Duct Cleaning in Modesto, CA
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Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Six months of heating pushes air through ducts that rarely get a break
Your furnace runs November through April here, six months a year. Modesto winter nights average 39°F, cold enough that the system cycles on and off through the night rather than running steady. Each time it kicks back on, it stirs up what has settled in the ducts since the last cycle and pushes it out through the vents.
That dust does not stay in the ductwork. It settles on the same surfaces you clean every week, carried there by the same air the furnace pushes through the house all winter.
- 6 months
- November through April, your furnace pushes air through your ducts
- 5 months
- May 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 is no fixed schedule that fits every home. Homes with pets, a recent renovation, or someone with allergies may need it more often. If you see dust coming out of the vents or built up around the grilles, that is a sign to have them looked at sooner rather than later.
- Is air duct cleaning worth it?
- It helps most when there is a real problem to fix, like dust that keeps coating your furniture soon after you clean, a musty smell from the vents, or ducts that were exposed during a renovation. It will not lower your heating or cooling bills on its own. A contractor can look at your ducts and tell you whether cleaning will actually solve what you are noticing.
- What does air duct cleaning involve?
- A contractor connects a vacuum to the duct system and uses brushes or compressed air tools to knock loose dust and debris from the inside of the ducts, then pulls it out through the vacuum. This covers the supply and return ducts, the grilles, and usually the coil area near the furnace or air handler. The furnace filter still needs regular changes afterward, since the filter is what keeps new dust out of the air, not the ducts themselves.