Duct Cleaning in Elkton, MD
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Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Seven months of heating pushes a lot of air through those ducts
Furnaces here run October through April, and on the cold nights, 27 degrees on average from December through February, they cycle on and off for hours at a stretch. Every cycle pulls air through the ductwork, and that air carries dust, pet hair, and whatever else is loose in the house. Over a winter that adds up to a lot of passes through the same trunk lines and branches.
Dust and debris settle into the ducts a little more with each heating season. A furnace pulling air through a dirty system has to work harder to move the same amount of heat through the house.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace pushes air through your ducts
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner does the same
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NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should air ducts be cleaned?
- There's no fixed schedule that fits every home. It depends more on what's going on inside the house than on the calendar. If anyone has allergies, if you've got pets, or if you've had a furnace swap or duct repair that left dust behind, that's when it's worth having done. A contractor can look at your ductwork and tell you if it needs attention now or can wait.
- Is air duct cleaning worth it?
- It's worth it when there's a real reason behind it, not just as routine upkeep. Dust blowing out of the vents, a musty smell when the furnace kicks on, or ductwork that's never been touched since the house was built are all good reasons to have it done. If none of that applies, cleaning ducts on a schedule for its own sake doesn't do much.
- What does air duct cleaning involve?
- A contractor connects a vacuum system to the ductwork and uses brushes or air tools to knock loose dust and debris from inside the ducts, then pulls it out through the vacuum. Each supply and return vent gets opened up and cleaned individually. The furnace or air handler itself, including the blower and coil, usually gets cleaned as part of the job since it's connected to the same air path.