A commercial laundry runs its dryers at a duty cycle no residential appliance approaches — continuously, at high heat, with heavy linen loads that shed enormous quantities of lint. The exhaust system serving them is a different discipline from apartment dryer vents, and a considerably larger fire risk.
Where We Work
Hotels, senior living communities with central laundries, multifamily properties with shared laundry rooms, student housing laundry facilities, and any commercial laundry operation.
The Volume Problem
A 200-room hotel processes hundreds of pounds of linen daily. Duct runs are longer and larger, with multiple dryers manifolding into shared trunk ducts that may pass through ceiling voids and roof spaces. Lint accumulates at every junction and transition.
Make-Up Air — The Overlooked Half
The symptom operators notice is long dry times and rising energy costs. The cause is frequently an airflow problem, not an appliance problem.
Fire Risk in Context
In a hotel the laundry is typically located adjacent to or below guest accommodation, and a lint fire in a trunk duct has a direct path through the building. The consequence profile — sleeping guests, unfamiliar egress — makes this among the highest-stakes exhaust systems in commercial property.
What Cleaning Involves
Rotary brush systems sized for larger diameters, high-volume negative air, and access to trunk runs. Lint traps and transitions at each dryer are cleaned, the trunk duct cleared along its length, the termination cleared and inspected, and airflow verified at each dryer.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should commercial laundry exhaust be cleaned?
Volume-driven. A high-occupancy full-service hotel laundry frequently warrants quarterly cleaning. Limited-service properties may run semi-annually. Annual is rarely sufficient for a commercial laundry — the lint volume simply does not permit it.
What is make-up air and why does it matter?
Commercial dryers can only exhaust as much air as the room can supply. Laundries with inadequate make-up air run against negative room pressure: drying times extend, dryers overheat, and lint deposits more heavily because exhaust velocity drops. Many laundries have never had make-up air assessed against their dryer load.
Why is this different from apartment vents?
Volume and scale. Commercial dryers move far more air and produce lint at a rate that loads a duct system in weeks, not years. Duct runs are longer and larger, with multiple dryers manifolding into shared trunk ducts. Lint accumulates at every junction.