice through the dryer?
Answer: There is a good bet your problem might lie in the dryer venting. A dryer uses air flow as much as the heat from the dryer element or the gas burner to dry your clothes.
The more efficient your dryer is, the more it depends on airflow to dry your clothes.
I think that over time the lint that has escaped your lint filter has built up in the pipe that vents the heat and moisture outdoors. This build-up is restricting the dryer’s airflow and the dryer has to run a longer time to dry your clothes. This could be a dangerous situation and is also costing you a lot more money to dry your clothes.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that over 15,000 dryer fires occur each year, causing an estimated 97 million dollars in property loss. What catches fire is the lint that builds up in your dryer ductwork. That same lint is making the dryer, which is already one of the most expensive appliances in your home to operate, even more costly.
I would first recommend inspecting your dryer vent. Pull the dryer away from the wall so you can see the vent. If you find plastic or aluminum flex venting take it off and replace with a rigid or semi-rigid metal duct. Some dryers are installed in a room without an exterior wall. If this is the case, you need to make sure that any long runs of ducts under the house are also free of any plastic or aluminum flex ducting. Long dryer venting runs should only be ran with rigid vent pipe and as few elbows as possible.
If your venting run is done in the correct type of pipe then the problem will be the ductwork is heavily packed with lint. This problem can be easily corrected with the proper tool. Gardus makes a tool called the “Lint Eater.” This kit includes a round brush that attaches to flexible rods that you keep adding till you have enough length to clean the entire venting run. You will use a cordless drill to spin the brush that eats thru and removes the lint blocking the vent. You want to start at the outside vent and keeping adding rods till you get all the way into the house, then pull it back out of the vent about a foot. Next, go inside and turn the dryer on to the air fluff cycle and with the drill still turning in the forward direction walk backwards pulling the rest of the rods out of the vent. The dryer will help push all the excess lint out the vent on the outside. Don’t forget to also clean the vent system inside of the dryer itself. Dryer vent cleaning should be done on a regular basis, at least once a year.
If you don’t feel comfortable doing this job yourself, call your local appliance service department and make an appointment and they will (or should) clean them for you.
