Dust In The Ductwork!
For the most part, the majority of the public is not aware that the duct work in their home could be chock full of dust, debris, dead bugs, dead animals, mold spores, lint, hair and all sorts of junk. This is because duct work is mostly closed up, and you can’t readily see inside it because it is normally hidden in the wall, rafters and they have yet to develop sheet metal that is see-through.
So what happens over the years is your return air duct sucks air back down to the furnace, and in the process, it sucks a bunch of stuff back down into the duct work. This results in a gradual accumulation of debris that lays on the horizontal surfaces of the ducts which ends up continually circulating dusty air in your home.
Some experts have said there is nothing that gets trapped inside the duct work and it is a useless service. For those skeptics, I offer the following photo:
This is a picture of a duct full of dust, cob webs, lint, and all sorts of stuff. This is a common situation in most older homes. I am convinced if duct work was clear, or see through, air duct cleaning would be the most popular service provided for homeowners.
Does any of this pose any danger?
Yes, you can end up overworking the blower motor to the point of overheating when the filter gets clogged, and restricts air flow.
We clean out ducts using a variety of techniques. We use air, to loosen dust and debris, we use vacuums, to suck it out of the ducts and we also use spinning brushes to clear out heavy materials. It can take a “sixth sense” to sometimes know exactly where all the dust collects.
In this next picture, you will see the result of a restricted round duct, which is common in most newer homes today. We are seeing more and more of this inside homes less than 10 years old, because many return air ducts are made of round flexible duct work. The ridges inside the duct collect dust and can quickly restrict the air flow, just like in older homes, like the example above. Here is what we found in a recent job:
This crusty, dusty mass was sucked out of a return air duct and contributed to the blockage of the return duct, causing the air circulation in one room to be much less than others.
If you are considering having your air ducts cleaned, feel free to give us a call or text at 701-306-7026. When we come out to take a look at your duct work, we will take some pictures of the inside of the ducts just like you see in this article. That way you can find out exactly what is going on inside your duct work and how much cleaning is needed.
We tailor a cleaning based on what we find. We include everything in our price quotes, and we do not bait and switch. Some companies offer a really low price so that they get you to call them, but then after the job is done, they charge for every little thing and the price is 3 times higher.
So, if you have dust in your duct work, we have the ability to remedy the situation.
