I called a few places with quotes, but how do I know if they will provide a good service? Some say it will take two men to do the job in about 1hr and 15min. An other said one person job that will take
1.5 hours or more. We have a average size house with 13 registers and 3 cold returns. Any advise? thanks
I called a few places with quotes, but how do I know if they will provide a good service? Some say it will take two men to do the job in about 1hr and 15min. An other said one person job that will take
1.5 hours or more. We have a average size house with 13 registers and 3 cold returns. Any advise? thanks
Most houses built nowadays don't have a return in every room, they have a maximum or one or two returns centrally located on each floor of the house. It's one of the ways that builders cut costs.
This implies that rooms with output vents need to have their doors kept open all the time, or there needs to be enough space at the top or bottom of the door to allow air to escape so that it can get to the return vent. Otherwise, if the room is well-sealed (which most rooms in modern houses are), significantly less air gets into the room from the duct when the door is closed, and the proper room temperature can't be maintained.
There have been previous discussions about this in misc.consumers.house. See, e.g.:
Before cleaning, I suggest you objectively consider if you need them cleaned. While there are good reasons for cleaning them, most all cleaning done after the home is built is nothing more than money in the hands of the contractor.
for the most part, duct cleaning companies are nothing but scams. there's usually a few low price leaders in every market, and all they want is their foot in the door. Then expect a whole slew of other charges, such as asbestos abatement, new duct work new equipment etc.
look for someone to remove all supply air and return air grills, vacuum each duct, vacuum each plenum, pull the blower and wire brush the blower wheel, clean the evap coil if any and drainpan, clean the heat exchanger if any and do all of this in 1.5 hours? yeah right.
last but not least, ask about the chemical spray they use that encapsulates and seals the duct work interior.....to prevent the dirt & debris they knock loose but fail to remove from contaminating your supposedly newly cleaned ducts.
I had the link and lost it - the EPA basically came out and said that unless you have a mold problem, or your house has a bunch of crud in it from just being built, that duct cleaning is a scam. I've torn out ductwork that had been in place for 40 years and yeah, there was a little dust on it, whoop-dee-doo.
Duct Cleaning is brought to you by the same people who say you should change your oil every 3000 miles, which is a lie to get you to buy more oil. Consumer Reports ran tests and said, several years ago, that 6000 was optimal. It's longer now with the more modern engines.
google Coit Drapery Cleaning and then Coit Duct Cleaning. A little known fact is that the Drapery Cleaning Industry is working very hard behind the scenes to pass local & federal regulations concerning the Duct Cleaning Industry, as if drapery cleaners know all there is to know about duct systems.
Cleaning the Supply plenum and vents is not necessary, of course--they are always filtered. But the Return side....
I think I have a situation that actually might need duct cleaning--on the Return duct only. My Ventilator supplies the return duct. The continuous fan on my Carrier furnace stops for 66sec to light the burners. During this time, the HRV is blowing out the return vents--and sending out dust and crap. I've seen the inside of my return vents--in my 55 yr old house, they are full of crap. Not mold but big hairballs of crap. So, would I be an idiot to get my return plenum cleaned? After all, a post about cancelling the 66sec interrupt determined that it's not feasible.... and a relay on the HRV would unfortunately put undue stress on the motor (according to Venmar, anyway) and void my warranty...
Hi! Duct cleaning job have to be at least not less than 2 hours(for one technician)(one system) dirtiest always be return.
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Sorry sport, but if the ducts are bad enough that they need to be "cleaned", then replacement is in order...along with proper sealing and air balancing.
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