Nearly 17000 homes report fire each year. Could you be next?


Nearly 17000 homes report fire each year. Could you be next?
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Each year, around 17,000 homes in the USA report fires that involve a washing machine or a dryer. And an astounding 92% of these fires involve clothing dryers. Annually, these fires cause $238 million loss in property damage, injures around 444 people, and claims lives of 13 – 15 people.

Lint buildup is the major factor that causes the fires. The dryer vents have lint stuck on the inside edges. If the dryer vent is clogged, the heat that is expelled from the vent causes a fire. The lint catches fire even with the slightest spark.

And because lint burns up quickly, the fire spreads rapidly, causing the fire to become uncontrollable very quickly.

How to Avoid Dryer-Related Fires

Homeowners can avoid dryer fires by doing these five simple tasks:

1.  Clean the Lint Filter

The simplest suggestion is to clean the dryer lint screen after every load. This might seem like a tedious task at first, but once you make it a part of your laundry routine, you can easily avoid cleaning out loads of lint from the dryer vents after every few weeks.

Also, since the vent is not clogged, the dryer performs more efficiently, and dries up the load quicker.

2.  Replace Ridged Dryer Vents

Most dryers come with ridged foil dryer vents. These accordion-style ducts catch lint in the ridges which causes a buildup that cannot be cleaned by just cleaning the lint screen.

If you have a dryer vent like this, you should have it replaced immediately.

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3.  Clean the Dryer Duct Annually

Getting your dryer vent cleaning in Baltimore from professionals is another way to avoid fires. You can also clean out the dryer vent yourself by disconnecting the dryer from the power source, turning off the gas, and accessing the duct at the back. You will need to reconnect the vent after you are done with the cleaning.

However, the risk is that you might damage the vent. Any damage might cause the vent to expel the hot air outside. This is also a risk since any lint outside of the dryer, even a wet sock lost behind the dryer can catch fire.

4.  Handle Chemical Stains with Care

If you have clothes that are stained with cleaning agents, oil, or other flammable substances, make sure that you wash them more than once before you put them in the dryer.

You might also want to avoid using the dryer for these clothes since the volatile chemicals are at a high risk of catching fire.

5.  Dryer Vent Repairing and Replacement

If you detect that your dryer vent needs repair, you might want to call in the professionals like 4seasonsairduct cleaning for dryer duct repair or replacement. Professional help makes sure that the new dryer vent is installed properly, so the fire hazards are minimized.

It is better to spend money and let the professionals do their work than to be sorry after the damage is done. The average cost of dryer vent cleaning is lower than the cost that one would have to incur if there is a fire.

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Summing it Up

Fire hazards are common in dryers. This is because the hot air expelled from the dryer can result in the trapped lint catching fire.

Calling in the professionals to do a thorough dryer vent cleaning annually is recommended. Apart from that, you should keep cleaning the lint screen to make sure that the vent doesn’t clog up.

With these precautionary measures in place, you can surely minimize the risk of a fire in your house because of the dryer.


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Sikander Zaman
writing is my profession, doing this from long time. writing for many online websites one of them is scoopearth