VENTING: OUR ONLINE BLOG


We see multiple Google Alerts, nearly every day, reporting a clothes dryer fire displacing residents, burning a home to the ground, and in some cases, causing death.

-FDNY Dryer Fire Damages Home
-Three People Displaced by Fire at East Taunton Home
-Dryer Fire Blamed for Friday Morning Blaze
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According to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission's latest "Residential Fire Loss Estimates" (2012-2014), 5,100 dryer related residential fires occur annually. While some of these fires are related to equipment malfunction, the vast majority are related to lint and unclean dryer exhaust routes. And it's more than simply cleaning your lint tramp each load.

How many ticking time bombs are out there? Is there one in your home? Don't be a statistic, don't be a Google Alert.

The good news is, the Chimney Safety Institute of America is training and credentialing Certified Dryer Exhaust Technicians® (C-DET) at a record pace. A C-DET can help ensure your dryer exhaust is working well and is properly routed to eliminate this threat in your home. Find one today in your area and get this important service done.

​-Zach Zagar

 The newest U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission report on house fires shows that 5,100 occurred in clothes dryers in 2012, a 22% drop from the year before.

The decline is welcome, as public safety is the mission of the Chimney Safety Institute of America, a 32-year-old nonprofit based in Plainfield, Indiana. CSIA notes that the true number is under-reported, as many occur inside the machine and self-extinguish, unbenownst to the user.

“The public, by and large, does not understand how important it is to have regular inspections, annually, so that this everyday appliance functions with less risk. The drop from 2011 to 2012 is good news, but we’re not finished,” said Mark A. Stoner, president of CSIA’s national board of directors. Stoner is based in Nashville, Tenn.

CSIA has the only clothes-dryer training program in the industry, with over 300 professionals carrying the C-DET credential — Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician. The C-DET course launched in 2000.

MORE: View CPSC’s PDF of the 2010-12 report posted on its website.

CPSC’s report showed that with clothes dryers, the 5,100 fires in 2012 resulted in 10 deaths, 180 injuries, and an estimated $80.1 million in residential structure fire property loss.

The Bethesda, Maryland-based CPSC culled its report on data obtained from the U.S. Fire Administration and the National Fire Protection Association. CPSC staff has been producing estimates of residential fires and related deaths, injuries, and property losses since the early 1980s.

NFPA and CSIA each recommend that all dryer vents should be inspected at least once a year – and it’s the mission of CSIA to foster public awareness of such issues relating to venting performance and safety.

Lint and other debris that build up in clothes dryer vents can also create potentially hazardous conditions including carbon monoxide intrusion and the possibility for exhaust fires, CSIA cautions.

Having established the most-widely recognized national certification programs for the chimney and venting service industry, CSIA strives to eliminate residential chimney fires, carbon monoxide intrusion and other chimney- and venting-related hazards that result in the loss of lives and property.

CSIA’s 300 dryer exhaust technicians  can be found using CSIA’s free zip-code locator at csia.org/search or on a new website devoted to consumer awareness,dryersafety.org.

— Tom Spalding

Have you experienced a clothes dryer fire? It's very possible that there was one inside your appliance that you never suspected. Here's an easy way to tell: the odor of burned lint is not unlike burnt hair, due to the hair follicles (yes, we know, gross!) that are expelled and make up lint during the drying process. That odor from the fire can last a good 2 to 3 weeks, and even transfer to your tumbled-dried articles of clothing. Our C-DET certified dryer exhaust technicians typically see the debris during their inspection! - Tom Spalding

RISK OF LINT BUILD-UP INCLUDE CO POISONING [3/19/15] We often talk about fire being a tremendous threat as the result of lint build-up, but there's an even bigger issue out there. An accumulation of dryer lint is blamed for carbon monoxide in a residence. Firefighters found a "slightly elevated level" of around 36 parts per million that prevented the machine from properly venting to the outside, causing a build-up of CO in the laundry room. Fortunately, a CO alarm went off, alerting the residents. Read the story here, and make sure you have a CO detector. - Tom Spalding


THREE KEYS TO IMPROVED DRYER SAFETY [2/6/2015] In my more than a decade in the dryer vent industry, I’ve worked with or studied venting systems in 30 different states. In all that I’ve seen and done, there are three elements of a dryer vent’s operation that raise the most concern because they create the most serious safety risks.

Transition duct material
This is the ductwork that connects your clothes dryer to your home’s venting system The transition duct material that most homeowners use is called flexible foil venting, but the problem is that this material does not meet code in 90 percent of cases. The concern is that flexible foil is easily crushed by accidentally pushing the dryer too close against the wall. Crushed venting creates back pressure, a resistance to the outward air flow that leads to lint build-up. That build-up can easily ignite when it comes in contact with a dryer’s heating element. The solution can be a simple fix. Make sure your transitional duct material is solid-rigid or semi-rigid ducting.

Venting length and layout
Most dryer manufacturers indicate an allowable venting length guideline in their owners’ manuals. The first important step is to know the length and layout of your venting to ensure its construction allows your appliance to work most efficiently. Too many bends of 90 degrees in your venting can create back pressure, limiting efficiency and increasing the potential for fire. If you’re not sure about the length and layout of your dryer venting, a CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician can identify weaknesses in your system and can remove or reduce the number of bends in it to improve safety.

Venting termination points
This is the spot where your venting reaches the outside of your home. The problem I most often encounter is that homeowners don’t keep these termination points free of debris. The most common type of hood for dryer vent terminations is an angled metal piece with a damper, or flap, that opens in response to air pressure. While these can be useful, it’s crucial that the opening on such hoods is 4”. Using screens or bird cages can be a hazard and is often in violation of code because they lead to debris buildup. Remember, an annual inspection by a CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician can ensure safer and more efficient venting by your dryer. It’s important to remove the lint from the filter after every load of laundry and occasionally hold the screen under running water to confirm it can pass through the screen easily. -- Blogger Tim Reiher started Clean & Green Dryer Vent Experts, a family-owned business, in 2009, after 5 years as a corporate trainer and technical support manager for a national dryer vent franchise company. Tim also serves as an instructor for the Chimney Safety Institute of America’s Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician training program.