About this time every year my mailbox starts filling up with ads for air duct cleaning services that come into your home and actually vacuum out all the accumulated dust and debris (and even mold) that builds up the metal ducts of any sort of forced air heating or air conditioner system. These companies usually pull up to your house in vans that have tremendous vacuum cleaning units in them. I’ve watched them as they run large hoses (more like giant tubes) into a home and basically suck out all the dust and debris from the vents of a home. Some actually scrub the insides of the ducts, but mold isn’t a big problem in my part of the country, so most of the ones around me seem to offer just the vacuuming service.
I didn’t want to have my home’s air ducts cleaned but my wife saw a coupon in one of our local papers that advertised a “$39.95″ special that included a cleaning of 10 vents and 1 intake trunk of a forced air heating or AC system. I was skeptical, but our house is over 50 years old and the vents had never been properly vacuumed out to my knowledge.
The people who think it’s important to clean your vents and ducts argue that all the dust and debris is being blown into your home and into your lungs every day. Skeptics bring up the point that most of that dust is in your home anyway (how else would it get into your air ducts) and you really don’t breathe it in because the dust is in the vents and clearly not blowing around too much. I had a feeling the truth was probably somewhere in between, but couldn’t pin anything down until I stumbled across an article by the EPA entitled Should You Have the Air Ducts in Your Home Cleaned? It’s an absolutely excellent (but rather long) document and it covered just about every question I had about this whole process. It’s interesting to note that no studies have actually shown definitively that cleaning your air ducts really made the air in your home any cleaner.
Here you see the dust that’s been built up on a piece of aluminum that was cut out of my ducts. This is from the intake side of my 50 year old duct system.
Any forced air heating system works by pulling in air through the intake vents and then heated or cooled before being blown out through the floor or wall vents. In theory all that air being sucked in is filled with dust and dirt and all sorts of awful things in your air. Sure, a lot of it should get caught in your air filter, but a lot of naturally will settle in your ducts before even getting to your filter.
My wife took my son out for a grocery run and I was left to deal with the casually dressed but well-mannered vent cleaners who arrived in an unmarked white van. They had no uniforms or even business cards, but they introduced themselves as Bob and Ken.
I showed them the coupon and they quickly got to work. They took a quick survey of the house and the number of vents I had. They then went down to the basement where my furnace was and gave that a quick once over. Then they got to work.
The first step was running a 12 inch diameter vacuum hose from the white van, through my side door, down my basement stairs and right to my furnace. They then brought an extension cord to me and asked if I had a place to plug it in.
Then Bob and Ken went down to my furnace, removed my air filter, picked out a spot along the main intake trunk of my vents and used a saw to cut a six inch hole in it. They pulled out the circular piece of aluminum that they’d cut off my ducts and I have to admit it was covered in about a half inch of dust and filth. Then they put the hose up to hole and drove some screws into a ring around the vacuum hose, essentially attaching the vacuum hose right into my intake vent.
They cut a hole in the air duct and attach this vacuum hose with screws.
Bob turned on the vacuum in their van and then started up an air compressor as well. The air compressor had a long hose which they brought from the van and into my home from the side door. Ken then proceed to each vent, sticking the rubber hose into the vent and releasing a little valve, which shot the compressed air into the vent. They were essentially blowing loose all sort of dust in my vents and because the vacuum was hooked up to the main trunk, all the junk was being sucked down to the vacuum.
Clever, I guess. It made a lot of noise and it did seem to loosen a lot of dust. Some was blown back into the house, which made for little grey clouds around the vent as they worked. After the first one they put little paper masks on. I just stood back.
After all the vents were cleaned the two guys proceeded down to the furnace again and drilled a small hole on near where the vacuum hole was attached. Now they ran the air hose into the hole and ran the hose around, making sure it hide the sides of the ducts while blowing air, essentially blowing loose more dust and dirt and causing it to be sucked up by the vacuum. At one point Bob loosened the vacuum hose and brought it down, showing me the amount of dust that was flying around the aluminum air ducts and being sucked away.
Before and after shots of the “blowing” side of my air vents. No, I didn’t see any difference, either.
I was impressed, but I had nothing to compare it to. I mean, was all that dust flying around in my house before this, or had it been resting safely in my vents for years without being disturbed? I also had to remember: this was on the intake side of the system, before the air went through a filter. Of course it was going to be dirty.
It was at this point that turned everything off and said, “Okay, now we work up an estimate.”
I still had two “trunks” of my air duct system not yet cleaned and, according to Bob and Ken, I should also have all my extending vents that blow out air cleaned. They would need to drill a hole (and later plug it up) about every 12 inches apart, they would spray in various fungicide and other magic chemicals to kill electrostatic discharge and cure my vents of whatever ails them. They figured the whole thing out to be around $600.
The True Cost of Air Duct Cleaning
I’ve spoken to other people about the prices of air duct cleaning services and they all say the same thing: most air duct cleaning companies come in with a low price for cleaning the “outgoing” side of the air ducts, but the real dirt and grime and dust is on the intake side. The cost of duct cleaning seems to skyrocket once these guys actually get into your home with all their equipment to show you the dust in there.
We had moved from $39.95 to $600 in less than 45 minutes.
I laughed, said no, and told them I’d go write them a check for $39.95 while they were cleaning up. They countered with a lower offer and we haggled back and forth. In the end I got them to clean the rest of intake trunks, one main blowing vent and clean out the furnace for about $250. It was still, in my opinion, too expensive, but I wanted to make my wife happy and there clearly was a fair amount of dust in these vents.
The verdict: In the end my vents were much cleaner, or at least less dusty, than they were before these two guys in their unmarked white van appeared. But I still think it was mostly a waste of money and here’s why:
All the impressive displays of dust came from the intake side of my forced air system. That’s the part of your furnace or central AC that pulls in air before it goes through an air filter, so of course that’s going to be dirty. I was able shove my camera into a smaller hole that they’d made in one of the “blowing” sides of the furnace and after 50 years it still looked relatively clean. Sure, after vacuuming that probably got out a few loose particles, but generally I found that side to be no cleaner than it was before Bob and Ken arrived.
Is my interior air cleaner? My wife swears she can breathe better, but I’m not completely convinced. Again, all those photos of clean and dirty ducts you see in the ads are clearly from the intake side of your forced air system, not of the side blowing out the air you actually breathe. The intake side will always be dirty because there is no filter. In fact, if the inside of your intake ducts are dirty I would consider that a good thing because it means your air system is pulling dirt and dust out of the rooms of your home.
Should You Have Your Air Ducts Cleaned?
You DO want to consider having your air ducts cleaned if you have any of the following:
- Any sort of significant construction in your home involving dust, fiberglass or other airborne particles. These can cause breathing problems and these can end up in your air duct system only to be blown out later.
- Any sort of visible mold growth or any sort of positive testing for mold in the air ducts. Professionals can run air tests, or you can get a kit to collect a sample and send it to a lab.
- Any sort of blockage (full or partial) in your air ducts due to debris.
- Any sort of evidence of animal activity (droppings, nesting) in your air ducts. Eww…
If you don’t have any of those problems, then you can probably forgo the expensive professional air duct cleaning and simple do a little vacuuming inside the returns yourself. Before you do anything you might want to have your duct system inspected and tuned up by a professional every couple of years just to make sure everything is still working as it should and you can catch any small problems before they get bigger. And always, always, always change the filter on your furnace at the recommended intervals. Some furnace filters only last a few months, some last half a year.
Unless you’ve run your central AC or forced air heat for long periods of time without any sort of air filter at all (hey, it happens) then I would say that getting your air ducts cleaned is not worth it. Save yourself the couple hundred bucks (or $39.95) for an air duct cleaning and use that money to replace your home air filter every 3 to 6 months.
Bob and Ken suggested I have my vents re-cleaned every two years, but I figured my home waited 50 years the first time so maybe I’d wait at least 25 years to get it done again.
Unless, of course, my wife thinks otherwise. Next time, though, I’ll let her deal with the Bob and Ken or clean our air ducts out on her on her own.
Just wanted to say thanks for posting this review – my husband and I had been trying to decide if having our ducts cleaned was worth it. After reading your review, we’ve decided to save our money. Thanks!
CB
Glad I could help! I’m not saying that the duct cleaning didn’t get out some dirt and dust, because it did… But generally it didn’t do much more than I could have done with a hand vacuum anyway. If you use a hose vacuum and just stick it in your vents and air returns and suck out as much dust as you can then you’re probably doing just as much cleaning as one of these professional services.
It’s not quite a “scam” because it doesn’t suck out some dust from the “intake” side of the heating system, but as long as you’re regularly replacing your air filters then your “blowing” side of the system should never really get that dirty. My home (and my air ducts) date back from around 1955 which makes my air ducts over 50 years old. And, really, as you can see from the photo they were pretty darn clean on the “outflow” side of the system. Sure, the “intake” side of the system was a bit dusty, but the air filter was obviously doing it’s job and preventing too much dust from getting back into the house.
Again, even the EPA cautions against cleaning your air ducts just for the heck of it. When I first wrote about cleaning your air ducts I noted that the EPA basically says it’s an unnecessary procedure unless you’ve had some of home construction recently.
Good luck!
I was sick of dusting so I had some guys come to house to clean the ducts around my house. Like you, I end up paying much more than what they advertised. I even bought their expensive custom-made “permanent metal filter” for my central a/c unit that was supposed to save me money because all I had to do was hose down the filter every once in a while. After all that, my house was no less “dust-free” than before I spent the money. I’m still dusting like before, only now my checking account has lot less money! What a waste.
I love the way you express it. We are first time home buyers and you helped us save our money !!
wow this almost EXACT thing just happened to me today lol. i wish i had read your story before i called them. Just as you said three guys in an unmarked white van pulled up to my house. it started at, more expensive than yours, $69.00 and 15% off for expectant mothers (my wife) after about ten minutes he informed me that my vents were “contaminated” and i needed a sanitizing procedure done, he also let me know that the return vents were not included in the initial price. ****note*** There are NO sanitizing chemicals used by these guys that are EPA approved*** I asked how much more and he said $400 on top of the $69. I said no and he haggled with me for a good 20 minutes, going back and forth “talking” to his boss on his cell phone. He also asked how much more i was willing to spend. At this point i became very uncomfortable with them inside my house and just wanted them to leave. I told he i had no extra money and was unaware taht they would try and charge me for other servics. It was amazing, after i kept denying him the extra charges for the intake vents he came back and said he would do them for “free”….long story short, im glad im only out the $62.00 (with discount) my wife was also the one that wanted it done…oh well at least i didnt get caught for anything else
Oh! I feel so stupid that I did called Totalductcleening before finding this review….im expecting and was preparewd to pay for duct cleening $169.00 cash or +tax(13%)
The whole thing screw me up when the guy started blowing the dust everywhere,and as Im VEry allergic to dust this is turned me off,the other guy came from the basement and delivered a good news for me that for cleaning the furnace I’d get a discount and will pay ‘only’ $100.00 on top of $169.00…….I should’ve ask them out right there….but ,I didnt.
And now my checking account is less $303.97 and I’m suffering with allergy from all that dust that they left and can’t take anything from it.
what do you think I should do?!
I would agree that they try to upcharge you. Sanitation, extra vents, coil cleans, etc. However, one time when it might be prudent to clean the ducts is when you have rat poop inside them (like I did with mine) or some other contamination (mold) because then you have the chance that you will be breathing in these particles. The only other way of removing contaminated air ducts is to replace all the air ducts with new air ducts
i would just like to say who ever dont think getting your vents cleaned helps, either had the wrong company or your just fools which is okay because i was that same fool and i paid dearly first you shouldnt play with your health or your families especially for a few dollars ill just leave it at that want to know more e-mail me. frank
Frank,
Of course you’d say that. You’re an air duct cleaner.
Duh.
I would encourage homeowners to check out the EPA’s guide to duct cleaning (Google it!).
The EPA says that air duct cleaning has negligible affects on a home’s air quality and has no discernible health benefits. All the duct cleaning companies I’ve seen end up cleaning the INTAKE side of the system, not the outflow side. If you’ve had an air filter on your forced air heating or cooling system (and you change the filter regularly) then duct cleaning should not be needed.
I love seeing all these open threads about duct cleaning giving such honest reviews. I am a HVAC contractor, and have often thought about adding duct cleaning to our line of services, so hearing peoples opinions is of great help in deciding.
One point I would offer up that hasn’t been discussed is the repair side of things. I admit, the evidence as to the benefits or harm of duct cleaning is questionable from both sides, but, I will say this: Dirty furnaces break down 10 fold more often then clean ones. It is actually very rare that we get the pleasure of working on a clean unit. On the repair calls we go to, we can see how dirt in the affected component contributed, or caused the breakdown.
I still don’t know if cleaning the entire duct system is of any benefit, but routine cleaning of your furnace WILL save you money.
As for the concerns of a dusty house, the best defense against a dusty house is a combination good filtration and good humidity. The filtration side is obvious, however, the often over looked side is humidity. Aside from the proven health benefits of maintaining an ideal humidity level, moisture molecules actually attract dust together, grouping them into larger particles, making it easier for the system filter to catch them.
I will end this post with one last tip, NEVER use permanent electrostatic air filters. To create the static charge, they are made too dense for the design air pressure of your vents and blower systems. These filters WILL damage your furnace. A good quality air filter should allow light to pass freely through it, but not be able to see through it.
I had my air ducts and carpets cleaned by Enirocair with one of those special coupons….total rip off! So buyer beware! I have gone around in circles for months. Envirocair did not even do half of what they were suppose to do, I paid extra for some mold chemical and I can’t tell a difference in the ducts or the carpets. I had my children with me so I couldn’t babysit the guys doing the work and I totally feel ripped off:(
This is very helpful. Thank you very much for posting!
I think for most people this service is a scam based on the responses here and how this service is being marketed and sold. Unless you had alot of sloppy construction cleanup or animals in you furnace system then keeping your furnace areas clean and changing your filters often is the best approach.
I just had my ducts cleaned last night, prompted by a $20 coupon. We purchased our remodeled 100 year old home 2 years ago. It had obviously been “chopped up,” had sat empty for a couple of years and before that, used as a rental, before that, I just don’t know. . .
Anyway – I knew I’d be subjected to “scare tactics” when the technicians opened the vents. I’ve tried to vacuum the returns and vents myself after we closed, but my Bissel wasn’t moving that gunk. I tried to convince my husband that it was a good investment to have a professional clean the ducts, at least we’d have a clean slate. He refused.
Finally he agreed to the $20 service ONLY. It wasn’t a big investment and it couldn’t hurt. I knew that we’d need the “deluxe” service, to clean the returns and furnace. I was prepared with my best negotiation skills for when the techs arrived.
I’m glad I did – those techs pulled out three shopping bags of debris, toys, books, food, garbage from deep down in my duct work. It was disgusting. Our furnace probably has never been cleaned since it was installed in ’95.
This morning I woke to my kitchen actually being warm (it was always 15degrees cooler than the rest of the house). My children all said they slept better and we didn’t have to crank the heat.
I figured it was a good one-time investment, especially in an old house like ours. In the end I spend $225 and got a three-year warranty with annual furnace and vent cleanings. Now I can vacuum my returns myself.
I’m very happy that I did it, but like you said, the price went from $20 to $800 in a matter of minutes.
I would never have this full service done again. I feel that the cost I paid and the services provided were fair. I’m not expecting any miracle health benefits, but I do expect the gas bill to go down a little. I’m grateful for the clean slate.
We had a company come out this morning to initially clean our vents (16), returns(2) and main(1) for $59.95. After a preliminary inspection, the technician showed me that we had mold on the inside of the furnace! He stated he would recommend we have further services done to take care of this. I asked him to give me a quote On the total amount! WOW is all I have to say! The estimate was $2,264.59! What a rip-off! We did not fall for it! Unbelievable how much a company will try to scam out of you.
Hello, I’m Luca from Italy and I’m studying air ducts for quality of air.
I just want to let you know that the problem of dust is not the dust itself but the bacteria and the mites (acarus) that grow inside of it.
The air filter after the intake doesn’t have the capability to stop the bacteria and the excrements of mites that are powerful allergens, unless it is an HEPA filter but, even with that, the bacteria can’t be stopped.
Hope this helps!
I would like to start by saying that I am a professional air duct cleaning technician. I work for a company that does not use the $59.00 bait and switch tactic. Our company is NADCA certified, if you have any doubts about using a duct cleaning company check the NADCA website. I hear horror stories from customers all the time, and we get a bad rap because of companies like these. Hopefully this post helps and informs. We are not all bad don’t let a few bad apples spoil the whole bunch.
Buyer Beware
Today I talked to a customer that wanted me to inspect the job that they just had done by a local duct cleaning company. I am a HVAC Contractor my experience (32 Yrs) is that most of these company’s advertise a very low price and up sell once you let them in your home or office. First I want to say I was outraged to find out that they were Scammed, Ripped Off and Lied to. The Company advertised a $45 for duct cleaning special. When they arrived they said the ducts were in bad shape and they needed to be replaced. This customer is a 89 year old woman. She fell for it. She lives in a small attached home for seniors with 4 ducts. Only 3 were replaced and the other one was covered with insulation as to hide it. This company also convinced her to install R-30 insulation in whole the attic for an additional $2000 the total for the job was $3,800. Here is the truth, they did not install any insulation. No required permits were pulled no HERS test, no ducts were sealed and only 3 of 4 ducts were replaced (17ft total)then they covered up the old duct they were supposed to change and didn’t. This company has taken advantage of this very sweet old lady and has broken many laws. They were reported to the BBB and Ca. State License Board. Here is my advice… Have your HVAC inspected by a licensed C-20 Contractor that has a good reputation and is in good standing. Don’t get sucked into low priced advertisements because the deal is too good to be true.