I am blogging about duct cleaning because when I was deciding whether I should go ahead with it, I could not find any personal accounts from other people. In February, we decided to get our ducts cleaned after thinking about it for years. I had noticed that our home had been getting increasingly dusty this winter and had enough of dusting every other day. After getting a few quotes, we decided to go with Sears Home Central as we were particularly satisfied with the service we had received when they replaced our furnace and central air units in October. I am very happy with their service again and do not regret getting it done. It cost about $700, but it was well worth it. Our once dusty, stale home has a new fresh environment that I only need to dust once a week or less.
When Does Duct Cleaning Make Sense?
There are several situations when duct cleaning could make sense (although there is little research data to support this).
- If you have a problem with water in your ducts, this may result in mold growth in the duct. In this situation, solve the water problem first, clean and disinfect the ducts where mold growth has occurred, and have the rest of the ducting system cleaned as well. In some cases, it may be necessary or more cost effective to simply replace the affected duct areas.
- If you are moving into a newly constructed house, and have doubts about the diligence of the construction crew, duct cleaning can be useful. Drywall dust, fibreglass pieces, and sawdust have no place in ducts. Duct cleaning will also catch the odd occurrence where lunch bags or soft drink cans have fallen or been swept into ducting. For similar reasons, duct cleaning may be advisable for older houses following major renovations.
- If you are having trouble with furnace airflow, a duct cleaning could reveal significant blockages. Have the ducts cleaned before you embark on more expensive duct replacement or rerouting to solve an airflow problem. Cleaning of furnace and air conditioning components (e.g. furnace fan blower, air conditioning coil, humidifier, furnace heat exchanger, etc.) has been shown to make some difference in duct air flow.
- If you look in the return air registers and see an accumulation of debris in the duct below, you may want to have it removed. CMHC research showed that return air ducts, which are relatively big and have slow moving air, are generally far dirtier than the supply ducts.You should be able to accomplish much of the return air duct cleaning with a household vacuum cleaner after removing the register grill. For example, households with hairy pets or young children may find it necessary to inspect their return air ducts more frequently. Do not expect any difference in airflow or house air quality after this cleaning.–CMHC
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