Planet Duct

06/25/2026

Lint in your condo’s dryer vent can do more than slow down drying time – it can become a real fire risk.

A few quick signs your vent needs attention:
🪐 Clothes take longer to dry
🪐 Extra heat in the laundry area
🪐 Burning or musty smells
🪐 Visible lint around the vent

Most condo vents should be cleaned at least once a year. If you’re not sure who handles it, check with your HOA, landlord, or building manager so the vents don’t get overlooked.

A clean vent helps lower energy use, reduces fire risk, and helps your dryer last longer. It also protects everyone who shares your building.

Learn more here:

Improper dryer maintenance is a leading cause of house fires, but how often should you have your condo dryer vent professionally cleaned?

06/18/2026

If you live or work in an older Colorado Springs building, your air ducts may still have asbestos tape on them.

Here are a few signs to watch for:
🚀 White, thick, fibrous tape on older metal ducts
🚀 Tape that looks damaged, cracked, or water-stained
🚀 Homes or buildings built before 1990

If you see anything like this, do not peel, scrape, or clean it yourself. Disturbing the tape can release fibers you can’t see or smell, which may harm your lungs over time.

Stay safe: leave it alone and contact a qualified asbestos testing and removal company before any work is done on your ducts.

As HVAC professionals, we cannot perform our job on air ducts that have asbestos tape. Learn what to do if you find this in your air ducts!

06/11/2026

If you’ve set aside time for air duct cleaning, it helps to know what to expect.

A careful, professional cleaning usually takes three to five hours for most homes. That time allows the techs to clean the full system: supply and return ducts, blower compartment, blower wheel, and return drop. When any of these are skipped, dust and allergens keep moving through your home.

Fast, cheap “whole house” jobs that wrap up in under two hours often just stir up debris without removing it. If a past visit felt rushed or unusually low-cost, your ducts may still need real attention.

Most homes only need a proper cleaning every three to five years, but you may want it sooner if you’ve had renovation work, see buildup around vents, have shedding pets, or someone in the home has allergies or asthma.

If you’re planning a visit, give yourself a morning or afternoon and expect the team to stay long enough to do it right.

Experience the difference with Planet Duct's certified air duct cleaning – we prioritize quality over speed for cleaner, healthier air.

06/04/2026

All Purpose Duck Tape is NOT to be used on dryer ducts or HVAC ducting.

Due to temperature and humidity changes over time, the adhesive on all purpose duck tape will delaminate (loose it's stickiness).

The best tape to use is UL Rated 181-B Metal tape.
Another option is water based duct mastic or "Pookie".
Sheet metal screws are Not to be used when constructing a dryer vent exhaust duct.

06/04/2026

Noticed dark or “burnt” marks on the vent inside your dryer? In many cases, that discoloration comes from heat, normal use, and color transfer from clothes, not from an active fire risk.

What does matter for safety is a clogged dryer vent. Lint buildup can overheat the system and is a leading cause of dryer-related house fires.

A few quick checks you can do:
Clean the lint trap before every load
Watch for longer drying times or a very hot dryer surface
Keep the area around the dryer free of dust and clutter

If something feels off, it’s always worth having a professional take a look so you can use your dryer with more confidence.

Have you ever noticed your dryer grate looks burnt? Learn why Planet Duct runs into this often during dryer vent cleaning.

05/28/2026

Keeping your home safe can be as simple as paying attention to your dryer vent.

Built-up lint doesn’t just make your dryer work harder; it can also raise the risk of a fire, increase your power bill, and wear out your machine faster. A professional cleaning clears the vent from both the outside and behind the dryer, removes hidden lint, and checks that everything runs smoothly.

Watch for signs like longer drying times, extra heat in the laundry room, a burning smell, or lint where it shouldn’t be. If you notice any of these, it may be time to schedule a cleaning.

Learn more about how the dryer vent cleaning process works here:

Planet Duct offers comprehensive dryer vent cleaning. To learn about our dryer vent cleaning process and how to do it yourself, click here.

05/09/2026

Replace vinyl dryer hoses immediately. The example pictured shows scorch marks from a fire, and these hoses become brittle and break over time.

For safety, replace them with a semi-rigid metal transition hose, not the thin foil 'slinky' style. The customer was very lucky to avoid a house fire.

05/08/2026

We removed a dryer vent brush for a customer. They tried the Do-It-Yourself dryer vent brush from the hardware store. The rod came unscrewed. We had to go into the attic, take apart the duct and reassemble the duct to get it out.

Normally we would have gone on the roof, but the shingles on this roof were concrete and would snap like a cracker.

If you use this type of brush, make sure you tape the rod connections together and never run the drill in reverse.

05/07/2026

These filters were in a Roof Top Unit (RTU) on a commercial building.
There was a fire and the duct mounted smoke detectors did not work.
Seven of the 13 RTUs continued to operate during the fire.

The HVAC units acted as smoke distribution systems. The soot is both corrosive and carcinogenic.

05/06/2026

Why would some one install this snorkel like duct on the exhaust of an roof Top HVAC unit?

This happens when architects and builders do not think about safe placement of multiple RTU's on commercial roofs.

Watch and see why.