Prevent Dryer Fire

 The (USFA) U.S. Fire Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reports there are approximately 15,600 house fires, 400 injuries and 15 deaths each year due to clothes dryer fires.  Failure to clean lint is a leading cause of fires as is improper installation and maintenance.  Clothes dryers force hot air through a revolving drum to dry clothes.  The lint that accumulates during this drying process is mostly caught in a filter known as a lint trap, but this only stops about 75% of the lint with the remainder accumulating in the dryer and dryer vent system.  This accumulation of debris reduces airflow through the clothes dryer, raises temperature levels, and provides a highly flammable source of fuel for a residential or commercial fire.  Read some nationwide articles of recent clothes dryer fires.

Dryer Fire Warning Signs

1. Your clothes are taking longer to dry (a properly functioning vent system with proper airflow will reduce energy costs by $10 to $25 monthly).
2. There is excessive moisture in your laundry room or a musty smell.
3. You notice dryer lint on the ground or sticking out of your dryer vent exhaust outside.
4. You notice lint around your dryer in the laundry room.
5. Very little lint is in your dryer lint trap.
6. Your dryers' vent system hasn't been cleaned in over a year.
7. You notice your dryer vent flap outside not moving when the dryer is on.
8. Your clothes dryer is vented with plastic or vinyl exhaust materials. 

A dryer vent before and after it's been cleaned to prevent dryer fire

Always Check Before Use

1. Lint filter is in place, clean, and has no rips in it.
2. Area around your clothes dryer is free of combustible material.
3. No synthetic material such as rubber, plastic, foam, or pieces of cloth used to sponge up flammable liquids (previously washed or not), are placed in the dryer.
4. Lint buildup on floor around clothes dryer.

Never

1. Service the dryer yourself, including cleaning of the chassis.  Always call a professional.
2. Put synthetic material such as rubber, plastic, foam, or pieces of cloth used to sponge up flammable liquids (previously washed or not), in the dryer.
3. Try to clean the dryer vents yourself without first verifying the material it is made out of - cleaning the wrong type of vent could make the problem worse.

Additional Considerations and Safety Measures

1. Make sure your clothes dryer is plugged into an outlet suitable for its needs.
2. You have a smoke alarm installed in the laundry room.
3. Your dryer is turned off when you are sleeping or have left the house. 

The Importance of a Chimney Sweep

Living in Arizona, we often aren’t clamoring to our fireplaces in order to keep warm. However, if you do have a fireplace, it’s important that you have it inspected and cleaned on a regular basis for a number of reasons, even if you don’t use it that much.

When it comes to your family, nothing is more important than health, and you want your home to be as healthy as possible. A clean out of your chimney will help keep your home free of allergens that can have an effect on you and your family’s health. 

Another health-related reason to keep your chimney clean is that regular maintenance will prevent water from rain storms from entering your home and causing damage to your chimney. If you chimney is damaged and cracked, it can let smoke and foul odors into your home. 

Dirt and grime can also block the flue, which causes the common problem of smoke buildup in your home. You may have forgotten to open the flue when lighting a fire in your fireplace a time or two, resulting in a smoky room that needs to be aired out. Smoke inhalation can be dangerous and incredibly unhealthy to breathe in.

Besides the obvious health reasons, it’s incredibly important to have your chimney inspected and cleaned for safety purposes. Even if you don’t use your fireplace that much (and we’re guessing in Arizona you probably don’t), cleaning can get rid of nests that could be potentially have been built by animals in the flue, which is very important to keep clean.

Also affecting your family’s safety are things like dirt and creosote, which is a chemical product, obtained by distilling tar. Excessive buildup of creosote is a fire hazard can actually ignite and cause a fire in your chimney, leading right into your home.


Now that you know why it’s so important to have your chimney cleaned and inspected regularly, we’ll tell you how often and when we think the best times are to do so.

The national Fire Protection Association recommends an annual inspection of your chimney, so start with the NFPA. They’ll come out and check your chimney to make sure it’s all in working order. If you don’t know the best time of year to do this, pick a time in early to mid-October, right before you really start firing up the, well, fireplace.

Once it’s been inspected for structural soundness, call a professional to clean your chimney once or twice a year, depending on how often you use it. We’re incredibly knowledgeable and careful when it comes to taking care of your chimney, so if you haven’t had it done in a while, call us today for a quote at (623) 203-4698.

Welcome to Our Blog!

Welcome to Golden's Good Air's blog. We're so excited to launch our bi-monthly blog and to inform you on tips, tricks and the latest info about our business and anything you need to know about air duct, dryer vent and chimney cleaning.

Come back soon for our next post!