Tag Archives: Dryer Fires

How To Avoid a Dangerous Dryer Fire

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Man looking into dryerA dryer fire is much more common than you think. The National Fire Protection Association found that from 2010-2014, U.S. fire departments estimated 15,970 fires involving washers and dryers, resulted in 13 deaths, 440 injuries and $238 million in property damage. Out of all those fires, 92% were due to dryer fires.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the second most dangerous appliance in the home is the clothes dryer. The first most dangerous appliance is the kitchen stove. In most homes, the clothes dryer is used far more often than the stove.

As one of the few women Certified Dryer Exhaust Technicians in California, I speak to many people about their dryers. On average, I receive 2-3 calls a month from people who have experienced a terrifying dryer fire.

Simple, easy-to-do tips you can do to prevent a dryer fire

Lint screen•  Clean out the lint screen after every load of laundry.

•  Never use your dryer without a lint screen.

•  Always check pockets before doing your laundry. Paper products like Kleenex, cocktail napkins, shopping lists, and receipts get past the lint screen and land inside the dryer along with lint which creates the fuel for a dryer fire. These products also clog the dryer vent which makes the dryer run hotter, setting yourself up for a dangerous dryer fire.

•  If you use fabric softener in your washer or dryer sheets in the dryer, we recommend washing the lint screen every few months, using water, liquid soap, and a toothbrush. Fabric softener and dryer sheets leave a chemical film that clogs the lint screen, causing your dryer to overheat.

•  Don’t overload your dryer. This can also cause the dryer to overheat, potentially causing a dryer fire.

•  If your dryer is located in a laundry room or laundry closet, the doors to the room or closet must be open when the dryer is on. A dryer needs 100 square inches of oxygen, the equivalent of a 10″ x 10″ window. If the dryer doesn’t have this make-up air, it can overheat.

•  If you have an exhaust fan in your laundry room, keep it off while the dryer is running, especially if the laundry room or laundry closet doors are closed. The exhaust fan removes air from the room. The dryer needs that oxygen in order to ventilate properly.

Clogged dryer vent exhaust•  Never have a screen where the dryer vent exhausts out. The screen will prevent animals from entering the dryer vent but the screen plugs up easily with lint. Instead, use a dryer damper or flapper.

•  The dryer needs at least 18″ of clearance in front of it. The dryer pulls air from underneath the dryer. If a laundry basket or other objects are in front of the dryer, it makes it harder for the dryer to pull the air in, causing the dryer to overheat.

•  The flexible connector hose between the back of the dryer and the wall must be shiny aluminum, not white plastic or vinyl. Some dryer manufacturers require rigid venting behind the dryer. Check the dryer’s manufacturer’s instructions for the proper transition between the back of the dryer and the wall.

•  Don’t push the dryer too close to the wall behind it. This may kink, crush or collapse the flexible connector hose which may prevent the dryer from exhausting properly. This connector hose must be as short as possible and never longer than eight feet. It should only be long enough to go from the back of the dryer to the wall with just a little slack so that it still stays connected if you pull the dryer out.  Here’s a link to several options for dryer vent hoses for tight spaces.

Indoor Dryer Vent Kit
Photo Credit: Amazon

•  Building code requires that the dryer vent to the outside of the house. Indoor dryer vent kits do not meet that requirement and could create a potentially dangerous situation, especially for venting a gas dryer.

•  Dryer vents cannot vent into garages, attics, basements or crawl spaces. For every load of clothes you dry, the dryer vents a half of a gallon in condensation, creating a sauna in the room. This moisture can create mold in enclosed areas.

•  The dryer vent going into or through any enclosed area (garages, attics, basements or crawl spaces) must be the rigid dryer vent pipe. The flexible connector hose can only be used for the short distance between the back of the dryer and the wall, never inside an enclosed area.

•  A plugged up dryer vent will prevent carbon monoxide from venting to the outside. It will also overheat the dryer. Here are signs that you may have a plugged up dryer vent.

•  Always have an ABC-type of fire extinguisher close to or inside the laundry room in case of a dryer fire.

C-Det logo for dryer vent technicians•  Have your dryer vent cleaned once a year by a professional Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician. Most people don’t realize that it’s typically chimney sweeps who do dryer vent cleaning. This is because the chimney industry has developed the proper tools and equipment specifically for dryer vents. If the dryer vent is not cleaned correctly, the dryer vent can get disconnected inside the walls or completely plugged up, making for a very expensive repair.

•  Make sure to ask how the dryer vent cleaning professional cleans the dryer vent. Professional dryer exhaust technicians will use a brushing method to scrub the dryer vent clean from beginning to end. These brushes have rods that go through the multiple 90 degree bends that most dryer vent systems have. Many companies who are not professional will only use vacuums or air pressure that just remove the loose lint accumulation and not the caked-on, paper-mache’ buildup inside a dryer vent.

•  Professional dryer exhaust technicians also have special tools, either a Magnehelic Gage or Vane Anemometer, to measure the airflow of the dryer. After a thorough dryer vent cleaning is done, we test the pressure at the termination. If the system doesn’t have air pressure, then we know that either the dryer needs a repair or there’s a disconnected vent inside the wall. Here’s how to find a professional Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician.

Dryer fire•  Cleaning out your dryer vent is only one side of the issue. A dryer fire can also be caused by the clothes dryer itself. The paper and lint accumulation inside the dryer under the drum is typically where the dryer fire occurs. For that reason, hire a professional appliance technician to clean out the inside of the dryer once or twice a year, depending on your laundry habits. Simply cleaning the lint screen isn’t enough because the paper and lint can get past the lint screen and land inside the dryer. The only way to remove that lint is to open up the dryer.

•  The most important piece of advice I have: Never go to bed with the dryer on and don’t leave the house either!! You want to be home and you want to be awake in case of a dryer fire. This is especially true when your dryer is located in an attached garage. Building code requires a one-hour fire-rated door between the garage and the house. Your garage would be completely gone before you would even know you had a fire. In this case, it’s especially dangerous if you have a bedroom above the garage.

Cleaning out your dryer vent as well as inside the dryer itself will save you money on utility bills, create less wear and tear on the dryer, reduce expensive appliance repairs and will reduce the chance of a dryer fire.

Proper maintenance of your dryer vent, as well as your dryer, can give you peace of mind from a potential dryer fire.

How to Avoid a Dryer Fire During a Flex Alert

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Dryer fireHere we are in July and we’re all enjoying the beautiful summer weather that’s common here in beautiful San Diego, but this heat has created some unintended consequences.

Due to the extreme summer heat throughout the region and the resulting high electricity usage, the manager of the state’s power grid has issued a Flex Alert Warning for the entire state of California. As part of the Flex Alert, consumers are advised to reduce electricity use from 2:00pm until 9:00pm.

Besides raising thermostats to at least 78 degrees, consumers are being urged to avoid using major appliances until early morning or late evening. One of the appliances they specifically addressed is dryers.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, there were an estimated 15,970 fires per year due to washers and dryers in the United States between 2010 to 2014. Because of the very high incidence of a dryer fire, we highly recommend that you never go to bed with the dryer running.

I know that we all should comply with saving energy during this Flex Alert by doing our laundry late at night but it’s important to stay safe as well. I speak to several people every month who call me because of a dryer fire. Yes, it happens, and it happens often enough that we should all be aware of the dangers of going to sleep while the dryer is running.

For more information about dryer safety and how to reduce the possibility of a dryer fire, check out my blog post “18 Important Tips for Dryer Vents.”

In the meantime, enjoy your summer!

Dryer in laundry room

18 Important Tips for Dryer Vents

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Clothes dryer with basket of clothes on top of dryer

Many homeowners don’t realize just how potentially dangerous it is to do laundry. According to the National Fire Protection Association, between 2010 to 2014, there were an estimated 15,970 fires due to washers and dryers in the United States each year. Interestingly, the innocent-looking clothes dryer accounted for 92% of those fires.

These fires resulted in 13 civilian deaths, 440 civilian injuries and $238 million in property damage.

With over 20 years of experience as only one of two women Certified Dryer Exhaust Technicians in California, I know the importance of safety as it relates to dryer vents. Here are important safety-related “Do’s” and “Don’ts” to reduce the chance of dryer fires

Nine Important “Do’s” for Dryer Vents

1) When installing a new dryer, always install a new connector hose between the dryer and the wall. This hose should be a metal connector hose, either rigid or Connector hose between dryer and wallflexible. If your connector hose is white plastic or vinyl, replace it immediately since those are potential fire hazards. In the case of a flexible hose, the hose should only be long enough to go between the dryer and the wall with a little slack so that if you pull out the dryer, the hose still stays connected to the wall. The Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) recommends that this connector hose never be longer than eight feet. For tight spaces behind the dryer, here is a link for options for dryer vent hoses.

2) Always clean out the lint screen before each load. Never use your dryer without the lint screen installed.

3) Using dryer sheets or dryer pads may leave a chemical film on your lint screen, which makes your dryer harder to “breathe.” If you use these products, clean your lint screen using water, liquid soap and a toothbrush every few months.

4) Keep combustible and volatile materials away from your dryer.  Paper products like toilet paper and paper towels should not be stored too close to the dryer.  In addition, flammable or volatile chemicals such as alcohol, gasoline, motor oil, finishing oils and stains, spot removers, solvents, cleaning agents and cooking oils should not be stored in the laundry room. These chemicals are not only flammable but they can also give off toxic vapors and odors.

5) Always check pockets before you do your laundry. Paper products such as receipts, note paper, or cocktail napkins will get past the lint screen and land inside the dryer under the drum where the paper becomes a fire hazard. Dryer sheets or dryer pads can also get into the vent. Sometimes this paper, along with lint which you have no control over, will get passed from the dryer into the dryer vent where it mixes with moisture from drying your clothes and becomes paper mache inside the vent pipe. This will clog up the vent, creating a potential fire hazard for your dryer.

6) Just because the dryer venting system is clean, doesn’t mean you never have to worry about dryer fires. The lint and paper accumulation inside the dryer under the drum is the fuel that creates the dryer fires. Contact an appliance repair company to periodically have the lint and paper accumulation cleaned out from the body of the dryer, under the drum.

7) Due to the high incidence of dryer fires, an ABC-type fire extinguisher located close to the dryer is highly recommended in a visible and accessible location.

8) In addition to the fire hazard associated with dryer fires, there’s also the issue of carbon monoxide poisoning. Blocked or plugged up dryer vents for gas dryers may allow carbon monoxide to back up into the home. It is highly recommended to install a carbon monoxide detector close to the dryer when you have a gas dryer.

9) Have the dryer vents professionally brushed out on a regular basis. Professionals vary as to the frequency for cleaning out the dryer vents but the CSIA recommends that the dryer vent be checked on an annual basis. Of course, your laundry habits as well as how the dryer venting system is routed will be contributing factors in the frequency of the dryer vent cleaning. To find a qualified Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician in your area, go to www.csia.org. Make sure that the technician uses a brushing method to scrub the vent clean.

Many companies will only use vacuums or air pressure which will simply remove the loose accumulation from the dryer vent which is a waste of your time and money. A professional Dryer Exhaust Technician will also use a Magnehelic Gage or Vane Anemometer to measure the air flow of the dryer vent system after the dryer vent cleaning.

Nine Important “Don’ts” for Dryer Vents

1) Don’t push the dryer too close to the wall behind the clothes dryer. The connector hose should not be kinked or crushed which will reduce air flow. Not only will this create more lint in the dryer but your dryer will run hotter than it needs to, setting you up for a dangerous dryer fire.

2) Don’t close the door to the laundry room or laundry closet when your dryer is on. According to the Uniform Mechanical Code, a dryer needs 100 square inches of “make-up air,” the equivalent of a 10″x10″ window. Without this make-up air, the dryer will run harder and hotter than it needs to. This isn’t good for the dryer and it’s not safe for you.

3) Don’t use the exhaust fan in your laundry room if the dryer is on. The exhaust fan pulls air out of the room, which makes your dryer harder to bring in the make-up air that it needs.

4) Never dry clothes that have flammable or volatile chemicals on them. Instead, dry these clothes outside.

5) Don’t overload your dryer. It makes your dryer run harder and hotter than it needs to. This will create extra wear-and-tear on your dryer as well as expensive dryer repairs, and it will reduce the lifespan of your dryer.

6) Your dryer brings in make-up air from underneath and in front of your dryer. Don’t block this area with baskets of laundry. There should be a minimum of 18″ of open area in front of your dryer.

7) Never dry rubber-backed rugs or bathroom mats or other items with foam, plastic or vinyl materials. Not only does this potentially create a fire hazard, but it’ll ruin the items due to the high heat.

8) Dryers must always vent to the exterior of the house and never into enclosed areas like garages, attics, or crawl spaces.  Never use the indoor dryer vent box kits purchased from the big box stores. These are not to code and can be especially dangerous if you’re venting a gas dryer.

9) Lastly and most importantly, NEVER run your dryer if you’re not at home or if you’re asleep.  I receive several phone calls a month from people whose dryer caught on fire.  You want to be home AND awake in case it does.

Following these tips will reduce the chance of dangerous dryer fires and will keep you worry-free while doing your laundry!