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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Fraggle Rock, CO
    Posts
    7,767

    Stupid homeowner question: Is air duct cleaning worth it?

    I always kind of assumed that duct cleaning was a bit of a scam. I mean, even if the ducts had a small layer of crud they'd still flow a good volume of air right? And unless my grubby little children and their friends shove things in and disturb it, that crud shouldn't really get stirred up, right? But the other day my 3 year old pushed a whole deck of playing cards one by one into one of our hvac returns. When I opened it to remove them I found a fairly terrible scene that can only be described as what the beaches at Normandy would have looked after D-Day if we sent in dust bunnies instead of our bravest young men. I assume that our ducts have never been cleaned and the house is ~30y old. So it got me to thinking about having a big ole hamburger served on a pretzel bun with pulled pork and coleslaw on top of it. And when that passed I started thinking about having my ducts cleaned.

    Have any of you ignorant bastards had this done in your homes? Anyone run one of these fly-by-night outfits? Is duct cleaning worth having done of is this just something that 1%'s do to make themselves feel like they're breathing air as pure as those nice people in beautiful places like Iceland or French Polynesia breathe in the morning when they go out into their backyards to have a piss? Educate me...
    Brandine: Now Cletus, if I catch you with pig lipstick on your collar one more time you ain't gonna be allowed to sleep in the barn no more!
    Cletus: Duly noted.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Central OR
    Posts
    5,963
    It ranks up there with sealing your driveway or buying the extended warranty.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    righthere/rightnow
    Posts
    3,165
    Only an issue if you had a rodent problem in the house and there is a lot of feces in the ducts. Think hantavirus.
    Otherwise you should only get it done if you want to be associated with the beautiful enlightened people.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2001
    Location
    Littleton, CO
    Posts
    395
    We did it with fly by night duct clearness, the ones that you see in the Valpac coupons. The $60.00 cleaning became $300 pretty damn quick, then they started the work, it was one more additional cost after another. Use a lot of scare tactics to get more money out of us.

    Been 4 years or so and I still cannot say with any certainty if it was all worth it.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    northern BC
    Posts
    30,881
    maybe if you got lots of allergies you wana consider it, I had this place done when I bought cuz it was 30-40 yrs old and then I got the HE furness witha hepa filter but I am not about to ducts vacumed every year or possibly ever again and I didn't pay 300$
    Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Central OR
    Posts
    5,963
    Your intakes get filtered at the furnace, so they're irrelevant. Your outputs blow out, so not much dust should accumulate there. Waste of money, but if it keeps the wife happy, well, do what you gotta do. ;-)

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    here and there
    Posts
    18,583
    Had it done when i bought my house 20+ yrs ago. At the time the house was 45 yrs old and was obvious it had never been done. My place is not hudge so was not too bad.

    I skipped the extras and had the basic cleaning. Worth peace of mind for me. Helped improve air flow in the HVAC system. I also change the air filter regularly. Keeps the air handler and heat exchangers in good condition so they will last much longer.

    Btw sealing your asphalt driveway makes it last longer but you already knew that.
    watch out for snakes

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    5,722
    The best companies can sell it to people with forced hot water heat. The true professionals in the business.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    the Low Sierra
    Posts
    17,818
    My furnace guy said don't bother. I thought I needed mine cleaned after running furnace fan a bunch last summer during Rim Fire. He said my HEPA filter was plenty good.
    I didn't believe in reincarnation when I was your age either.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Down In A Hole, Up in the Sky
    Posts
    35,361
    Off topic, but at least get/keep your dryer vents cleaned. Or do them properly yourself...
    Forum Cross Pollinator, gratuitously strident

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Posts
    143
    Get recommendations...I had it done to a 90year old house. Blew the shit everywhere, the guy didn't seal it up right and left a layer of crap on everything right before I brought our new born home from the hospital. 13 year old house now and I don't plan on doing it again

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    2 hours from anything
    Posts
    10,732
    In my industry I talk to industrial hygienists frequently. They often say that if you are having bad allergies or getting sick too often you should look at your hvac system. Get a little condensation and those issues can get bad fast.

    I saw a shopping mall intake where the inside had a solid inch of thick matted dust inside these 3' ducts. They never show that in the movies when guys are crawling in the ducts.

    Sent from my VS980 4G using TGR Forums

  13. #13
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    inpdx
    Posts
    20,197
    Clean yer ducts:
    -when you move into a house (that's not new)
    -after you have sizable interior renovations (drywall dust etc)
    -when it's been 15yrs since you last did it
    -after your kids reach age 10 and stop dropping toys & shit in them

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    New England
    Posts
    12,098
    Another off shoot, but similar issue... you should blow air to clean your smoke detectors twice a year.

    Mine all went off yesterday as I was sitting down in the plane...of course. Wife was freaking, but I managed to contact my electrician before being threatened by the flight attendant.


    And for gods sake, you should blow off all dust from your chop saws after using.
    Screw the net, Surf the backcountry!

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    12,609
    30yrs? I'd douche your ducts, and seal your driveway.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    The Cone of Uncertainty
    Posts
    49,306
    Quote Originally Posted by MMP View Post
    The best companies can sell it to people with forced hot water heat. The true professionals in the business.
    Closers close.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    5,722
    Quote Originally Posted by iceman View Post
    Closers close.
    coffee is for closers

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    North Vancouver
    Posts
    734
    Duct cleaning is a joke. They show up with a rather large shop vac in a van and then shove it down the vent for about as long as the first turn. I talked to a kid who worked for me and this was his previous job. he had to quit because he couldn't take the dishonesty anymore. . The crew knew it was a complete joke. I usually just shove my shop vac hose with an extra attachment down there and usually come up with a few coins and a couple of buttons and shite. Put a filter under you vent and your good to go. It's not like they are running some kind of magic broom down those ducts. I can't think that that power of a vacuum is any more than that of the forced air of a furnace.
    What if "Alternative" energy wasn't so alternative ?

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    General Sherman's Favorite City
    Posts
    35,250
    It's only worth it if you spring for the TruCoat.
    I still call it The Jake.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Posts
    11,736
    Quote Originally Posted by BmillsSkier View Post
    It's only worth it if you spring for the TruCoat.
    If you don't get it, you get oxidation problems. Cost ya a whole heckuva lot more than the duct cleaning charge.

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    No of SoBo, So of NoBo
    Posts
    2,284
    We did it when we bought our 1960s house that had clearly never had it done. There was a ton of thumping when they turned on the vacuums, and when I asked about it they showed me the shit that got sucked up - lots of pieces of drywall, nails and various construction debris items, most likely from a major interior remodel before we bought the place. Can't say I've noticed much difference, but it was cheap (under $100 - they didn't try to upsell us) and there's a certain peace of mind knowing that the air in your house isn't being recirculated constantly through a ton of dirt/dust/debris. Unless you've got specific air quality concerns, though, I probably wouldn't bother.
    Outlive the bastards - Ed Abbey

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Bay area, cali
    Posts
    1,895
    Quote Originally Posted by rideit View Post
    Off topic, but at least get/keep your dryer vents cleaned. Or do them properly yourself...
    Yep! When i bought my house, withing a few months my dryer was hot, but wasn't drying clothes. I'm like great, buying a new dryer. But after some googling first thing to check is your dryer vents and the hose coming out of the dryer. Cleaned them suckas and 6 years later, same dryer still working like a champ. Google has saved me at least a couple thousand dollars in appliances. Fixed my fridge too by replacing the motherboard on it. 121 bucks instead of 1200 bucks or whatever a good refrigerator costs these days.

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Not in the PRB
    Posts
    32,785
    Quote Originally Posted by commonlaw View Post
    If you don't get it, you get oxidation problems. Cost ya a whole heckuva lot more than the duct cleaning charge.
    Well, we've never done this before. But seeing as it's special circumstances and all, I can knock a hundred dollars off that Trucoat.
    "fuck off you asshat gaper shit for brains fucktard wanker." - Jesus Christ
    "She was tossing her bean salad with the vigor of a Drunken Pop princess so I walked out of the corner and said.... "need a hand?"" - Odin
    "everybody's got their hooks into you, fuck em....forge on motherfuckers, drag all those bitches across the goal line with you." - (not so) ill-advised strategy

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    On Vacation for the Duration
    Posts
    14,373
    I resisted the wife's urge to have ours cleaned. I replaced the 28 y o forced air system furnace. It had served 5 cats, 3 dogs over time and a family that liked to play in dirt. The ducts were clean as a whistle. Except the 1st 2 feet of one cold air return located in the floor by the kitchen door. I would clean it every so often with a sponge and vac as far as I could reach.
    A few people feel the rain. Most people just get wet.

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Posts
    1
    Closers close.

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