Duct Cleaning FAQs

The biggest question many homeowners ask is why their ducts need cleaning. What purpose does duct cleaning serve, especially since you can’t see the ducts in the walls and ceilings? Duct cleaning, however, is one of the most important maintenance jobs performed on your heating and cooling system.

To start with, ducts are often cleaned rather infrequently. The lack of cleaning results in an excess buildup of unwanted debris, dust, and contaminants that cycle through your house. Some of that debris is just dust and dirt, but other bits of it include pollen, dander, bacteria, and even molds, which grow in the ducts if humidity levels are not regulated and ducts are not cleaned regularly.

By cleaning the ducts in your home, you remove all of this debris, which helps to keep the air in your home cleaner. It also reduces any impediments that might slow or block air from reaching the rooms in your home.

Ductwork is usually hidden within the walls of your home so it has easy access to your vents and can more easily move air between rooms. However, because of its location, that very ductwork is also very inaccessible, making it hard to clean. It requires special equipment to reach the deepest portions and even then, you must get everything out.

So, while you can do quite a bit of basic cleaning, a full duct cleaning requires a professional. You should check your filters on outdoor condensers and cleaning systems regularly though. You should also make sure there’s no buildup in or around coils and drain pans which may reduce the efficiency of your system. These are all things you can do yourself.

Every system varies depending on the type of heating and cooling you use, the cleanliness of outside air and how often you perform basic maintenance at home. And while there are no set industry guidelines, a well maintained system should never need to be cleaned more than once per year. If you live in a low contaminant area and don’t need a thorough cleaning too often, it can even be stretched out to as much as two years in some cases.

The best way to be sure is to check your owner’s manuals for your home comfort system – the heat pump or condenser you use – and to talk to your local heating and cooling professional.

The duration of duct cleaning depends largely on how big your home is, how deep the ductwork goes, and how often it has been cleaned in the past. Most duct cleaning jobs will be completed within a single day and are minimally disruptive to your daily life, though you will likely be without either heating or cooling while the process is completed. It is recommended that all duct work cleaning be completed in the spring or fall when you have minimal need for your comfort system.

If you notice a problem such as uneven heating or heavy allergens in the house, schedule duct cleaning as soon as possible. As a regular maintenance task, cleaning should be done when nothing appears to be wrong so that nothing does go wrong.