Duct cleaning

[MIKE IN lINO III]

Looking to get the Ducts cleaned out. Any do's and don't when hiring someone for the job??

Mike

[papabear]

Why are you cleaning your ducts? I find it a waste of money if you have a good filter and replace it often enough.

I fyou do need to clean yur ducts i would contact your Heating guy if you have one that you trust like, and he could lead you in the right direction.

[Roofer]

I also don't feel the need to clean them. The dust in them gets blown out right away or heats up and sticks to the sides. I have heard that companies that clean them only go in as far as their hand and dust rag can reach. I think the business in all is pretty dried up unless you want to spend alot of money.

[MIKE IN lINO III]

The reason for the cleaning is my wife wants peace of mind.

There are companies that will do the entire system for $99.00

If it makes her happy then $99. is well worth it.

Mike

[fivebucks]

My wife wanted ours cleaned also and we went with one of the cheap companies. They seemed to do a thorough job and had one heck of a strong vacumn and long hoses. They pop holes in the air ducts at various places, vacumn and replace holes with plastic caps. I know they got a lot of junk out of ours. Whether or not if helps or makes any difference I don't know but I know it didn't hurt anything other than $100 or so.

[sparcebag]

Most duct cleaning was started because of molds&mildews (houses built too tightnow days)and for fire smoke clean ups for soot and odor.Its expensive if done right.they cut holes insert a sponge like material in vent outlet attached to a cord which runs to the hole and pull it through mulitiple times with chemicals that clean and kill fungi,then when they deem it clean and odorless a a drying and scent if prefered.

[DRH1175]

You need to have the rotary brush done otherwise you mine as well not do it. The cheap $99 service is a joke. Did that in my last house and learned the hard way. Filters get the air born particles out of the year. but not the dump that is clinging to the ducts. They do get quite nasty. I used duct hunters and have been happy with what they did. Though it will cost around $300. They take off every vent. and it takes them a couple hours. Every inch is rotary brushed. I had mine done when I bought my house last year and was very glad I did. The previous owner had several dogs and cats. I have 2 of each so will have to probably do it again in another year or two. It really depends on how dusty your house is everyones is different.

[Walleye Guy]

I had a bad experience with a duct cleaner when we bought our first house. It was a "wife's piece of mind" thing as well. We picked one out of the yellow pages. They came out and basically used high power vacuums to suck the dust towards the furnace. I think the service cost $129.

We had this done in January. Long story short we woke up to a very cold house the next morning as it was -10 outside. I called the company and told them to get back out and fix what they broke. They said "we clean ducts, we don't fix furnaces". I immediately stopped payment on the check. I brought out a furnce repair and installation company to check it out. They said the furnace ignitor was dirty/clogged (the ducts were clean though). They fixed or replaced the ignitor for $60. I asked the repairman about duct cleaning and he said very inefficient and old furnces MAY need cleaning but most houses do not. He said that any cleaning should pull the dirt towards the registers and not the furnace. This is more time consuming and not as easy as sucking everything towards the furnace.

Lesson learned on our part. I guess I would do my own visual inspection of the ducts myself to see if I saw a bunch of dirt and grime before having someboday come out to clean them.

[papabear]

Well if it makes the wife feel better do it. Some heating contractors do this service or know someone they trust to do it. Just like walleye guys experience, a good contractor will learn from them just like you do.

[Chad Halvorson]

I did this for 6 months while one of our guys was out injured. First off, 9/10 of the places i cleaned didnt really need it.

If your paying $99, you arent getting a real cleaning. As a matter of a fact I would say $200 would be bottom dollar.

Also, I disagree that dirt should be pulled up to the registers. We had a very good system that had an 8" Vacuum that you cut into the supply duct (near air handler) and pulled back to it, ran a small spinner down each reg. Same with return. This took at least 3 hours to do a proper job.

I would like to add that I was constantly sick when I did this, so it is true tht there is alot of bad stuff in the ductwork. there are biocides / cleaners you can spray into the ducts to take care of that, or at least make it better.

The place I was working for charged between $300-$500, depending on # of registers. You do get what you pay for, we did it right, many others didnt.

[Ufatz]

This is just another of the many scams perpetrated on the naive and unsuspecting. Check around your neighborhood and talk with some of the folks who live in older homes. Ask them how many times in the past 20 or 30 years they have had their ducts cleaned. Don't be surprised if they look at you and laugh.

When was the last time you freshened the air in your tires?

[The_Duckslayer]

Quote:

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This is just another of the many scams perpetrated on the naive and unsuspecting...

When was the last time you freshened the air in your tires?

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When I talked to the guy that installed our furnace this summer he said that he did not reccomend it either. Said that all too often the efficiency of the furnace would be degraded because they would often break open the duct work while cleaning it up and then not get it back together correctly. Make sure you keep that muffler bearing greased up as well or it may start squeeling. Take care and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

[Ryan Berger]

I do HVAC work for a living,,, I can't tell you some of the nasty stuff I have seen in duct work when replacing furnaces. I have seen dust-hair matting in duct work over 1.5 inches thick. I always reccomend getting the duct worked cleaned when replacing a furnace in an home over 20 years old there is no reason not to do it when replacing a furnace or after remodeling if the supply and return vents were not covered when sheetrocking ect. It is not always needed but in most cases it does not hurt

[sparcebag]

Good Advice LDB!!!

[federline]

We use high-grade allergen filters instead. $15 month for better filters may give better results. Noticed a BIG difference in family allergies since then, as well as the amount of dust on things in the house. My vote is to spend more on a high quality air filter and send the duct cleaner packing until you replace the furnace.

[Ryan Berger]

if you just get the cheapy white pleated filters they are just about as good as the "allergen reducing" ones,, flanders has one you can get for around $1,, otherwise ACE normally has them on sale every once in a while ,, just get the ace brand pleated filter should be around $4.95 regular or $2.50 or so on sale,, just buy a case and set it next to your furnace and change out every time you pay your mortgage,, or give your dog its frontline as I do