If your clothes dryer vent is too long, obstructed or blocked a house fire may occur. It is always a good idea to use the shortest possible run of clothes dryer exhaust pipe. Using smooth rigid metal pipe is also a great idea in order to avoid problems with the appliance and decrease the risk of a house fire. Smooth interior metal pipe is less likely to allow lint to stick to the perimeter of the exhaust pipe.

One hint a problem exists is if it takes longer to dry your clothes than normal. If the exhaust pipe is clogged your clothes dryers built in thermo senor will turn off the heat until the inside of the dryer cools down. Then it will wait a while prior to turning the heat back on.

The end result at some time the interior of the dryer is too hot (shrinking your clothes) and some times it runs without heat (just spinning and not drying).

The real problem is one day when the heat sensor does not shut the dryer down and a house fire occurs when the highly combustible lint is ignited.

It is not a bad idea to disconnect power from the clothes dryer and remove the access panels to remove accumulated lint within the dryer interior.

Michael Del Greco is President of Accurate Inspections, Inc. A New Jersey home inspection firm. He has performed thousands of home inspections in New Jersey since 1993. He has taught the New Jersey Home Inspector Licensing classes and New Jersey Home Inspector CEU classes as well as participated in developing questions for the National Home Inspector Exam. Michael’s home inspector resume may be viewed at http://www.accurateinspections.com/michael2.htm.

Visit http://home-inspector.NewJerseyHomeInspection.com for a list of home inspectors in New Jersey.

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