Ductwork Cleaning

If you are one of the millions of people who are affected by allergies you know that it is a constant battle to help relieve our symptoms. You are constantly cleaning, dusting, vacuuming, washing your bedding to find that relief. And due to your concerns about your indoor air quality you have probably had your air ducts cleaned or at least investigated what it is all about.

Is duct work cleaning necessary? To start your investigation, inspect some of the areas of your ductwork that is easily accessible. Take off some of the vents from the walls or on the floors and see if there is anything that is noticeable – mold, excessive dust/debris build-up, any infestations of rodents or insects. Look at the furnace itself to see if the fan or the filters are
excessively dirty. When the system comes on can you see any particulate floating in the air. This is sometimes very visible on sunny days. If any evidence of these issues is found it may be time to have your ductwork cleaned.

So, what is duct cleaning? According to the EPA, duct cleaning generally refers to the cleaning of the various heating and cooling components of forced air systems, including the supply and return air ducts and registers, the grills and diffusers, heat exchangers heating and cooling coils, condensation drain pans (drip pans), fan motor and fan housing, and the air handling unithousing. And if you decide to have your heating and cooling system cleaned, it is important to make sure that your service provider agrees to clean all the components of the system and is qualified to do so. Failure to clean an of these components of a contaminated system can result in the re-contamination of the entire system, thus negating any potential benefits.

During your initial investigation, you think your saw some evidence that would cause you to believe that your ducts do need to be cleaned. How do you make sure? How do I choose a duct cleaning service provider? To find a qualified duct cleaning provider I would contact the National Air Duct Cleaners Association or NADCA, or if your ducts are constructed with fiber
glass duct board or insulated with a fiber glass duct liner, contact the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association (NAIMA).

It is most always recommended to get at least 3 written estimates before deciding who will clean your ducts and check their references. Get proof that your ducts need to be cleaned. A thorough visual inspection is the best way to verify that your heating and cooling system needs to be cleaned. Some service providers do offer remote photography to document the conditions inside your ductwork. This process should be provided both before to prove that the cleaning was necessary and after to document the service provided did remove the dust and debris that was previously there.

What should you expect from your ductwork service provider?

Per the EPA, these are the steps a qualified ductwork cleaner should take: 

• Open access ports or doors to allow the entire system to be cleaned and inspected.
• Inspect the system prior to cleaning to be sure that there are no asbestos-containing materials in the heating and cooling system. Asbestos-containing materials require specialized procedures and should not be disturbed or removed except by specially trained and equipped contractors.
• Use vacuum equipment that exhausts particles outside of the home or uses only high- efficiency particle air (HEPA) vacuuming equipment if the vacuum exhaust inside the building.
• Protects carpet and household furnishings during cleaning.
• Uses well-controlled brushing of duct surfaces in conjunction with contact vacuum cleaning to dislodge dust and other particles.
• Uses only soft-bristle brushes for fiberglass duct board and sheet metal ducts internally lined with fiberglass.
• Take care to protect the ductwork, including sealing and re-insulating any access holes the service provider may have made or used so they are airtight.
• Follow NADCA’s standards for air duct cleaning and NAIMA’s recommended practice for ducts containing fiber glass lining or constructed of fiber glass duct board.

Does duct cleaning prevent health problems? Per the EPA, the bottom line is: no one knows. There are examples of ducts that have become badly contaminated with a variety of materials that may pose risks to your health. The duct work system can serve to distribute these contaminates throughout a home or business. In these cases, duct cleaning may make sense.

However, a light amount of dust in your air ducts is normal. Remember, everyone’s home is different and there are different circumstances that will determine if cleaning your ductwork is necessary. Do you have pets, where do you live, and most important, is someone in your home highly sensitive to the allergens that are within your environment where cleaning the ductwork becomes necessary. Duct cleaning is not considered to be a necessary part of yearly maintenance of your heating and cooling system under normal conditions, which consists of regular cleaning of drain pans and the heating and cooling coils, regular filter changes and yearly inspections of the heating equipment. Research continues to evaluate the potential benefits of air duct cleaning.