Is Furnace Air Duct Cleaning Necessary

[Freedom]

With all the cats here, this is what I did:

1. Removed the air intake registers, used the vacuum an dput the hose down as far as possible, moving it side to side

2. Put some filter material on the INSIDE of the register before replacing it. I used paper clips, binder clips, and duct tape to hold it in place.

That was soon after I bought the house, 6 years ago or so. Since then, I just vacuum the front grill on ALL the registers, in and output ones alike.

[Catty1]

A few years back, I worked for a heating company that did furnace and duct cleaning and all HVAC stuff.

Furnace cleaning for sure - the people doing it should at least know how to check your furnace's heat exchanger, etc, and replace parts BEFORE your furnace craps out in the middle of a deep freeze at midnight! :-)

Change the filter FOR SURE! You can get so-called permanent filters that you just rinse out every so often, and they can be good. You generally get what you pay for. Make sure there is a warranty!

Ducts - Generally, a hose with compressed air is used at the top of the duct to blow dust an debris down to the furnace, where it lands in an area and can be all vacuumed up.

Registers - I have used a width of cheesecloth, and just used the weight of the register to hold it in place.

Read these two articles carefully - it will help you make a decision:

http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/mah...gemare_011.cfm

http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/mah...gemare_008.cfm

[Freedom]

Great response, Candace!

Yup, I change my furnace filter every 3 months, when I have to changed the whole house water filter.

And I get the furnace cleaned annually.

[Catty1]

Yeah, an annual furnace cleaning and checkup is good. Some companies JUST do cleaning, so it's an idea to have a furnace company itself clean the furnace.

If the ducts have never been done, do it once. Return air registers can really get dirty. Once it's done, on with the cheesecloth or whatever.

lizbud - even in US $ that sounds like a heck of a deal. If ALL they do is cleaning though, you might want to check your yellow pages for a full-service heating company that also does cleaning...and if they are BBB members, check 'em out!

[cyber-sibes]

I would say YES. Great idea. After I created a "minor fire" on my stovetop, (back in Arcadia) the ins. co sent in a restoration crew - part of what they did was clean out the ducts and it made a huge difference -- in fact, while they were cleaning them, it smelled like the whole house was on fire. I couldn't get over how much better the air quality was - smelled much fresher too. If we ever buy another house with air ducts, that will be one of the first things I have done.

[Cataholic]

@cybersibes- that was a requirment for the smell factor. Lizbud is just wondering about cleaning.

I think it is a big fat waste of money. I would just vacuum as well as you can, replace the filter every single month (I buy the disposable kind..super cheap), and have your furnace checked annually. They will do a light cleaning of the furnace then. I still vacuum mine.

[lizbud]

I always get the furnace cleaned & checked every year.Change filters
once a month. What I was talking about was cleaning all the duct work
from the furnace that extends throughout the house. With 5 indoor cats
& 2 hairy dogs, my dust bunnies have dust bunnies. No matter how much I run
the vacumn, the dust & hair collects. I've cleaned the grates & what can be
reached with a vacumn hose, but think a whole house cleaning would be
even better.

My quote was from the same company that does the checkups & the same
company where I bought the furnace.

[cyber-sibes]

@cybersibes- that was a requirment for the smell factor. Lizbud is just wondering about cleaning.

I think it is a big fat waste of money. I would just vacuum as well as you can, replace the filter every single month (I buy the disposable kind..super cheap), and have your furnace checked annually. They will do a light cleaning of the furnace then. I still vacuum mine.

I was referring to duct cleaning - maybe I didn't phrase it correctly -- my point was that our house smelled fine after the cleaning team finished, we couldn't even tell there had been a fire. But when another team came a couple weeks later and cleaned the ducts out, it surprised me how much odor stayed trapped in the ductwork. Think about how musty a house would get with all that dust, dirt, and microbes building up over the years. Very worthwhile, IMO. Especially if you have allergies, Liz.