Air duct cleaning - worthwhile investment or snake oil?

DD · Post by DD » Thu Oct 28, 2004 9:33 am

Anyone had the ductwork in their home cleaned? The idea has kind of been percolating in the back of my mind for a while, wondering if it is worth it or not.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 9:40 am

Sorry, not a great help but...

I have lived in my home for about 2.5 years. It is our first home so I am learning the home ownership stuff a bit at a time. A few months back I realized that I needed to change the square filter thing up into the ducts. That thing was nasty and couldn't have been helping our air quality much. Change that thing if you haven't already... How often are you supposed to do that anyway?

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 9:40 am

I know people who swear by it. Frankly, I was unimpressed. I think you're probably better off buying quality furnace filters and changing them regularly, unless you're pretty sure your ducts are already dusty or have mold in them.

Gedd · Post by **Gedd** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 9:44 am

The time most people will quote to you is one month between filter changes, however I typically do mine every two to three months but check in between to make sure the filters haven't gotten extra dusty for whatever reason. Dirty filters increase the amount of dust in your house, decrease the efficiency of your heating/AC system, and make that system work harder thereby reducing its life. I've also noticed that my allergies get a bit worse when I've gone too long between filter changes.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 9:51 am

Gedd wrote:The time most people will quote to you is one month between filter changes, however I typically do mine every two to three months but check in between to make sure the filters haven't gotten extra dusty for whatever reason. Dirty filters increase the amount of dust in your house, decrease the efficiency of your heating/AC system, and make that system work harder thereby reducing its life. I've also noticed that my allergies get a bit worse when I've gone too long between filter changes.

So... two years is too long than? Kidding. I must be due for another changing soon. Thanks.

raydude · Post by **raydude** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 10:10 am

I'm coming up on my 1 year home ownership anniversary. This is my first home. When the home inspector came by to check out the seller's home he noted that there were dark soot marks coming out of all the outtake vents.

A check of the air filter showed that it was amazingly dark. That plus the fact that the seller was a big candle-burning freak (candles were in every room, and one was lit in the kitchen at the time) showed that the house was asking for a good soot cleaning.

He recommended getting the air ducts cleaned, filter replaced and some new paint cause the soot marks were just too ingrained into the old paint.

So yeah, if you see soot marks coming out of your vents I'd say to change the filter and get those ducts cleaned.

DD · Post by DD » Thu Oct 28, 2004 10:12 am

I tend to change the furnace filter every 2-3 months. I buy the uber-expensive 3M filters, about $15 a pop.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 10:15 am

Well, at 1 1/2 years in my house I have known for a while that I need to do this maintenance. However, I am homeowning moron. Where are my furnace filter?

Tareeq · Post by **Tareeq** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 10:29 am

Sith Lord wrote:I know people who swear by it. Frankly, I was unimpressed. I think you're probably better off buying quality furnace filters and changing them regularly, unless you're pretty sure your ducts are already dusty or have mold in them.

Bingo!

By the way, your ducts do have mold in them. So does the air you're breathing right now, anywhere you are, unless you are reading this from a Soyuz capsule.

What the people who charge an arm and a leg for this service won't tell you is that the fancy chemical they're using to kill mold is liquid bleach, which as any homebrewer will tell you kills everything on earth. If the Russians had dunked Rasputin in bleach he'd have caused them fewer problems.

Change your filters monthly and you're golden.

sissyc · Post by **sissyc** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 10:40 am

I definitely recommend having ductwork cleaned if you move into an older house! In Florida it is almost a requirement - all ductwork here tends to get a bit moldy even if you change your filters religiously. We moved into a 10-year-old house that had been lived in by 2 or 3 families. We had the ductwork cleaned and watched while it was done - OMG it was so nasty! To think that we were inhaling that grossness!

DD · Post by DD » Thu Oct 28, 2004 10:55 am

Our house was built in 2001, so it's not that old. I think I'll hold off on it for right now, but I'm thinking it would be worthwhile on an older home.

lildrgn · Post by **lildrgn** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 11:20 am

Make sure you clean the filters on your furnace once in a while. We had a new furnace installed and they neglected to tell me this. A year later, our furnace broke because the filters were all clogged up and caused the ignitor to malfunction. Of course this happened on a Friday in the wintertime. They came on Monday and fixed it.

Clean your filters!

Boudreaux · Post by **Boudreaux** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 11:21 am

My wife wanted to do this a couple years back until I took her into the basement, opened a few duct vents and showed her that the vents were essentially clean. Our house is about 15 years old, and yet every single duct access point we looked into showed hardly any dust or mold. We settle for replacing the filter every couple of months.

shaggydoug · Post by **shaggydoug** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 11:35 am

You should think about doing this if your house is newly built. Those contractors use the vent holes as garbage disposals. Also, the dust from doing things like drywall mud and texturing gets down there as well.

Any reputable vacuum firm will show you before and after pics. You could also just shove your hand down there and see how much stuff you grab.

- shaggy

Gedd · Post by **Gedd** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 11:48 am

LordMortis wrote:Well, at 1 1/2 years in my house I have known for a while that I need to do this maintenance. However, I am homeowning moron. Where are my furnace filter?

It varies LM. My filters are located in 3 system air intakes around the house. There's two small levers which I flip and the vent cover swings out so I can access the filter. If you've got these just look at them and you should see a filter inside (you'll also note dust along the louvers if you haven't changed it in a while).

Other systems have the filters located near the actual furnace/AC unit. It should be pretty accessible area though.

msteelers · Post by **msteelers** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 12:24 pm

My Dad and my uncle both do this for a living. I'll ask them about it and get back to you.

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 1:55 pm

sissyc wrote:I definitely recommend having ductwork cleaned if you move into an older house! In Florida it is almost a requirement - all ductwork here tends to get a bit moldy even if you change your filters religiously. We moved into a 10-year-old house that had been lived in by 2 or 3 families. We had the ductwork cleaned and watched while it was done - OMG it was so nasty! To think that we were inhaling that grossness!

I did it before my baby was born and they found mold and all sorts of nasty stuff. I try to change my filters monthly now.

EvilHomer3k · Post by **EvilHomer3k** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 3:12 pm

It really depends on the house and the former occupants. The people who used to live in our house were not very clean people at all. But, they did have the ducts cleaned a few months before we moved in. Plus, I change the filters regularly.

LM: the most common place for a furnace filter is in the ducts right next to the furnace. Go look at your furnace and you'll probably find one.

raydude · Post by **raydude** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 3:50 pm

Wow, I didn't know that there were instances of people not knowing where something like an air filter is in the house.

I guess I lucked out when my real-estate agent recommended a very good home inspector. He and I did a walk-through of the house that I bought and live in now. He placed little hang-tags on some of the important water valves, and reminded me about closing the valves to the external hoses in the winter time. He showed me where the air filter for the furnace was. He showed me the circuit breaker and took off the front panel to show me the condition of the wires (excellent condition).

He did a little show and tell about how the sockets have their own breaker system, and where to push the little reset button for them. He even figured out our little gas fireplace and showed me the sequence for turning on the gas and pushing the igniter button to light it.

To top it off he gave me a huge manual that basically described the different parts of a house and things that could go wrong with them.

He was worth every dollar I paid him.

plunk21 · Post by **plunk21** » Fri Jul 13, 2018 1:46 am

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I want to be a spambot??

Thanks

Banned - ImLawBoy

Lassr · Post by **Lassr** » Fri Jul 13, 2018 9:38 am

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Montag · Post by **Montag** » Fri Jul 13, 2018 1:16 pm

https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality- ... me-cleaned

EPA

em2nought · Post by **em2nought** » Fri Jul 13, 2018 2:14 pm

raydude wrote: ↑Thu Oct 28, 2004 3:50 pm Wow, I didn't know that there were instances of people not knowing where something like an air filter is in the house.

I guess I lucked out when my real-estate agent recommended a very good home inspector. He was worth every dollar I paid him.

The guy who bought my house just uses me for this instead, at least he did. He doesn't pay me. Called me up pretty regularly for a year regarding the same things over and over, he had a really bad memory. Luckily it tapered off, but he just waved at me on facebook after 3 years. I think I'm going to ignore it. What's the limit on free tech support?

Don't need the expensive filters. Just get the cheapest pleated that they have. A few times during the year Lowes has multi packs of them for reasonable prices. Once a month out to at most 3 months is good. During the months the unit runs more often make sure it's closer to the 1 month.

Since I only require a small house, If I ever own again I'd go with mini-splits in various rooms once my central AC died. Ductwork in the attic is about the stupidest idea anyone ever came up with, especially in Florida. Plus, Central AC systems are WAY over priced for how long they last nowadays.

The thing I worry about air duct cleaning is the modern ductwork is put together so crappy. Mostly silver AC tape, they rarely use the good mastic stuff. I'd be really worried that they'd tear my ductwork apart and now I've got hot air leaks coming in from the attic with insulation particles instead of just dust in my ducts.

I had a renter burn a candle in a bathroom that left it so sooty it looked like there'd been a fire. If I ever rent out property again there will be a "no real candles" clause right after the "no disposable wet wipes" clause.

Z-Corn · Post by **Z-Corn** » Fri Jul 13, 2018 5:19 pm

I've got some kind of Aprilaire super furnace filter system that only needs to be replaced once a year. It's like $40 per filter though. When we moved in I upgraded it to allow for even finer filtration, MERV 13. My wife has pretty bad allergies...

And it's on the to-do list for the weekend. I usually change it around the 4th of July every year. New water panel for the humidifier is going in also.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Jul 13, 2018 6:17 pm

I take my filters out once every month or two.

I then beat them against a tree, then put them back in. I change them once a year.

morlac · Post by **morlac** » Sat Jul 14, 2018 10:28 am

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Fri Jul 13, 2018 6:17 pm I take my filters out once every month or two.

I then beat them against a tree, then put them back in. I change them once a year.

Smartest man in the thread.

Besides the spambot of course. Nice resurrection.

Octopus Overlords

Air duct cleaning - worthwhile investment or snake oil?

Air duct cleaning - worthwhile investment or snake oil?

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