For most Morris County homes, yes. A first-story cleaning with us is $185, and the U.S. Fire Administration reports failure to clean as the leading factor contributing to the ignition of clothes dryer fires in homes. Whether a cleaning is worth it this year, at your house, depends on a few things you can look at yourself. Here is how I would work it out.
What do you get for the price?
Our cleaning is a flat rate set by where your vent leaves the house: $185 on the first floor, $225 on a second-story wall, $265 through the roof. How long the run is and how clogged it is do not change the price. The one thing that can raise it is a bird nest, which is $100 on top of your package. We show you the nest and quote it before we touch it.
Every cleaning follows the same steps:
- An airflow test before and after
- A camera scope inside the duct, so you see the before and after on screen
- The dryer pulled forward and the transition hose disconnected and cleared
- The full duct run brushed and vacuumed through every elbow
- The outside hood opened and cleared, and the flapper checked
- The dryer reconnected and airflow verified at the vent with the machine running
Most jobs take about an hour. We promise your dryer dries in one cycle afterward, or your money back. The full list is on our dryer vent cleaning page.
What is at stake if you skip it?
The U.S. Fire Administration's report on clothes dryer fires in residential buildings covers 2008 to 2010. It estimates about 2,900 of these fires a year reported to fire departments, with an estimated 5 deaths, 100 injuries and $35 million in property loss each year. Failure to clean was the leading factor, at 34 percent. The USFA's appliance fire page gives failure to clean as the leading factor again for 2018 to 2020, at 31 percent.
Those are national counts, and they are not a forecast for your dryer. Nobody can tell you whether yours will ever catch fire. The Consumer Product Safety Commission describes the mechanism: lint that builds up in the dryer or in the exhaust duct can block airflow and cause excessive heat build-up, and in some dryers that ends in a fire.
I was on the fire department in my high school years and had my first interaction with dryer fires there. Spending a few extra bucks once a year for peace of mind is worth it to me.
Will it change how your dryer runs?
Often, when the vent is the cause. The CPSC says clothing that is still damp at the end of a typical cycle, or drying that takes longer than normal, may be a sign that the lint screen or the exhaust duct is blocked. Whirlpool's product help page on long dry times says that if a dryer is heating but still takes a long time, the likely cause is a vent issue or restricted airflow. It lists reduced drying time, increased airflow and reduced energy cost as the results of regular vent cleaning.
A slow dryer is not always a dirty vent. The same Whirlpool page also lists a lint-blocked screen, extra vent length and elbows, venting crushed behind the dryer, and animal nests in the outside hood. Savings depend on your dryer and how restricted the vent is, so I am not going to put a dollar figure on them. Our article on why clothes take forever to dry covers the symptom in more detail.
What can you check before you book?
Three checks take a few minutes and cost nothing.
- Dry a normal load and feel it at the end of the cycle. If it is damp, the CPSC says that may be a sign of a blocked screen or duct.
- Watch the outside hood while the dryer runs. The CPSC says to check that exhaust air is escaping, and the USFA's dryer fire safety flyer says the outdoor vent covering should open when the dryer is operating. If air is not coming out, the CPSC says the vent or the duct may be blocked.
- Look at the duct behind the dryer. The same USFA flyer says to check that it is not damaged, crushed or restricted. The CPSC advises replacing plastic or foil accordion-type duct with rigid or corrugated semi-rigid metal duct, because the flexible types trap lint and crush more easily.
If all three look fine and the vent was cleaned within the last year, you are not in a hurry. How often is the real question, and dryer makers do not give one answer. A GE owner's manual (model GTX52) says to inspect and clean the exhaust ducting at least once a year. Whirlpool says venting to the outside of the home must be cleaned every one to two years, or as needed when dry performance has decreased. Our advice is once a year for most households, and more often with heavy use or a long duct run. Our article on how often to clean dryer vents covers what pushes a home toward more frequent cleaning.
Can you do it yourself?
Some people do. The GE manual's steps are to turn off the electrical supply by unplugging the dryer, disconnect the duct from the dryer, vacuum the duct with the hose attachment and reconnect it. The CPSC adds that the ducting has to be reconnected to the dryer and the outside vent before the dryer is used again. The same GE manual also says the interior of the dryer and the exhaust duct should be cleaned once a year by qualified service personnel.
A vacuum hose from the laundry room only reaches so far, and it cannot show you what is left at the far end of a long run. That is why we run a camera through the duct and show you the inside before and after, instead of asking you to take our word for it.
When is it not worth the money?
When you cannot tell what you paid for. This is how I put it on our pricing page:
No more bait and switch, where you expect a $69 dryer vent cleaning and end up with a still-clogged vent and a $600 bill for no results! We're not cheap but we're straight forward.Rob Chittenden, owner of The Lint Guys
Before you hire anyone, ask what the price covers, whether the whole run is cleaned out to the outside hood, and whether you will see the inside of the vent afterward. Ask for the price before the work starts. We agree every quote with you before any work begins.
If you are not sure what condition your vent is in, a dryer vent inspection is $79. It is a camera and airflow check of the whole run, with a report that has photos and recommendations. Cleaning is not included. An inspection also makes sense after you move into a home.
Where we work
We are a family-owned company based in Mendham, and we clean dryer vents in 15 Morris County towns, including Morristown, Parsippany and Randolph. We work on dryer vents only. We do not clean general air ducts or chimneys, so if you searched for whole-house duct cleaning, this article is not about that.
To book, Schedule a Cleaning or call (973) 906-9677.