Duct Cleaning in Keene, NH
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Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Nine months of heating pushes a lot of air through your ducts
Your furnace runs September through May here, close to nine months of the year. That's nine months of air moving through the same ductwork, carrying dust, pet hair, and whatever gets tracked into the house. It settles in the bends and the long runs where the air slows down.
On winter nights that average 15°F, the furnace cycles on and off for hours at a stretch, pushing that buildup through the system again and again. Over a few winters, dust and debris packed into the ducts can start working its way back into the air you're breathing in the rooms they feed.
- 9 months
- September 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?
- Most homes do fine having ducts cleaned every few years, though there's no set schedule that fits every house. If anyone in the house has allergies, or you have pets shedding into the return vents, cleaning them more often makes sense. Homes here run the furnace September through May, so ducts are moving air most of the year and can pull in more dust than a system that only runs part time. A contractor can look at what's actually built up inside before you decide.
- Is air duct cleaning worth it?
- It's worth it if you can see dust blowing out of the vents, notice a musty smell when the furnace kicks on, or someone in the house has allergy symptoms that ease up when they're away from home. Cleaning the ducts won't lower your heating bill or fix a furnace that's struggling, those come down to the equipment itself. What it does is clear out dust and debris that builds up in the supply and return lines over years of the system running. A contractor can look at your ducts and tell you honestly whether cleaning them will make a difference in your case.
- What does air duct cleaning involve?
- A contractor connects a vacuum to the duct system to pull air through it at negative pressure, then uses brushes or air whips to knock dust and debris loose from the inside of the metal so it gets pulled into the vacuum instead of back into the house. Every supply and return vent gets cleaned this way, along with the main trunk lines. The furnace or air handler usually gets cleaned too, since dust collects on the blower and coil. The filter is a separate part that catches dust before it reaches the coil, and it should already be getting changed on its own schedule.