Using a dryer at home to dry clothes is not as expensive as you might think. Assuming of course that your dryer is working properly, your vent is clear of all restrictions, and your washer is spinning the water out of the clothes properly. All those factors determine the cost of drying a load of clothes at home. So let’s assume for now that your washer is working fine, your vent is clear, and that your dryer is in normal working condition.

It is difficult to determine what the exact electrical consumption of your dryer because there are a lot of factors. The wattage of your dryer’s electrical element can be between 4000 to 5000 watts. Assuming now that the average cost per kilowatt hour of electricity is 10 cents, we can then conclude that the cost of drying a typical load of laundry at home is about 40 cents. Heavier clothes take longer to dry and cost a little more but still the average cost of drying a load of clothes at home is still about 40 cents.

 

 

 

Each year there is an estimated 15,000 fires in homes or apartments caused by clothes dryers. A leading cause for those fires are dryer vent restrictions, that often go unrecognized or ignored. When a dryer vent gets restricted, excessive heat builds up inside the dryer drum. All dryers manufactured today have safety devices designed to either, open the circuit to the dryer heater, or open the circuit to the dryer motor causing the dryer to turn off. In fact, most dryers today use both methods to protect consumers. However sometimes these safety devices fail and the result is sometimes a dryer fire.

 

The first thing you’ll notice when your dryer vent starts to become restricted is that it seems like it’s taking a long time to dry clothes. Then when you pull the lint screen out you may notice very little lint has collected on the screen. You may also be aware that the dryer seems to be very hot on top and wet or humid inside. If any of these conditions are present you should check for a dryer vent restriction.

 

The easiest way to do that, is to turn on the dryer and go outside and check the amount of air coming out of the dryer vent. If there is very little air, or no air, then you have a dryer vent restriction.

 

Our dryer vent cleaning kit is designed to be used by homeowners. It is best to use a handheld drill, but still works great without a drill. You simply insert the rods with the brush attached in to the dryer vent and rotate it. This kit can be connected to any drill or it can be operated by hand.