Why does nobody talk about creosote buildup in dryers

I cleaned a customer's dryer vent last month in Nashville and found a layer of creosote coating the inside of the duct from their wood stove exhausting nearby. Learned hard that heat from that appliance can bake creosote right into the dryer path, and we need to check for this during sweeps. Has anyone else run into this crossover issue?

2 comments

2 Comments

joseph_ellis8512d ago

Creosote in a dryer duct is a real hazard that most folks don't consider, especially when wood stoves or fireplaces are in the same area. That buildup can definitely happen even with regular lint cleaning, so checking the exhaust path is smart.

reeseperez12d ago

The creosote issue isn't really about the dryer duct itself getting baked by the wood stove heat. It's more about the wood stove's exhaust getting pulled into the dryer vent through shared air or a poorly sealed connection. Creosote forms when wood smoke condenses, and that usually happens in the stove pipe, not just from nearby heat. If the dryer vent and stove vent are too close, the dryer's suction can actually pull in those creosote particles and trap them in the lint or duct walls. I've seen it happen where a stove vent terminates right next to a dryer vent on a roof, and the cross draft does the damage. So checking the actual distance and airflow between them is more important than just blaming the heat alone.