Duct Cleaning in San Diego, CA
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Six months of heating pushes dust through the same ducts
Your ductwork moves air for a good part of the year, from November through April, whenever the furnace runs against those cool nights. Every pass of warm air stirs up dust and pulls it along the duct walls, and over months it settles into a layer inside the runs and at the vents.
San Diego County has seen its share of winter storms too, 31 of them over the past ten years along with 370 damaging wind events. Storms like that can knock out power, and when a system shuts off and restarts, air that was sitting still in the ducts gets pushed out into the house along with whatever settled there while the system was down.
- 6 months
- November through April, your furnace pushes air through your ducts
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner does the same
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should air ducts be cleaned?
- There's no fixed schedule that fits every home. If anyone in the house has allergies, or you've had rodents or a water leak near the ducts, get them checked sooner rather than later. Homes with pets or a recent renovation also tend to need it more often, since more dust and hair gets pulled into the system. A contractor can look inside your ducts and tell you what condition they're actually in.
- Is air duct cleaning worth it?
- It's worth it if your ducts are visibly dirty, you can see dust blowing out of the vents, or someone in the house has allergy symptoms that ease up when they're away from home. It won't lower your heating bills or fix a furnace that's running poorly, those are separate issues. Clean ducts mean the air moving through your home isn't carrying years of dust back into every room. If your vents and filter already look clean, cleaning the ducts probably won't change much.
- What does air duct cleaning involve?
- A contractor connects a vacuum system to your ductwork, then uses brushes or air tools to loosen dust and debris from inside the ducts as it gets pulled out. Every supply and return vent in the house gets cleaned this way, and the vent covers themselves usually get wiped down or washed. Some contractors will also check the furnace's blower compartment and coil area since these connect directly to the duct system. Ask what's included before the work starts, since the scope varies by contractor.