Once a year for most households, and sooner if you’re seeing warning signs. The reason is straightforward: the U.S. Fire Administration reports an estimated 2,900 residential clothes dryer fires each year in the U.S., causing roughly 5 deaths, 100 injuries, and $35 million in property loss – and failure to clean is the leading contributing factor, at 34%.
The seasonal pattern is relevant here. Dryer fire incidence peaks in the fall and winter, with January the single worst month. That lines up almost exactly with the Willamette Valley’s wet season, when nobody in Corvallis or Eugene is line-drying anything and dryers run harder for six months straight.
Signs your vent needs attention now:
- Clothes take more than one cycle to dry
- The dryer or the laundry room feels unusually hot
- A burning or musty smell during a cycle
- The exterior vent flap doesn’t open when the dryer runs
- Visible lint around the vent hood outside
Long or rooftop vent runs – common in Portland-area townhomes and condos, and in older Albany and Corvallis houses where the laundry sits away from an exterior wall – trap more lint and need more frequent service. Birds nesting in uncapped exterior vents are another regular find around here.