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Old 12-17-12, 05:01 PM   #61
GaryGary
Apprentice EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SW Montana
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eNeufenergy View Post
I'm not allowed to post the link since I'm a newbie so check out: FEMA Dot GOV the doc. is "Clothes Dryer Fires in Residential Buildings (2008-2010)"

Some useful stats. to consider:

Findings
■ An estimated 2,900 clothes dryer fires in residential buildings are reported to U.S. fire
departments each year and cause an estimated 5 deaths, 100 injuries, and $35 million in
property loss.
■ Clothes dryer fire incidence in residential buildings was higher in the fall and winter months,
peaking in January at 11 percent.
■ Failure to clean (34 percent) was the leading factor contributing to the ignition of clothes
dryer fires in residential buildings.
■ Dust, fiber, and lint (28 percent) and clothing not on a person (27 percent) were, by far, the
leading items first ignited in clothes dryer fires in residential buildings.
■ Fifty-four percent of clothes dryer fires in residential buildings were confined to the object of
origin.

And it appears the big take-away is that, as a system, a clothes dryer is inherently unsafe (with standard gas or electric elements) as there are no adequate, simple, or passive ways to keep the thing clean. The dryer manufacturers appear to send the problem "downstream" to the ductwork and pass the blame onto something they have no control over.

Bullet point #4 above: At least the saving grace here: you are likely to not start a clothes dryer fire if you are wearing clothes while you are in the dryer.

Thanks
Hi,
Those numbers don't seem that bad to me.

There are 115 million households in the US, and if they typically run the dryer once a day, your chances of have a dryer fire on a given run are about one in 15 million -- about once every 41,000 years. Wish I could say the same for my car.

My take away is that if you take care of your lint filter and you have a look at the vent ducting once in a great while the chances of having a dryer fire are essentially zero.

I guess the HX version made from aluminium sheet would have an advantage here in that its smoother and non flammable.

Gary

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