Do You Really Need to Clean Your Air Ducts?

Here is some information that you don’t think of every day 6 to 8 times a day the air in your home circulates through the air ducts of your HVAC heating and cooling system. This pushes the dust, allergens like pollen or pet dander, and just the dirt and debris of every day living through your home over and over again. This re-circulation can cause a build-up of contaminants and other debris in the ductwork.

The filter in your furnace or return grilles will catch some of the debris, but over time, or possibly following any remodeling projects. or worse yet lets say your suffering from shotty duct installation. Any or all of these symptoms can and will lead to a buildup of gunk inside your ductwork that threatens not only the efficiency of your system but we think the indoor air quality is very important and should be addressed in every home. You have the oil changed in your car, what about the maintenance in your home? Isn’t the air your breathing important? If it’s been over 3-5 years since your last air duct cleaning you really should have it done. Finding the right air duct cleaning company is easy to do with a little research. Do yourself a favor and do that research. Please don’t ever respond to a $99 special you get in the mail! If it seems to good to be true it’s probably not true and in this case it never is.

Air Duct Cleaning

air-duct-cleaningAir duct cleaning is happening every day in neighborhoods all over Portland and Vancouver. This short story should help with what to expect when scheduling your duct cleaning service. The vent cleaning in an 1800-2200 sq ft home takes two technicians three to four hours, it can be done by one tech but it would take longer. Using a Hepa filtered negative air machine is the EPA’s preferred method for duct cleaning. After separating each side of the HVAC system and attaching the negative air machine to one side either supply or return, the techs should then seal every vent in the home and starting with the duct as far away from the system as possible navigate air whips from each register in the home all the way back to the furnace. The rest of the work is done in and around the furnace itself and back from the return and supply plenums. The right duct cleaning companies will show you each step of the process and should be able to show you what comes from the ductwork and they should never add fees to the the original service. This said, there are no $99 or funnier yet $59 whole house duct cleaning specials, this is impossible for a company to maintain, there is just too much work involved in a full service. There are resources available to research the guys you can trust. You may check Angie’s List if you’re a member, if not, there is the Better Business Bureau or reviews on Yelp and Google+! The service is awesome and should be done once every 3-5 years. Good luck to all!