I genuinely think that you should take a class in highschool that teaches basic life skills like this. 1 class each year. It could cover cooking/nutrition, mental health, chores, financial literacy, First aid basics, etc. Then by the time thye graduate they have had 4 years of teaching about basic stuff like that. I bet it would save tons of lives.

If I'm around, I clean it mid-load. Makes a huge difference on every model I've ever had.

I feel like the sediment would bury the element well before the anode becomes an issue. I'm just imagining this person doesn't flush it either.

How long are they supposed to last? I have an extra because the guy who sold me the heater convinced me to upgrade from the factory model. He said the stock ones failed too early. It wasn't a huge cost and I didn't know enough about it to doubt him so I just did it.

My SO and I argue over who gets to clean the lint trap. We love it.

I'm wondering what "furnace" entails too. I realize I'm showing my ass here but do they mean like the water boiler, or the heater? Do gas burners have filters?

I used to live for the satisfaction of pulling thicc lint sheets out of the filter every time I used the shared dryer in my student house

You're a good friend, people are surprisingly clueless about shit like this and the risk is substantial. Most people don't care about their friends that much. You should be proud of who you are, you're a good one.

I'm the kind of person who would give a fire extinguisher as a housewarming gift.

I've always just trusted my friends know to do that. Maybe not always warranted, but these days it certainly is

Two houses on my street have burned down within the past two years for this exact reason. It happens more frequently than I think people realize.

I'm fortunate that ours runs into the attic. I check it every year, but it's always spotless

What is a dryer vent even for? Do dryers in North America burn gas, is it the exhaust?

Mine froze shut, or at least small enough that the dryer stopped drying two winters ago. Luckily it was near the end of the season so I just used the laundromat a few times then it warmed up and thawed.

Then I procrastinated getting it cleaned and the same thing happened last winter. This time, I bought some extra venting tube and a plastic box that you plug one side in to your dryer and the other side in to the wall vent, and it has a switch and a screen that lets you pick between venting inside or outside. Heat and humidity are in demand during the winter, so it was a win/win. My clothes came out dryer and faster than ever, plus the heat and humidity were appreciated.

I got the duct cleaned this year.

You want to write in English but your phone wants to write in German

certainly a unique language you got there

You and fdnomad@programming.dev have been added to the Best of Lemmy: https://sh.itjust.works/post/69167752

I made it a few years before I learned it. When I was a kid we hand-washed, and it took a few years of renting before I caught on - not because of any labels or the like, but because of my troubleshooting a smell.

It's not obvious what it is if you don't already know about it, and if you don't install it yourself...

Just before the inside air handler. The big box, usually in the basement, the one that makes noise when the blower kicks in.

I could use it to start my fireplace for like a year imo, in tiny pieces

You could probably felt it into something.

Sometimes it's just a shitty dryer that doesn't work that good anymore.

Not even a whole sock?

What are YOU washig?

Same, I was wondering how bad mine was after I finally found where it was. Barely anything 🤷

my guess is, that those are combined dryer/washer machines. in my old place we had dedicated dryers, those could build up a felt just after one load.

currently we have a washer (non drying) and the filter is a small tube shaped thing under the main door. it never builds up much, except someone forgot some paper in their jeans...

It's absurd that building codes don't require some sort of inspection or access to the vent if it's not a simple straight-through-the-wall affair.