How to prevent clothing dryer fires

How to Prevent Clothing Clothes dryer Fires

Few people realize the significance of dryer security. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Security Commission, there are an estimated annual 15,500 fires, 10 deaths and 10 injuries brought on by clothes dryer fire. Numerous hundred individuals a year are likewise subjected to carbon monoxide gas poisoning from inappropriate dryer safety measures. The monetary expenses pertain to almost $100,000,000 each year. In some cases malfunctioning devices are to blame, however lots of fires can be prevented with correct clothes dryer safety preventative measures.

Why Dryer Fires Occur

Lint build-up and lowered airflow feed on each other to provide conditions ripe for a fire. Lint is a highly flammable product, which, remarkably enough, is among the components in a dish for home-made fire beginners. A variety of clothes dryer vent issues add to this.

A growing problem

Traditionally, the majority of clothing dryers were in the basement. However, nowadays lots of newer homes tend to have clothes dryers located far from an outside wall in bedrooms, bathrooms, cooking areas and hall closets. These new locations suggest clothes dryers tend to be vented longer distances and vents are usually installed with doglegs and flexes to accommodate the structure of the home. As a result, clothes dryer vents are harder to reach, and also create more places for lint to gather. The perfect service is to have short, directly, dryer duct venting. However, a dryer vent booster, while not the perfect approach, can enhance your dryer venting in cases where your ventilation is longer and/or has more flexes than it should. In addition to producing a fire threat, if the venting is too long and/or has 2 numerous bends, it will cause your dryer to take much longer than required to dry loads.

Inside the Dryer

Lint is the greatest perpetrator here. As you understand from clearing out your lint filter, dryers produce huge amounts of lint. The majority of people presume their lint traps catch all the lint, which all they require to do is tidy them out after each load. Nevertheless, a considerable quantity of this lint is not captured by the lint trap and develops inside the dryer-even on the heating element! If you are skeptical, attempt this experiment: pull out the lint trap and look beneath it- you might find big mounds of lint looking at you. Lint can build up on the heating component and in other locations inside the clothes dryer, causing it to get too hot and perhaps ignite. As a rule, a fire begins with a trigger in the maker. However, inappropriate clothes dryer venting practices outside the dryer can play an essential role in this process.

Outside the Dryer

There are lots of improper clothes dryer vent practices which restrict air flow and result in lint accumulation, the 2 main preventable reasons for clothes dryer fires.

Some of the most common and crucial dryer vent errors are:

1. Clothes dryer vents are too long and/or have a lot of bends, but do not use a dryer duct booster, resulting in lint accumulation. When it pertains to clothes dryer vents, much shorter and straighter is better.

2. Usage of combustible, lightweight plastic or foil duct extenders. Just metal vents ought to be used, which is what many producers define. Metal vents also withstand squashing better than plastic and foil, which allows the air and lint to be carried out of the system. Decreased airflow from accumulation or crushing can cause overheating and break the clothes and device faster. In reality, lots of state and regional municipalities have actually put requirements on new and redesigning jobs to consist of all metal dryer venting.

3. Insufficient clearance space between clothes dryer and wall. Many people produce problems by putting their dryer right against the wall, crushing the venting product in the process. The cumulative impact of decreased airflow and the resulting lint build-up prevent the clothes dryer from drying at the typical rate. This causes the heat limitation safety switch to cycle on and off to control the heating unit. The majority of heat limitation safety switches were not created to continually cycle on and off, so they fail over a period of time.

4. Failure to clean up the clothes dryer duct.

Your Dryer May be Stopping working If:

The clothes are taking an inordinately extended period of time to dry, come out hotter than usual or if the vent hood flapper does not open. Maintenance is required in these cases.

Only You Can Avoid Clothing Clothes Dryer Fires

Proper Setup & Helpful hints Option of Building Materials

1. Make certain the dryer duct is made from solid metal product. Both vinyl and foil are flammable and spiral-wound surfaces tend to capture lint more readily.

2. The dryer duct need to vent to the outside and in no case need to it vent to the attic or crawlspace. Prevent the use of inside heat recovery diverter valves or termination boxes, which do not abide by existing standards.

3. Avoid kinking or squashing the dryer duct to offset installation in tight quarters -this additional restricts airflow. If you truly wish to save the extra area, the Dryerbox is a new development that enables the dryer to be securely set up versus the wall.

4. Decrease the length of the exhaust duct (optimum recommended lengths depend upon a variety of aspects, such as number of bends, and differ by model-check with your producer for their specs). If this is not possible, you can set up a clothes dryer duct booster.

5. If at all possible, use 4-inch diameter vent pipeline and outside exhaust hoods that have openings of sixteen square inches or more, which offer the least resistance to air flow.

6. Don't use screws to put your vent pipeline together-- the screw shafts inside the piping gather lint and trigger extra friction.

Keep the Dryer Duct in Great Condition

Disconnect, clean and check the clothes dryer duct operate on a regular basis, or employ a professional company to clean up the dryer duct. This will reduce the fire danger, increase the clothes dryer's performance and increase its life expectancy. In addition, you are less most likely to experience water damage.

Keep Your Dryer as Lint-Free as Possible

By keeping your clothes dryer tidy, not just will you significantly minimize the fire threat, you will likewise save money as your clothes dryer will run more efficiently and last longer.

To keep your clothes dryer tidy:

1. Use a lint brush or vacuum accessory to eliminate accumulated lint from under the lint trap and other accessible put on a periodic basis.

2. Every 1-3 years, relying on usage, have the dryer taken apart and thoroughly cleaned out by a qualified service technician.

3. Clean the lint trap after each load.

Alternative Solutions

1. Use a condensing clothes dryer. Unlike standard clothes dryers, condensing clothes dryers do need external clothing dryer venting. This considerably minimizes the threat of a dryer fire.

2. Use a spin clothes dryer, which utilizes an incredibly quick spin speed to extract water from the clothing. They extract significantly more water from the clothes than a cleaning device spin cycle does. Spin dryers can be used alone or in combination with a traditional clothing dryer.

Before You Go ...

1. Never ever let your clothes dryer run while you are out of your home and even worse, when you are asleep.

2. Thoroughly read manufacturers' guidelines relating to the safe usage of their dryers.

3. If all else fails, you can constantly utilize an old-fashioned clothesline. There have never been any reported clothesline fires!

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Pub: 17 Feb 2026 00:36 UTC

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