What's Your Opinion on Duct Cleaning?

[HawkinsHollow]

As we wrap up our addition and house remodel I am seriously considering getting the ducts cleaned. My neighbor who is an HVAC guy swears it is snake oil and he says as long as you change your filters regularly it is not necessary. The HVAC guy who put my mini splits in says it is a good idea. I feel like it can't hurt! My wife has respiratory issues so it seems like a good idea.
I have a guy coming out today to give me an estimate.

I was just curious about your experiences with duct cleaning/duct cleaners.

 

[jeff9366]

My wife and I purchased a 37 year old, 1,950 sq ft residential unit which has been a rental for at least 14 years. When we inspected the ducts there was 2" of yellowed dust and pet hair in them. We paid $2,500 to have ducts vacuumed then wet cleaned. $2,500 money well spent, to me.

We are in our mid-70s and feel more susceptible to air borne health threats and senior allergies each day.

 

[paulsharvey]

As we wrap up our addition and house remodel I am seriously considering getting the ducts cleaned. My neighbor who is an HVAC guy swears it is snake oil and he says as long as you change your filters regularly it is not necessary. The HVAC guy who put my mini splits in says it is a good idea. I feel like it can't hurt! My wife has respiratory issues so it seems like a good idea.
I have a guy coming out today to give me an estimate.

I was just curious about your experiences with duct cleaning/duct cleaners.

I fall on the snake oil side, Unless there is a specific issue, like dogs ripped a duct under the house and it was left open for a while before repair. Part of what leads me that way, look at the guys doing duct cleaning. They are mostly pressure wash guys, or drywall texture guys; but not HVAC guys.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

My wife and I purchased a 37 year old, 1,950 sq ft residential unit which has been a rental for at least 14 years. When we inspected the ducts there was 2" of yellowed dust and pet hair in them. We paid $2,500 to have ducts vacuumed then wet cleaned. $2,500 money well spent, to me.

We are in our mid-70s and feel more susceptible to air borne health threats and senior allergies each day.

That is kind of where I am at. I have owned this house for 9 years, but who knows what happened before then. In the middle of the summer there is a bit of a musty smell right when the a/c kicks on. Which leads me to believe we might have a bit of a mold problem in there. The cleaning is only $525 but if they find mold that treatment costs $900. But after all of the money I have just spent it is a drop in the bucket to have better quality air.

 

[cj7]

I have never had my ducts cleaned in my old house of 25 yrs. But they did have dust in them when I sold the place. My current home has no ductwork.
I do feel that cleaning ducts is worth it for the health issues. Not as important as keeping filters clean and you can probably vac the area around the vents and save money. I would be very careful about the crew doing the work. I saw an investigative episode once. They set up hidden camers and caught the crew red handed! The crew basically pretended to do the work. They would pull off the vent clean them and maybe vac as far as you can see in the pipe. Rest of the time stood around or whatever to make it seem like they did something. Of course they charged plenty for the work!


And as already mentioned you may find hidden problems. Broken ducts rusted ducts or mold.
I bet a good company would be able to snake a camera through most of the ducts with you present to see the results of their work.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

I fall on the snake oil side, Unless there is a specific issue, like dogs ripped a duct under the house and it was left open for a while before repair. Part of what leads me that way, look at the guys doing duct cleaning. They are mostly pressure wash guys, or drywall texture guys; but not HVAC guys.

Not only that but look at all of the scammers trying to take advantage of the industry. I have watched a few youtube videos so I know what to look for and I 100% plan on being there when he does to to shadow his every move. We will see what kind of game the guy talks today. They have excellent reviews and the guy was very transparent on the phone today.

 

[ponytug]

As we wrap up our addition and house remodel I am seriously considering getting the ducts cleaned. My neighbor who is an HVAC guy swears it is snake oil and he says as long as you change your filters regularly it is not necessary. The HVAC guy who put my mini splits in says it is a good idea. I feel like it can't hurt! My wife has respiratory issues so it seems like a good idea.
I have a guy coming out today to give me an estimate.

I was just curious about your experiences with duct cleaning/duct cleaners.

Unless you have looked in the ducts, and seen issues, like @jeff9366, it is in my snake oil bin. If you have floor level air returns, check there first, then I would check downstream of your main filter, and then a few registers.

We had a dog that loved to sleep in front of a floor level cold air return, and that duct, and only that duct, had a 3/4" layer of dog hair in it. It took me less than 15 minutes to clean it out, once I realized it was an issue.

Must when your AC kicks in is an evaporator issue, and the coil should be cleaned, and the drain checked to make sure that it drains easily. Your HVAC person should be able to do that pretty quickly, if you don't want to.

All the best,

Peter

 

[newbury]

Open a duct and see how dirty it is. I change my filters and that seems to have sufficed since 1984.
And I have looked into them.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Clean your ductwork every 20 years or so.

 

[MossRoad]

We have cats. Our house has 6" round metal supply ducts to each register. The returns are just a piece of flat sheet metal nailed to the bottom of the floor joists. Where they have to cross joists, they are just rectangular boxed duct work.

Over the years, I've opened both the supplies and returns for various reasons like remodels, wood burning stove install, etc...

The round metal ducts had a thin coating of waxy dirt, maybe 1/8" at most.

The returns, with their three sides of wood and one side of metal were disgusting. Clogged down about 1/3 in total volume with pet hair stuck to the wood. The same waxy dirt about 1/8" on the flat metal. The areas in the returns where they used rectangular duct work to span the joists had wads of hair and dust stuck in the joints.

Yes, the filters do their job because it filters the return air. But the entire system would be loaded down to some point by the constricted returns.

For about $25 you can get a scope that connects to your smartphone, drill a couple holes and see what's in your ducts yourself. Patch the hole with metal duct tape.

https://www.amazon.com/Endoscope-Adjustable-Semi-Rigid-Waterproof-Inspection/dp/B0CNZSQS12/ref=asc_df_B0CNZSQS12?mcid=d2776c8e133b37c1953bfcd26530ada0&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693071814466&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9516225671683486185&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9016261&hvtargid=pla-2283345361823&psc=1

 

[paulsharvey]

Maybe it's more of an issue with floor grills? Don't think I've lived anywhere without cieling vents, and wall returns in a long time.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

It's good for the duct cleaning company!

 

[jeff9366]

That is kind of where I am at. I have owned this house for 9 years, but who knows what happened before then. In the middle of the summer there is a bit of a musty smell right when the a/c kicks on. Which leads me to believe we might have a bit of a mold problem in there. The cleaning is only $525 but if they find mold that treatment costs $900. But after all of the money I have just spent it is a drop in the bucket to have better quality air.

Yes

Our total rehab cost was $280,000 so $2,500 for duct cleaning by specialized HVAC firm hardly hurt.

 

[2manyrocks]

The strong fragrances added to things like laundry detergent might be more of an issue that goes unnoticed.

If you have fiberglas duct board, I'd be asking how they plan to clean it without causing the fibers to go everywhere.

 

[etpm]

Patch the hole with metal duct tape.

Regarding the metal duct tape, the stuff is remarkable. All the stuff I have seen is aluminum tape with what I think is acrylic adhesive. The adhesive is key, it seems to last forever. I have duct work that is about 18 years old and the aluminum tape is still sticking and the adhesive has not hardened or dried out. Regular "duct" tape is no good for ducts or any type of permanent installation.
Eric

 

[oosik]

I considered an electric furnace and duct work when we built here. Sure glad I went another way. We get it all here. Dust, volcanic ash, pollen and pet hair. I would estimate that duct work would have to be cleaned, at least, 2x annually. Filter changes - probably monthly.

In the past I had to dust all horizontal surfaces weekly. If not - then my duct work would become plugged.

What has really helped. Clean my shoes before coming into the house.

So, now - it's mostly loose pet hair. Allah - Brownie.

 

[FullMetalBucket]

Thought it was bs as well but had it done in a previous house that was about 25 years old. When I saw how much crap was in them I was shocked . Air quality was much better after. The air system I had used a metal reusable filter that I don’t think is as good as the element type based on how much crud it let through.

 

[CalG]

I have no ducts nor ducks in my house.

Wood heat, open stair wells.

Most of the dust is sloughed skin.

That is sort of creepy.

My suggestion...

Inspection, and if warranted, tie a string to a mouse and send it down the pipes to pull a line and a brush while running the circulator through the filter element..

As a kid, we had the furnace cleaner guy come to the house. The vacuum bag filled the entire drive way. We kids would run and jump against the air inflated fabric bag. Great fun!
but I was too young to know what was improved.

 

[MossRoad]

Pet dander accumulates at an amazing rate. If you own cats, and on a sunny day with the sun shining into your home, hit your couch cushions a few times. You'll see the dust fly. I always assumed it was just "dust" until our 17 year old only cat passed away. We decided to wait a few months until getting another cat. Well, something I noticed after a few months was that you could not longer hit the couch cushions and raise a cloud of dust in the sunlight. Apparently it was all cat dander and went away with our weekly vacuuming over the few months.

Eventually, we got two kittens, one for each of our children. Apparently kittens don't give off much dander either. It took well over a year for the "dust" to return. Even with regular vacuuming it doesn't go away.

Imagine what's in the ducts?

 

[kenmac]

If you use a filter, you shouldn't have any, or much crap in your duct work.
If your duct work is insulated on the inside, it's a bad idea to have them cleaned. I would just replace the duct work and have the ducts insulated on the outside . You are breathing more insulation fibers than you are the dust