Duct Cleaning in Albany, NY
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Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Eight months of heating pushes a lot of air through those ducts
Your furnace runs October through May here, close to eight months of the year. That is a long stretch of warm air moving through the same ducts, and every bit of dust in your house rides along with it. Over a heating season that much air movement settles dust along the duct walls, especially at the bends and the joints near the furnace.
Dirty ducts can restrict airflow to the rooms farthest from the furnace, and that matters most on the nights here that average 17°F. A duct that is choked with dust cannot move as much warm air, and the rooms at the end of the run feel it first.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace pushes air through your ducts
- 2 months
- July through August, your air conditioner does the same
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NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should air ducts be cleaned?
- There is no fixed schedule that fits every home, so a contractor should look at the ducts before you settle on a timeline. Homes with pets, a recent renovation, or someone with allergies tend to need cleaning sooner than others. If you can see dust building up around the vents or coming out when the system kicks on, that is a sign to move on it rather than wait.
- Is air duct cleaning worth it?
- It depends on what is going on in the ducts right now. If there is visible dust, debris, or signs of pests inside them, cleaning clears that out and stops it from blowing through the house every time the furnace or air conditioner runs. If the ducts look clean and the system is working fine, there is no real benefit to cleaning them on a routine basis just to have it done.
- What does air duct cleaning involve?
- A contractor uses tools to loosen dust and debris from inside the ductwork, then vacuums it out with equipment strong enough to pull it through the whole system rather than just push it further along. The supply and return vents get cleaned too, since dust collects right at the openings. Some contractors also clean the blower compartment, since that is where air picks up whatever has settled on the fan and housing before it moves into the ducts.