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Dirty Ducts and Dirty Deeds
8/13/10 Hurray! For the first time I have ever seen it, some light has been shed on Air Duct Cleaning by the media. Claudia Buck, of the Sacramento Bee, has hit the nail on the head in a recent article about getting burned on air duct cleaning. Now I’m not saying that Air Duct cleaning companies are bad people, I just dont think it solves a lot of problems. The process is very similar to how, we at Peoples Choice, clean dryer vent systems. Basically, a sort of snake-with-a-brush on the end is whirled through the air duct system, with a vacuum attached, loosening dust particles, then sucking them up. On grossly dirty systems it will do a pretty good job, but getting near 100% clean will not happen. First of all, your system must be secure and strong enough for the process itself.
We occasionally get calls from people requesting that their furnace/AC air ducts be cleaned. I might preface this by saying that we DO do dryer vent cleaning, using the Duct Weasel System-a totally different issue. At any rate, the question I ask first is “Why do you want to do it?” Some of the common answers are:
1) Because the ducting is old and I don’t know what’s accumulated in it
2) Because we are having allergy or health symptoms that we are trying to solve
3) Because we are afraid of the germs that might be lurking in the ducts
4) Becase my house is overly dusty
Now, let me address each of these reasons, one by one.
1) Old Ducts-If the air ducting in your house is that old, cleaning may be a waste of money. If the ducting is old, it is also (most likely) poorly insulated or uninsulated; leaky at the joints; possibly not sound enough to stand the process of duct cleaning. You would be better advised to put that cleaning money (typically $600 to $1200) towards installing new, well insulated, and properly sealed ductwork (typical 3 bedroom house $2500 to $4000). Yes, it is expensive, but the option of throwing away $600 to $1200 ain’t so cool either.
2) Health Reasons: This may be one of the few reasons to try duct cleaning as at least a partial solution. But it is still a NO in my opinion if you have old ducting, or ducting in poor condition. Part of the equation will be how much money can you afford to risk at trying different approaches. If you air ducting is less than ten years old, it might be worth trying, other wise, re-duct. A couple of other things enter the picture in regards to health issues. How about filtration on your heating/AC system? Do you frequently change your filter (if you have allergy problems monthly changing your filter could help)? On the subject of filtration, I must offer this caution: If you go buy one of those fancy pants extra fine super duper filters, be aware that you could be drastically changing the air pressure in your furnace/AC, which could lead to functional problems in the system. . .just a note. Beyond frequent filter changes (use the least expensive pleated filter for both performance and pressure) you could go to the extreme of filtration, which is a HEPA filtration system. This would be an add-on to your heating/AC equipment, and typically requires you to run your furnace blower 100% of the time (Cost $1800 to $3000, plus the extra monthly expense of running the blower).
So, bottom line with the health reason is . . .maybe, maybe not.
3) Germs-Frankly if you are worried about germs in the ductwork and YOU think cleaning will help. . .go for it! Even if it doesn’t kill all the germs it may provide you with peace of mind, which is priceless!
4) Dusty house-If you have an overly dusty house, cleaning the ducts will not solve the problem. Yes, you may have dust in your ductwork (no, you DO have dust in your ductwork-everyone does), but the ductwork is not necessarily the SOURCE of the dust. Look at these things to cut down the dust: 1) Seal/caulk your windows and doors (and install new windows for better seal and huge energy/sound benefits) 2) Have a “Blower Door Test” done by a reputable company. Basically this process will test the entire envelope of your house for air leaks, and identify where you can repair or improve things, including leaks in you ductwork. 3) One source of dust that is many times overlooked is when outside air and dust come in at the base of your floor, between the 2×4 at the base of an exterior wall, and the slab or subfloor of the house. Can ductwork cause dust? Well yes it could. If you have poorly sealed ductwork (usually at ruptures or connectors) when the forced air passes this location, it literally sucks dust through the crack and into the air ducts that is then blown throughout the house. What can you do? If this is your problem, in most cases it would be wise to have new ducting installed. Requirements for sealing ductwork have changed drastically over the last ten years, so you would end up with a much better system, both dust-wise and energy-wise.
In the end, my recommendation with regards to Air Duct cleaning is much the same as for whether or not to buy extended warranties (check out my previous blog on extended warranty): If it will give you peace of mind, go for it, but for my money. . .no thank you.
This has been another mind bending moment with Rich Johnson of Peoples Choice. Adios!
