How to Prevent Clothes Dryer Fires
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Article by: Corey Tournet Few people realize the importance of dryer safety. , Apartment Feng Shui - Do You Know How it Works? According to the U.S. Consumer Product , What are the True Benefits of a Sauna? Safety Commission, there are an estimated annual , Carpet Tiles Are A Great Source For Flooring 15,500 fires, , How Your Home Can Benefit From A Furnace Humidifier 10 deaths and 10 injuries caused by dryer fire. , Getting Started With Home Improvement Ideas Several hundred people a year are also subjected to carbon , Using A Room Humidifier For Health Aspects monoxide poisoning from improper dryer safety , How To Find A Flat Roof Leak - Infrared Survey measures. The financial costs come to nearly $100,000,000 per year. In some cases faulty appliances are to blame, but many fires , Clutter Busters: Simple Strategies For Cleaning Up Your Act can be prevented with proper dryer safety , Pre-cut Sauna Kits - Choices to Consider precautions. Why Dryer Fires , Urinal Block Information Occur Lint accumulation and reduced airflow feed on each other to provide conditions ripe for a fire. , Patio Canopies: Protecting Your Patio From The Elements... Lint is a highly combustible material, which, interestingly enough, is one of the ingredients in a recipe for home-made fire , Home Heating - for the Winter starters. A number of dryer , Where’s the Care Label for my New Bedspread? vent problems contribute to this. A growing , Industrial Evaporative Coolers - Cooling At Lower Costs problem Traditionally, most clothes dryers , Everything You Need To Know About Spa Filters were in the basement. , Finding Your Dream Kitchen Cabinets However, nowadays many newer homes , Simple Flat Roof Leak tend to have dryers , Let The Professionals Clean Your House located away from an outside , Candle Making 101 wall in bedrooms, bathrooms, , Where’s the Care Label for my New Bedspread? kitchens , The Window Salesman and hall closets. These new locations , What is an Outdoor Wood Furnace and Why You Should Own One mean dryers , Snazz Up Your Home With Some Hot Candle Holders tend to be vented longer distances and vents are generally installed with sharp turns and bends to accommodate the structure of the home. , Clutter Busters: Simple Strategies For Cleaning Up Your Act As a result, dryer , Home Heating - for the Winter vents are harder to reach, and also create more places , Faux Fire, on the Cheap! for lint to gather. The ideal solution is to have short, straight, dryer , The Benefits of Radiant Heat, Comparison duct venting. However, a dryer , Cheap Faux Wood Blinds - An Alternative to Wooden Blinds? vent booster, while not the ideal approach, can improve your dryer , Home Heating - for the Winter venting in cases where your venting is longer and/or has more bends than it should. In addition to creating a fire , Where’s the Care Label for my New Bedspread? hazard, if the venting is too long and/or has two many bends, it will cause your dryer , Solar Shingles to take much longer than necessary to dry loads. Inside the Dryer Lint is the biggest culprit here. As you know from cleaning out your lint filter, dryers , Water Purifiers And Activated Carbon: Adsorb Or Adsorb? produce very large quantities of lint. Most people assume their lint traps catch all the lint, and that all they need to do is clean them out after each load. However, a significant amount of this lint is not caught by the lint trap and builds up inside , Getting Started With Home Improvement Ideas the dryer-even on the heating element! If you are skeptical, try this experiment: pull out the lint trap and look underneath it- you may find large mounds of lint staring at you. Lint can build up on the heating element and in other places inside , Decorate Your Home With Unique Bamboo Curtains the dryer, , 7 Proven Cost-Effective Ways to Increase the Value of Your Home causing it to overheat and possibly catch fire. , 7 Proven Cost-Effective Ways to Increase the Value of Your Home As a rule, a fire , Cheap Faux Wood Blinds - An Alternative to Wooden Blinds? starts from a spark in the machine. However, improper clothes dryer , Getting Started With Home Improvement Ideas venting practices outside , Caulking for Comfort and Efficiency the dryer , So You’ve Put an Offer on a Home. What’s Next? can play a key role in this process. Outside the Dryer There are many improper dryer , Biomass: Heating Your Home With Corn vent practices which restrict airflow and lead to lint buildup, the two main preventable causes of dryer fires. , How To Give Your Room A Face-Lift Inexpensively! Some of the most common and important dryer , Let The Professionals Clean Your House vent mistakes are: 1. Dryer , Faux Fireplace, on the Cheap! vents are too long and/or have too many bends, but don't use a dryer , So You’ve Put an Offer on a Home. What’s Next? duct booster, resulting in lint buildup. When it comes to dryer , Faux Fireplace, on the Cheap! vents, shorter and straighter is better. 2. Use of flammable, flimsy plastic , Faux Fireplace, on the Cheap! or foil duct extenders. Only metal , Discount Home Appliances vents should be used, which is what most manufacturers , 7 Proven Cost-Effective Ways to Increase the Value of Your Home specify. Metal , Water Purifiers And Activated Carbon: Adsorb Or Adsorb? vents also resist crushing better than plastic , Air Purifiers and foil, which allows the air , Purifiers and lint to be carried out of the system. Reduced airflow from build-up or crushing can cause overheating and wear out the clothes and appliance faster. In fact, many state and local , Used Air Compressors municipalities have placed requirements on new and remodeling projects to include all metal dryer , How To Give Your Room A Face-Lift Inexpensively! venting. 3. Inadequate clearance space between dryer , Clutter Busters: Simple Strategies For Cleaning Up Your Act and wall. , The Benefits of Radiant Heat, Comparison Many people create problems by putting their dryer , Urinal Block Information right against the wall, , Here Comes The Sun: Solar Energy is Becoming More Attractive for Mainstream Consumers crushing the venting material in the process. The cumulative effect of reduced airflow and the resulting lint build-up prevent the dryer , Using A Room Humidifier For Health Aspects from drying at the normal rate. This causes the high temperature , Where’s the Care Label for my New Bedspread? limit safety , Candle Making 101 switch to cycle on and off to control the heater. Most high temperature , Water Purifiers And Activated Carbon: Adsorb Or Adsorb? limit safety , Urinal Block Information switches were not designed to continuously cycle on and off, so they fail over a period of time. 4. Failure to clean the dryer , Simple Flat Roof Leak duct. Your Dryer , Discount Home Appliances May be Failing If: The clothes are taking an inordinately long period of time to dry, come out hotter than usual or if the vent hood flapper doesn't open. Maintenance is needed in these cases. Only You Can Prevent Clothes Dryer , What is an Outdoor Wood Furnace and Why You Should Own One Fires Proper Installation & Choice of Building , Discount Home Appliances Materials 1. Make sure the dryer , Let The Professionals Clean Your House duct is made of solid metallic material. Both vinyl and foil are combustible and spiral-wound surfaces tend to catch lint more readily. 2. The dryer , How To Find A Flat Roof Leak - Infrared Survey duct should vent to the exterior and in no case should it vent to the attic or crawlspace. Avoid the use of inside , So You’ve Put an Offer on a Home. What’s Next? heat recovery diverter valves or termination boxes, which do not comply with current standards. 3. Avoid kinking or crushing the dryer , How to get a Quotation of Estimation From a Contractor or Supplier for Home Decorating duct to make up for installation in tight quarters -this further restricts airflow. If you really want to save , The Window Salesman the extra space, the Dryerbox is a new invention that allows the dryer , How To Find A Flat Roof Leak - Infrared Survey to be safely installed against the wall. , Mexico: Who Farted? 4. Minimize the length of the exhaust duct (maximum recommended lengths depend on a number of factors, such as number of bends, and vary by model-check with your manufacturer , Faux Fireplace, on the Cheap! for their specifications). If this is not possible, you can install a dryer , Here Comes The Sun: Solar Energy is Becoming More Attractive for Mainstream Consumers duct booster. 5. If at all possible, use 4-inch diameter vent pipe and exterior exhaust hoods that have openings of sixteen square inches or more, which offer the least resistance to air , Discount Home Appliances flow. 6. Don't use screws , The Hard Hat to put your vent pipe together - the screw , Patio Canopies: Protecting Your Patio From The Elements... shafts inside , Snazz Up Your Home With Some Hot Candle Holders the piping collect lint and cause additional friction. Keep the Dryer , Faux Fireplace, on the Cheap! Duct in Good Condition Disconnect, clean and inspect the dryer , Getting Started With Home Improvement Ideas duct run on a regular basis, or hire a professional company to clean the dryer , Design Your Log Home For Resale duct. This will reduce the fire , Cheap Faux Wood Blinds - An Alternative to Wooden Blinds? hazard, increase the dryer's efficiency and increase its lifespan. In addition, you are less likely to experience water , Design Your Log Home For Resale damage. Keep Your Dryer , Used Air Compressors as Lint-Free as Possible By keeping your dryer , How To Give Your Room A Face-Lift Inexpensively! clean, not only will you significantly reduce the fire , 7 Proven Cost-Effective Ways to Increase the Value of Your Home hazard, you will also save , Biomass: Heating Your Home With Corn money as your dryer , Here Comes The Sun: Solar Energy is Becoming More Attractive for Mainstream Consumers will run more efficiently and last longer. To keep your dryer , Carpet Tiles Are A Great Source For Flooring clean: 1. Use a lint brush or vacuum attachment to remove accumulated lint from under the lint trap and other accessible places , Water Purifiers And Activated Carbon: Adsorb Or Adsorb? on a periodic basis. 2. Every 1-3 years, depending upon usage, have the dryer , How Your Home Can Benefit From A Furnace Humidifier 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 dryer. , How To Find A Flat Roof Leak - Infrared Survey Unlike conventional clothes dryers, , Used Air Compressors condensing dryers , Everything You Need To Know About Spa Filters do require external clothes dryer , Design Your Log Home For Resale venting. This significantly reduces the risk of a dryer fire. , Candle Making 101 2. Use a spin dryer, , Mexico: Who Farted? which uses an extremely fast spin speed to extract water , What are the True Benefits of a Sauna? from the clothes. They extract significantly more water , Simple Flat Roof Leak from the clothes than a washing machine spin cycle does. Spin dryers , Simple Flat Roof Leak can be used alone or in conjunction with a conventional clothes dryer. , Urinal Block Information Before You Go.... 1. Never let your clothes dryer , Decorate Your Home With Unique Bamboo Curtains run while you are out of the house , Cheap Faux Wood Blinds - An Alternative to Wooden Blinds? or even worse, when you are asleep. 2. Thoroughly read manufacturers' instructions regarding the safe , Industrial Evaporative Coolers - Cooling At Lower Costs use of their dryers. , The Benefits of Radiant Heat, Comparison 3. If all else fails, you can always use an old-fashioned clothesline. There have never been any reported clothesline fires! , Satellite TV or Cable Corey K. Tournet is the owner of The Laundry , Clutter Busters: Simple Strategies For Cleaning Up Your Act Alternative, a company which specializes in portable washing machines and septic system products. , Mobile Home Remodeling |
  
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