Is it necessary? I have been seeing ads for it all over and I don’t think it’s ever been done in my house.
Air Duct Cleaning
- Thread starter RedBlooded
- Start date
I had it done. Also had some light filter thingy put in there to supposedly kill the various nefarious airborne things. Didn't really notice a difference with allergies one way or the other.
Give these guys a call, they do a great job. Do your research because a lot of these duct cleaning companies are hacks. They even open up your main and return line and clean it all out. 10/10 would recommend and their prices are reasonable.
http://www.gilliampowervac.com/
http://www.gilliampowervac.com/
When we had it done, it was a much bigger job that I expected. They had tools that would bang around all over the inside of the ducts in order to knock everything loose while it was being vacuumed into a big tank outside. I wish I had asked to see the tank before and after, just to see what they removed (and to look for any jewelry left there by previous owners).
We had ours done when we bought our house over 6 years ago because the sellers had dogs and we had also found on our inspection they had neglected the HVAC systems so wanted to make sure we started out with clean air ducts. Can't remember what company it was because we scheduled it through Service Legends who installed the new furnace we were getting put in as part of our purchase agreement. Was pretty sad that the same disgusting furnace filter that was caked when we had the inspection done was still in the furnace nearly a month later when we took possession so was not surprised that for even a 10 year old HVAC system it was pretty much shot due to all the maintenance neglect it had seen. If you've never had your ducts cleaned it probably isn't a bad thing to do at least once just for your own peace of mind, especially if you have a lot of dust in your house.
I would recommend having your dryer vent cleaned out every few years through because you'll be amazed how much lint builds up that could be a potential fire hazard.
I would recommend having your dryer vent cleaned out every few years through because you'll be amazed how much lint builds up that could be a potential fire hazard.
I had mine done by Supreme Air Duct Cleaning. They did a great job and even showed me before and after pictures of my ducts. I moved into a new construction house in 2014 and was still amazed at all of the crap in my ducts. I also had them do my dryer vent too. They did a great job!
It's unnecessary in most cases. The stuff that is in your ducts pretty much stays in your ducts. There is little to no evidence that it helps with anything unless you have mold, rodent problems, or you have buildup to the point it starts to restrict airflow. If you have those problems there are probably other underlying problems you need to address as well.
Had it done a few years ago with the install of new furnace and AC unit, also the dryer exhaust. I figured the construction dirt alone from years ago would be worth getting rid of. They recommend doing it every year, but I haven't had it repeated, yet. They leave access tabs in the duct work after cutting into the sheetmetal. Cleaning device looks like a multi-tail whip that uses air pressure to thrash around in the ducts.
Saw this article in Star Trib on the scam that is duct cleaning and reminded me of this old thread. I'd swear this is more prevalent in rural areas. I see spamming ads for this in about every Facebook page I follow that is Iowa related. Been gone from Iowa for decades but follow a few small town pages from my old birth county. It's always a "my husband and I started this small biz!" pitch from these folks.
I 2000 I demo'd some of my 1960 house and the ducts removed were actually pretty clean. Previous owners must have kept up on furnace filters and such. What dust there was not "friable" or loose at the low velocity of the forced air.
www.startribune.com
I 2000 I demo'd some of my 1960 house and the ducts removed were actually pretty clean. Previous owners must have kept up on furnace filters and such. What dust there was not "friable" or loose at the low velocity of the forced air.
A dust up over duct cleaning
Follow the StarTribune for the news, photos and videos from the Twin Cities and beyond.
www.startribune.com
I live in a small town not far from DSM. There are 3 to 5 of these ads in the community FB group each week. I'm sure there are reputable companies out there that actually provide this service, but many of them appear to be straight up scams.Saw this article in Star Trib on the scam that is duct cleaning and reminded me of this old thread. I'd swear this is more prevalent in rural areas. I see spamming ads for this in about every Facebook page I follow that is Iowa related. Been gone from Iowa for decades but follow a few small town pages from my old birth county. It's always a "my husband and I started this small biz!" pitch from these folks.
I 2000 I demo'd some of my 1960 house and the ducts removed were actually pretty clean. Previous owners must have kept up on furnace filters and such. What dust there was not "friable" or loose at the low velocity of the forced air.
A dust up over duct cleaning
Follow the StarTribune for the news, photos and videos from the Twin Cities and beyond.
"I'm a single mom trying to feed my kids. If I don't get any new contracts in the next week, I'll lose my home."
Make sure the dryer vent is cleaned out every so often because that is actually a fire hazard. I think it’s one of the leading causes of house fires.
You could probably get the whole house and the dryer vent done for around $400-$500. well worth it especially if you want to breathe clean air.
You could probably get the whole house and the dryer vent done for around $400-$500. well worth it especially if you want to breathe clean air.
one of my hvac systems (my house has 2) wasn't blowing air very hard and we had the tech come out who installed it, he said that b/c i had such a thick finance filter (i buy the best ones you can b/c allergies) the air wasnt getting all the way through it. That, and where the air comes up is very narrow b/c of the way it's installed.
put in a cheap filter and now the air is blowing hard again.
put in a cheap filter and now the air is blowing hard again.
I've heard this too, and I've also heard you're supposed to have a professional come and clean out your dryer cabinet because a lot of lint gets trapped in there too.
But then about a year ago I was doing some repairs on our washer and figured since I was already back there I'd pull out the dryer, open the cabinet and clean it, then replace the duct and clean it out as well. This was on a 12 year old dryer that had never had any of those services done. And there really wasn't much lint to clean out at all.
Obviously this a YMMV situation, but it made me wonder if all that cleaning is really necessary if you keep the lint filter cleaned and maybe stick a vacuum down the front of the machine once in awhile.
Had it done shortly after we bought our house because my wife has allergies and the previous owners had 2 cats. We noticed no change, but in fairness to the company that did the work, they couldn't clean everything because a couple of ducts were doubling as conduit for electrical wires.
Yes, depending on how far the lint has to travel through the vent, a lot of times it can resolve itself and just go outside the dryer vent. The problem is is when it starts to accumulate or get stuck somewhere along the way.
A related story from my life....
Our second house was an older home. The dryer was in the basement and the duct ran from there, under an addition, and out the side of the house near the ground.
The dryer vent exited right below a big living room window. Our second winter there, I noticed on a very cold day that I could see everyone's dryer vents blowing warm/moist air. However, I didn't see the same thing coming from ours.
I crawled under the addition and found that many, many, many years ago, the dryer vent line had become disconnected. So the lint had been getting dumped in the crawl space for probably decades. I reconnected the line, secured it, and cleaned out all the piled up lent. I took out 3 full garbage bags of lint from underneath our crawl space. It was a huge hazard waiting to happen.
We use the dryer vent wizard in the des moines area. They are very good with issues with your dryer vent. Had them out this fall and they found a bird had tried to build a nest in ours and replaced the outdoor vent with a better vent to prevent them from getting in. We have 2nd floor laundry so would have never found that ourselves. Originally had them out a year ago because our vent would not stay attached to the wall and they installed a new connection on the wall that fixed the issue.
Most HVAC companies can do a house vent cleaning or they have someone that does it. Biggest way to keep your system and vents clean is to regularly change your HVAC filter and use one that has a MERV rating of 11 or better. Most of the cheap filters are probably 7 or below and don't trap as many particles
It's crazy how stuff like that can happen, even in states that require a home inspector with a sale or with rental units.
The range fan in my kitchen when we bought our place ran up into the top cupboard, and there was a hole in the ceiling where it was supposed to connect...but nothing connecting the two. I caught it almost right away but I always wonder what that cupboard would have looked like if I just ran the range exhaust fan for years into that unused cupboard.
I also found a really small hole in the same top cupboard and patching it up instantly solved 100% of the bug/roach problem I had in the entire house. Bugs/roaches we thought were getting in at the opposite corners of the house were all from this one inch hole in a kitchen cabinet. There are a lot of roaches outside where I live year round for some reason, none in the house for years after that one fix.
We had our dryer vents in our newer house cleaned by Supreme Air Duct cleaning and they found out our dryer vent wasn't even fully hooked up in the attic and was blowing into the attic. They were able to fix it and it works much better now. I am going to look into having it cleaned again soon. When I had them do the air duct cleaning they said definitely no need to do every year. They said every 10 years at the would be the soonest it would need done again.
I wouldn't think it is to smart to have electric wire in the duct work. If the wires ever caught fire in the duct work it will spread quickly. I may be wrong though.
