You’ve likely seen many ads for air duct cleaning and received countless annoying calls from overseas telemarketing companies trying to get you to sign up for the service (see here on how to stop those calls), but is duct cleaning really necessary? In this article, we’ll give you some of the facts to help you decide for yourself if it’s something you need to consider, or it’s a waste of money for you. It’s a controversial subject for some people, so let’s dig a little deeper to see if its right for your home. One sure way to figure that out is by looking at your furnace’s filter. How often do you change it, and when you do how dirty does it look? If its filthy and clogged, it could be a sign that your home is more susceptible to accumulating dust than others. This could be due to:
- Living on or near a dirt road
- Using wood fireplaces
- Construction/renovation dust
- Furry pets
- Dirty shoes and clothes coming in constantly
- Constantly wearing outdoor shoes indoors
- Living near construction, agriculture or a polluted city
- Excessive dry or flakey skin
- Smoking or previous smoking owner
- Having young children that are always on the move
- Carpets (especially brand new or several years old)
See why HGTV contractor Mike Holmes recommends duct cleaning.
One important point to recognize that if your furnace isn’t filtering the dust that goes through your house, your lungs are doing the filtering. Some of the signs that indicate duct cleaning may be right for you are:
- Dust settles on surfaces within only a few hours after you just cleaned
- You see dirt, debris, and other things in the vents
- You find you’re having to vacuum constantly due to dust
- You or a family member are constantly sneezing or coughing
- Allergies exist all year round
- Your furnace filter is full of dirt, debris, hair and fur
- You’re having to replace your furnace filter more than 2X per year
- You’ve just completed renovations
- You notice mold inside the ducts or furnace when you replace the filter
- You turn on your furnace/ac and the whole house smells
- You’ve had mice, rodents or an insect infestation in your home
- You’re not getting heating or cooling like you’re used to (blocked ducts)
- Duct cleaning has never been done in the home before
- You just moved in to a brand new home
Some Circumstances Where You May Want to Forgo Duct Cleaning:
- If you’ve had it done in the last few years (unless you’re in a very dusty environment)
- If no one in your home suffers from allergies, excessive coughing or sneezing
- You live in an apartment
- You keep your home relatively spotless, and air it our frequently
- You have no pets
- You live in a low-pollution area with no dirt roads or agriculture near by
Your furnace works in combination with the thermostat to regulate the temperature in your home. When you set your home at a certain temperature in winter, the furnace turns on until the thermostat detects the temperature 1 or 2 degrees above the point you set it for, then it shuts off. As the temperature in your home begins to cool, the thermostat will re-activate the furnace once the temperature drops the 1 or 2 two degrees below the set point. This works the opposite way in summer with your air conditioner.
All bathroom fan collects dust, and we can visibly see this. This happens because the moisture from the bathroom being drawn out combines with the dust making it stick to the fan, and it doesn’t take long for a family of 4 to accumulate enough heavy dust on a bathroom fan to require it to need cleaning. The same applies to your cooking vent – it sends moist air to the outside of your home.
Your furnace has moving parts as well, which also collect dust, but unlike the bathroom fan that removes air to the outside of your home, your furnace just keeps recycling the moist air withing your home, and that statically-charged dust sticks to every surface. Animal fur compounds this issue as well. In the summer, the a/c coils can condensate and attract duct, reducing the efficiency of its cooling ability.
How to Hire A Reliable Duct Cleaning Company:
When doing research for a duct cleaning company, here some things you want to verify before having them come inside your home:
- They are a member of industry (Certified Air Cleaning Specialist)
- They will wear Covid-approved PPE
- Cover your floors to not leave any mess behind
- Tape up all vents and cold air returns not being worked on at the time to create a closed-loop system
- Clean all vents, diffusers cold-air returns
- Use a positive/negative (push/pull) high-pressure truck to force debris out of your ducts and directly out of the house (this is the only way to ensure all your ducts are thoroughly cleaned)
- Clean the furnace components, heating & cooling coils as well
- Clean your AC unit
- Sanitize the ducts with a green cleaner that kills mold, bacteria and other pathogens in the air
- Willing to walk you through the steps they will do and intelligently answer any questions you may have.
- Show you what work they did and show you all the debris that came out of your duct-work when they are finished
Air duct cleaning can be performed for most commercial buildings & offices, many townhomes, condos and apartments, depending on the type of heating system installed. You would need to check with your landlord, HOA, member board, or management company for details.
Hopefully we’ve given you enough of the facts to make the decision up for yourself. A thorough job can take up to 3-4 hours to complete (depending on the size of your house). The cost should range between $250-$500 (depending on sq-ft, number of ducts, and other tasks such as dryer vent cleaning).
Canaduct Cleaning offer both commercial and residential duct cleaning. If you feel that duct cleaning may be right for your home or office, to get an immediate no-obligation quote, fill out the information to the right, or call 416-410-3777 to talk to a live person.
