5 Warning Signs Your Dryer Vent Needs Cleaning Now

Every year, nearly 2,900 residential clothes dryer fires break out across the United States. That number comes directly from FEMA, and the cause behind most of them is the same: failure to clean the dryer vent. Not a mechanical defect. Not a faulty outlet. Lint buildup that nobody got around to removing.

The National Fire Protection Association identifies clogged dryer vents as the single leading cause of dryer fires. These fires cause an estimated $35 million in property damage annually, injure hundreds of people, and claim lives every year. The unsettling part is that almost all of them are preventable with routine maintenance.

If you are not sure whether your dryer vent needs attention, here are five warning signs that should prompt a call to a professional.

1. Clothes Take Longer Than One Cycle to Dry

This is the most common early sign, and it is the one most people explain away. If loads that used to be dry in 40 or 45 minutes now need an hour and a half — or a second full cycle — your dryer vent is almost certainly restricted.

Here is what is happening. Your dryer works by pushing hot, moist air out through the vent to the exterior of your home. When lint accumulates inside the vent line, it narrows the passage and chokes off that airflow. Moisture-laden air gets trapped inside the drum instead of exhausting outside, so your clothes sit in damp heat and never fully dry.

Beyond the inconvenience, this costs you real money. A dryer running double cycles uses roughly twice the energy. Over the course of a year, that adds up fast. It also puts unnecessary strain on the dryer's heating element, motor, and thermostat — components that fail sooner when the machine is forced to work harder than it was designed to.

2. The Dryer Is Hot to the Touch After a Cycle

Your dryer generates heat to dry clothes, but the exterior cabinet should not feel unusually hot. If the top or sides of your dryer are radiating heat when you touch them, the hot air that is supposed to be leaving through the vent is being trapped inside the machine.

This is a direct fire risk. Lint is one of the most flammable materials found in a typical home. When a restricted vent traps heat inside the dryer, the internal temperature climbs well beyond normal operating range. The lint that has accumulated inside the vent and around the exhaust port is now sitting in an environment where ignition becomes a real possibility. An overheating dryer also degrades internal components faster, leading to expensive repairs or premature replacement of the entire unit.

3. You Smell Burning When the Dryer Is Running

This is the warning sign you should never ignore. A burning smell means lint somewhere in the system is being exposed to excessive heat. It may be inside the vent line, around the exhaust port, or trapped near the heating element itself.

If you notice a hot or burning odor while your dryer is running, stop the machine immediately. Do not restart it until the vent has been professionally inspected and cleaned. This is exactly the scenario where a dryer fire starts — superheated lint in a confined space with restricted airflow. It is also the situation where same-day service matters most. MedCity Duct Cleaning offers same-day dryer vent cleaning for safety concerns like this.

4. Lint Is Visible Around the Dryer or Outside Vent Flap

Walk outside and find the vent where your dryer exhausts air. If you see lint collecting on or around that vent flap, the airflow inside the line is too weak to push debris clear. Now check behind your dryer where the transition hose connects to the wall. Lint on the floor, around the connection, or clinging to the hose is another clear indicator.

What you can see on the outside is a fraction of what has built up on the inside. A standard residential dryer vent runs 10 to 25 feet through walls, floors, or ceilings, often with multiple bends. Every turn in the vent line creates a spot where lint catches and accumulates. If enough lint is escaping to be visible at either end, the interior of the vent is significantly restricted.

5. It Has Been More Than a Year Since the Last Cleaning

Even if your dryer seems to be running fine right now, the NFPA recommends having dryer vents cleaned at least once a year. Lint accumulates gradually. The vent can reach a dangerous level of restriction before you notice any change in drying performance. Annual cleaning is the most reliable way to prevent a problem before it starts.

Households that run heavier laundry loads — families with young children, pet owners, anyone doing multiple loads per day — may benefit from cleaning every six to nine months. The same applies to homes with longer vent runs or vents with several turns, because lint collects faster in those configurations.

Why Minnesota Winters Make This Worse

Rochester homeowners should pay particular attention to dryer vent maintenance during the heating season. Minnesota winters mean heavier dryer use — wet boots, snow gear, extra loads of blankets and towels — which generates more lint, more often, with less downtime between loads for heat to dissipate.

There is also a physics problem specific to cold climates. Your dryer pushes warm, moist air through a vent that runs through exterior walls or unheated spaces. When that warm air meets the cold surfaces inside the vent, condensation forms. That moisture makes the interior walls of the vent sticky, and lint that would otherwise pass through gets trapped and compacted. Over a single Minnesota winter, this combination of heavy use and condensation-accelerated buildup can take a clean vent to a restricted one faster than most homeowners expect.

Homes in Southeast Minnesota often have longer vent runs as well, because laundry rooms are frequently in basements or interior rooms, requiring the vent to travel a significant distance through walls before reaching the exterior. Longer runs with more turns mean more surface area for lint to collect and more resistance for your dryer to push against.

What to Do Next

If any of the five signs above sound familiar, do not wait to see if they get worse. A clogged dryer vent does not fix itself. The lint will continue to accumulate, drying times will keep increasing, and the fire risk will grow with every load.

MedCity Duct Cleaning provides professional dryer vent cleaning for homes throughout Rochester and Southeast Minnesota. We use the Rotobrush dryer vent system — a rotating brush paired with a high-performance vacuum — to clear your entire vent line from the dryer connection to the exterior opening. The service typically takes 30 to 60 minutes, and we verify airflow before we leave.

For urgent situations — a burning smell, an overheating dryer, or any sign that suggests an immediate safety concern — we offer same-day service. Call us directly at (507) 289-4039 and let us know what you are experiencing. We prioritize safety calls and will do our best to get to you the same day.

Not sure if your vent needs cleaning? We also offer free inspections. Request a quote online or call (507) 289-4039 to schedule yours.