Thoughts on duct cleaning?

[ryan2022]

Anyone have any thoughts on the benefits of duct cleaning?

My wife and I just moved into a house in the country, and have been looking a lot at the air quality. We're having the carpets steamed, and I was thinking about having the ducts done.

theres a local company, been in business for years, and is having a sale on for $150 for 10 vents....not bad at all.

Thanks

 

[hate2work]

Look into filters you can buy that go right over the outlets. If you have one room that you'd like to keep the air cleaner in, that filter can be changed more often.

I had our ducts cleaned a few years ago, it made zero difference. A fat guy with a plumber's crack blindly shoved a small suction hose down each heater outlet, claiming he felt lots of stuff being removed. I actually think it was worse for the next few days because the dust was stirred up, good grief.

 

[bigmike]

Plumber's crack? A dual tradesman?!

 

[yeti]

i knew a guy that owned a business about 12 - 15 years ago, and ended up selling out to a larger firm. he never even did this in his own house -- and he had a dog and cat.he would state that the only ones that "might" get use of this service are the ones that had reno work done in their homes -- meaning drywall dust and small debris that could gather in ductwork.
spend your cash on something usefull - like filling up your beer fridge.

 

[XS650]

We lived on our last house 30 years. I never saw enough dust to be concerned about when I looked into the duct work with a mirror and flashlight.

A duct cleaning service is more effective at cleaning out your wallet than cleaning out you ducts.

 

[Drew99GT]

Having worked in the industry, you'd be amazed at how much stuff will end up in the HVAC tract of a home, even if you can't see anything in the ducts. Especially if you have an older system that isn't sealed tightly (especially the filter). If you have pets that shed a lot, you'll end up with tons of fur in the system. Only use a company that cleans the entire system, not just the forced air ducts. You end up with more crud in the cool air returns/inlet side in my experience. The best way is to rotorbrush as much off ducting as you can get to, and then seal the entire system and vacuum each duct/cold return at the furnace.

Many companies will just stick a vacuum tube in each forced air duct, won't touch the cold air return system, and charge you and arm and a leg.

 

[dishdude]

Waste of money.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Nothing but a waste of your money unless you've been doing some dusty remodeling. Even then only the cold air return should be dirty since it's the only part that's drawing room air.

We lived in our previous home just over 10 years, and shortly before we moved I replaced much of the duct work when we replaced the furnace. Despite living on a gravel road, and despite having 2 dogs, the old ductwork was clean on the inside. It blows out filtered air from the furnace so there shouldn't be much to get the ducts dirty if your HVAC system is operating correctly.

 

[mechtech2]

Leave them alone.
You may want to spray a disinfectant of some sorts through the system with the fan on circulate.
But that's it.
Like asbestos, there was almost always no problem until it is removed.

 

[ItsuMitsubishi]

It's not a bad idea. We've had a lot of junk removed from our system in this 45 year old house. Heck, they extracted a utility ball and several toys from the 70s when they did ours. Even some new homes can have an inordinate amount of drywall dust and building material chips left inside. It depends on how they do their service also. These guys didnt just stuck a giant vacuum hose to the return vent, they actually ran a compressed air snake throughout the ductwork driving any filth down towards the giant vacuum hose. Then they fogged the system with some type of antimicrobial oregano extract thing. I was glad we had it done, when I saw what came out.

 

[Jeepster_nut]

I had a whole house Aprilaire 2400 media filter installed on the return at the Air Handler and it serves as a whole house filter with a MERV 10 rating, and also ensures that I never have to clean the coil or ducts.

I would worry more about the coil getting a caked on layer of dust and hair on it over the years. This along with the condensate from running the A/C, which keeps the dirt wet, kills your overall efficiency and makes the supply air stink like musty wet socks.

 

[SteveSRT8]

in a perfect system the ducts will not get dirty.

Sadly not all of us have one! Many homes get measurable energy savings from a good coil service, and I have personally seen huge amounts of filth come out of ductwork.

My wife is sensitive to mold, and a dirty coil will literally run people like her out of a home.

But if you live in a perfect home you have nothing to worry about.