Clean Duct System?

Devil505

I have a 30 year old home heated by a forced hot air system. My duct system has never been cleaned but I have heard that it is usually not necessary to do so unless you know there are rodents, etc in there. What are your thoughts? (I have always had a furnace filter in place & the whole system runs rarely as my coal stove pretty much warms the whole house unless the temp dips below 20 degrees)

redline

Do you use the better quality filters or the .99 cent ones?

How often do you change the filters

acefurnacefixer

They still have air in them and air hold dirt. Absolutly have them cleaned.

Devil505

I use the cheap filters

acefurnacefixer

Another GOOD reason to have them cleaned

redline

It is better to buy the more expensive ones ($3-6) when they go on sale. Stock up.

The better filters stop more dust, the furnace will stay cleaner, the furnace will operate more efficiently and the occupants will have less allergies.

acefurnacefixer

Come on man, read the post...........that alone is plenty enough reason to clean the ducts.I dont care if they have a space shuttle quality filter in place............after 30 years YOU NEED YOUR DUCTS CLEANED !

Devil505

I was looking for opinions acefurnacefixer as many others, including the US EPA say it is not necessary. Here is an excerpt from an EPA report :
......."Knowledge about the potential benefits and possible problems of air duct cleaning is limited. Since conditions in every home are different, it is impossible to generalize about whether or not air duct cleaning in your home would be beneficial."....
Another excerpt:
..."If no one in your household suffers from allergies or unexplained symptoms or illnesses and if, after a visual inspection of the inside of the ducts, you see no indication that your air ducts are contaminated with large deposits of dust or mold (no musty odor or visible mold growth), having your air ducts cleaned is probably unnecessary. "
A third excerpt:
.......".if a service provider fails to follow proper duct cleaning procedures, duct cleaning can cause indoor air problems. For example, an inadequate vacuum collection system can release more dust, dirt, and other contaminants than if you had left the ducts alone. A careless or inadequately trained service provider can damage your ducts or heating and cooling system, possibly increasing your heating and air conditioning costs or forcing you to undertake difficult and costly repairs or replacements."

I have looked into the 6" supply pipe I cut & find no large deposits that aren't simply blown out when the furnace kicks on at the begining of the heating season.
The full EPA report is here:http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/h...s/airduct.html

#CARRIERMAN

Hi Devil505

The company I work for actually does duct cleaning. Most often the reason for cleaning duct in this area is due to mold and dust mite accumulation. But unless the duct work has piles of stuff lying in the bottom, alot of times it may not be needed. You can add in UV light kits and install a good pleated filter as redline suggested. This will usually help stop most problems. The biggest draw back to a UV bulb system is the maintenance cost, but that is going to be the case with anything that purifys air. Let me know if you need any further information.

Good luck
Rusty

747

If i had a forced air furnace the first thing i would do is have a hvac guy mount one of those electric airfilters on the side which zap dust. Then you just pull it out once a month run it through the diswasher. Or at least you can if its the american standard one.