Should You Have Your Ducts Cleaned Professionally?

Many homeowners often question themselves if they should have the ducts in their home cleaned, especially with all the talk around them about the quality of air. All these claims make homeowners easy targets for scams, especially those who have breathing issues such as Asthma, COPD or allergies. Here are a few guidelines to go by when it comes to cleaning your ducts. Any of the following situations means you need to hire professional duct cleaning service:

• If you have vacuumed the grill work of the ducts (by removing register covers and vacuuming the area you can reach) of both intake and outflow of heating and cooling ducts but you still have an odor coming from them when the heat or cooling cycle starts.
• If you find mold or mildew in your basement or another area of your home, have had renovations done and the ducts were not covered during those renovations, or if you have begun having illnesses that are allergy related or breathing related and you’ve removed everything that could be causing them

A couple reasons you would want to get your ducts cleaned;

• Better air quality – if a complete system cleaning has been done, the air in your home may be quality, especially if the supply, intake, and return air ducts have been cleaned as well.
• Better efficiency from the HVAC system – Once the system has been cleaned it will run more efficiently saving you money on energy bills since it won’t have to work as hard to maintain the temperature you set it at for heating and cooling.

Who should you hire?

You should always hire a professional duct cleaning company that is licensed for HVAC systems. There have been many companies pop up over the past few years in the Duct Cleaning business so beware as many of these new businesses could be scams.

How to hire a company to clean your ducts

If you decide that you are going to have your ducts cleaned here are some tips on hiring someone.

• Full service -Make sure they do more than just ducts, meaning they should also clean the HVAC unit itself, the coils, the housing, fans, and motor of the unit as well.
• References – Get references in your area and call them ask how the service went, did they do a full service, and were they talked into a more expensive cleaning than they originally agreed to or was quoted? Check online reviews to give you an idea about the company.
• Quotes – Get quotes from 3 different HVAC licensed companies. Ask for written quotes from the company which details exactly what you get cleaned and the price it costs.
• Certified – Look for a company that is certified by local or provincial Air Duct Cleaners Association.
• Gimmicks – Avoid gimmicks, the ads that say they will clean your air ducts for $79.00 are generally scams they will only do a few ducts or ducts only for that price and try to talk you into a higher priced package by citing air quality or other issues as reasons you should go with the higher package.
• Verify results – you will want to ask for if you are not offered a visual inspection of the unit and ducts either in person or by the remote camera if need be before paying for the service. Make sure you got what you are paying for.
• Avoid sealants and sprays – these can potentially leave harmful chemicals in the ducts. They are also iffy as they could cause more harm than good to your health. You also want to avoid steam cleaning of ducts or any kind of moisture involved in cleaning ducts.

If you follow the above guidelines, it should enable you to find a reputable HVAC company to clean both the unit and the ducts at a reasonable rate. Duct cleaning is something that does not have to be done unless you are having sudden allergy related or breathing related problems in your home. Also, remember before calling a professional, lift the register covers and vacuum the intake and output registers yourself and see if it helps.