Originally Posted by graciegirl (Post 1863642)

He is the man. Very dependable and ethical and more like fifty bucks. He may not be entering homes now. I don't know.

Originally Posted by Choro&Swing (Post 1863634)

I don’t know about your house, but in my house, the dryer vent pipe is metal and goes straight up the wall, through the attic, and onto the roof. It’s difficult for lint to catch on it, unlike a long, flexible plastic dryer hose that snakes through an attic and comes out of a wall twenty feet away. I empty the lint trap after every dryer load. I assume that you do, too.

Have you noticed that it is taking longer for your clothes to dry than it used to, or that they used to get dry at one setting, but now they don’t? Probably not.

If you have a metal vent pipe with a clear run, if you clean your link trap faithfully, and if your dryer is working normally, you really don’t need your dryer vent pipe cleaned, especially if you don’t use the hot setting on your dryer (I never do—it’s hard on the clothes). How is it going to catch on fire if the maximum air temperature is nowhere near the temperature needed for combustion? Companies are happy to clean the pipe for you, but you are wasting your money. Dryer lint traps these days tend to be very effective.

As for cleaning your heating and air conditioning pipes, that is also really unnecessary so long as you replace the air filter a couple times a year, especially if it’s a high quality filter. The filter catches nearly everything. If your HVAC system is like mine, here is what you have. There is a big return air grille in your living room near the garage. That sucks air down a big rectangular foil-covered fiberglass board duct about eight feet to the air filter, where almost any dust is filtered out. You would need several inches of dust on those duct walls to impede the air flow, and that is not going to happen.

After being filtered, the dust-free air is sent by fan back up a similar fiberglass board duct into the attic, where it is distributed into several round flexible pipes with wire springs inside to keep them from collapsing. These have plastic walls on both the inside and the outside and an inch of fiberglass in between the layers of plastic. Even if there WERE dust in that air, it isn’t going to easily stick to the plastic.

Thus, having your HVAC system pipes cleaned is really money down the drain. The companies will happily take your money, but it is a triumph of advertising over necessity. There is also some danger that vacuuming out the rectangular fiberglass board pipes can loosen fiberglass on the walls of that pipe and allow it to float through the ducts and into the air and then into your lungs. (This fiberglass board is made from a mixture of fiberglass and glue with thin foil on the outside. The inside is bare fiberglass. Rubbing it can break off pieces of this glass fiber. Your attic is filled with these glass fibers, and this fiberglass dust is quite unhealthy.

Originally Posted by prendymom (Post 1863600)

We used "Complete Dryer Vent Services,LLC. He is insured & CSIA Certified. Which means he is a Certified Chimney Sweep. Not that we have chimneys, But, he was the best person we used since we lived here the past 9 years. He was here for over an hour, pulled out the dryer blew it out from the bottom up & then went up to the roof & cleaned out the vent up there. He took pictures of all that he did & gave us the pictures. We both were amazed at the build up as we both are diligent in cleaning our dryer after each use. Which mean the other people didn't do a thorough job! The cost was well worth it @ $123. $23 was for the new hose. He also installs a new dryer exhaust hose that doesn't kink. #352-653-0809. We recommended him to our friends & everyone said WOW he was good :)Ya get what pay for & this is a safety factor so you don't get build up in the vent/hose/roof vent. Next year it will only be $100.

Originally Posted by Choro&Swing (Post 1863634)

I don’t know about your house, but in my house, the dryer vent pipe is metal and goes straight up the wall, through the attic, and onto the roof. It’s difficult for lint to catch on it, unlike a long, flexible plastic dryer hose that snakes through an attic and comes out of a wall twenty feet away. I empty the lint trap after every dryer load. I assume that you do, too.

Have you noticed that it is taking longer for your clothes to dry than it used to, or that they used to get dry at one setting, but now they don’t? Probably not.

If you have a metal vent pipe with a clear run, if you clean your link trap faithfully, and if your dryer is working normally, you really don’t need your dryer vent pipe cleaned, especially if you don’t use the hot setting on your dryer (I never do—it’s hard on the clothes). How is it going to catch on fire if the maximum air temperature is nowhere near the temperature needed for combustion? Companies are happy to clean the pipe for you, but you are wasting your money. Dryer lint traps these days tend to be very effective.

As for cleaning your heating and air conditioning pipes, that is also really unnecessary so long as you replace the air filter a couple times a year, especially if it’s a high quality filter. The filter catches nearly everything. If your HVAC system is like mine, here is what you have. There is a big return air grille in your living room near the garage. That sucks air down a big rectangular foil-covered fiberglass board duct about eight feet to the air filter, where almost any dust is filtered out. You would need several inches of dust on those duct walls to impede the air flow, and that is not going to happen.

After being filtered, the dust-free air is sent by fan back up a similar fiberglass board duct into the attic, where it is distributed into several round flexible pipes with wire springs inside to keep them from collapsing. These have plastic walls on both the inside and the outside and an inch of fiberglass in between the layers of plastic. Even if there WERE dust in that air, it isn’t going to easily stick to the plastic.

Thus, having your HVAC system pipes cleaned is really money down the drain. The companies will happily take your money, but it is a triumph of advertising over necessity. There is also some danger that vacuuming out the rectangular fiberglass board pipes can loosen fiberglass on the walls of that pipe and allow it to float through the ducts and into the air and then into your lungs. (This fiberglass board is made from a mixture of fiberglass and glue with thin foil on the outside. The inside is bare fiberglass. Rubbing it can break off pieces of this glass fiber. Your attic is filled with these glass fibers, and this fiberglass dust is quite unhealthy.

Originally Posted by NotGolfer (Post 1863399)

I've scrolled through several threads trying to find recommendations for a company or handyman who will come and clean out our dryer vent. Can anyone here help? Also would like to know a price range and contact info as well. I checked my NextDoor as well as the phone book and only came up with Jonathan's in Wildwood. If anyone has had them would you recommend them??

Originally Posted by prendymom (Post 1863600)

We used "Complete Dryer Vent Services,LLC. He is insured & CSIA Certified. Which means he is a Certified Chimney Sweep. Not that we have chimneys, But, he was the best person we used since we lived here the past 9 years. He was here for over an hour, pulled out the dryer blew it out from the bottom up & then went up to the roof & cleaned out the vent up there. He took pictures of all that he did & gave us the pictures. We both were amazed at the build up as we both are diligent in cleaning our dryer after each use. Which mean the other people didn't do a thorough job! The cost was well worth it @ $123. $23 was for the new hose. He also installs a new dryer exhaust hose that doesn't kink. #352-653-0809. We recommended him to our friends & everyone said WOW he was good :)Ya get what pay for & this is a safety factor so you don't get build up in the vent/hose/roof vent. Next year it will only be $100.