Dryer vent cleaning vs duct cleaning: what is the difference?
They are different systems, cleaned by different trades, for different reasons. A dryer vent is one duct carrying hot wet air from your dryer to the outside wall. Air ducts are the network moving heated and cooled air around your house. Paying for one when you needed the other is the most common mistake homeowners make here.
The short version
- check_circleA dryer vent is a single duct from the back of your dryer to an exterior hood. Air ducts are your furnace and air conditioning supply and return network.
- check_circleDryer vents carry lint and moisture, which is why they are a fire risk. Air ducts carry dust.
- check_circleSymptoms differ: damp clothes and a hot laundry room point at the dryer vent, dust from your floor registers points at the HVAC system.
- check_circleNestFlo cleans dryer vents. We do not clean furnace or air conditioning ductwork.
What is a dryer vent?
A dryer vent is one duct. It runs from a port on the back of your dryer, through a wall or ceiling, and out to a hood on the exterior of your house. Nothing else connects to it.
Its job is to carry away heat and water. Every load you dry puts litres of moisture into that duct as vapour, and it carries lint along with it. That combination, warm and damp and flammable, is why dryer vents are a fire concern and household dust is not.
The code sets real limits on it. Under the 2021 International Residential Code, section M1502, a dryer duct can run a maximum of 35 feet, and every 90 degree elbow costs you another 5 feet of that allowance. It has to be smooth rigid metal, and the joints must not have screws protruding into the airflow, because anything sticking into the duct catches lint.
What are air ducts?
Air ducts are the branching network that distributes heated and cooled air from your furnace or air handler through the house and pulls it back again. Supply runs, return runs, registers in every room.
They are a different size, a different shape, and a different trade. The equipment used to clean them is not the equipment used on a dryer vent, and the reasons for doing it are not the same either.
Why do people mix the two up?
Mostly language. Both are called ducts, both get cleaned, and plenty of companies advertise "duct cleaning" in a way that covers either or neither. Search for one and you will be shown the other.
It matters because the wrong service leaves your actual problem in place. A full furnace duct cleaning does nothing for a dryer that needs two cycles, and a dryer vent cleaning will not change the dust coming out of your bedroom register.
Which one do you actually need?
Go by the symptom rather than the name.
Point at the dryer vent if:
- check_circleLaundry needs a second cycle to come out dry
- check_circleThe laundry room feels hot or humid while the dryer runs
- check_circleLint collects behind the machine or around the outside hood
- check_circleThere is a burning or hot dust smell during a cycle
Point at the HVAC ducts if: you are seeing dust pushed out of floor or wall registers, or you have just finished a renovation that filled the system with construction dust.
The two are not alternatives. Plenty of homes need both, from two different companies.
Dryer vent cleaning and duct cleaning are not the same service
A dryer vent is a single duct carrying hot, wet, lint-laden air from your dryer to an exterior hood, limited by code to a 35 foot run with 5 feet deducted for every 90 degree bend. Air ducts are the furnace and air conditioning distribution network. Different systems, different trades, different symptoms.
If your clothes are damp after a full cycle or your laundry room runs hot, that is the dryer vent. If dust is coming out of your floor registers, that is the HVAC system.
NestFlo does dryer vent cleaning in Burlington, Hamilton, Oakville, Mississauga, Milton, Waterdown, Georgetown and Stoney Creek, at a flat $199, or $179 for a first cleaning.
Common questions about the two services
Is a dryer vent the same as a dryer duct?
Yes. Those two words describe the same thing, the duct running from the back of your dryer to the exterior hood. It is different from the air ducts attached to your furnace or air conditioner, which are a separate system entirely.
Does dryer vent cleaning include my furnace ducts?
No. They are separate systems and separate trades. NestFlo cleans dryer vents only, and a furnace duct cleaning from another company will not clear your dryer vent either.
How long can a dryer vent be?
The 2021 International Residential Code allows a maximum of 35 feet, with 5 feet deducted for each 90 degree elbow. So a run with three bends is effectively limited to 20 feet.
Which areas does NestFlo cover?
Burlington, Hamilton, Oakville, Mississauga, Milton, Waterdown, Georgetown and Stoney Creek. Just outside those? Ask anyway, and if we can reach you we will say so honestly.