Duct Cleaning | How to Get Rid of Dirty, Musty Air

Depending on who you ask, paying for duct cleaning is either a huge waste of time and money or something people are regretful about putting off for so long. Few would argue that there’s a buildup of debris in the ducts of a home but not everybody sees the service as making a difference in the quality of living in the home. The truth is up to 40 pounds of dust can build up in the ducts over a year that will clog your furnace and creep out slowly and surely into your living environment. Your furnace could be a constant source of cycling dirty, musty air into the areas of the home that you hold most sanctimonious – for instance grabbing loose excrement and dirt from a basement or utility room floor and transporting it right to your bedroom. To know the duct cleaning process is to really understand just how valuable and useful it is.

Suck the Furnace Unit

Most professional duct cleaning Edmonton companies are equipped with what amounts to be a garbage truck with a suction hose on it. There’s going to be an inordinate amount of dust that is evacuated from your ductwork, especially if it’s been literally forever since you’ve had it done. This monster of a truck will come to your home and find a parking spot with the easiest access to your utility room. If the best route to run the hose is up a basement and out a back door that’s their most efficient route. The company will close all your registers to create a suction effect and to not drag papers and what-not off your office desk.

The tricky part is gaining access to a ‘suck-point’ in your furnace. Unfortunately in many cases the only way to do this is to cut hole into the side of your base unit big enough for the hose to stick in. The hole will be patched up and remains an access point for the next time you get your ducts cleaned but some people react in horror when they see a service personnel cutting into sheet metal. Either way, once access is granted, a switch is flipped on and years of dirt are suck out of the vent through the monster hose back to the truck.

Clean the Duct Lining

The first run of duct cleaning Edmonton is just a narrowing-down process that eradicates the piles of free-standing dirt and grime. The next phase involves using a snake-like auger similar to what plumbers use in an effort to clean all the caked-off grub from the lining of the duct. It doesn’t make sense to do a thorough cleaning if the duct lining isn’t paid attention to as vibrations in the house will knock this dirt free and distribute it through the house like nothing ever happened. The auger scrapes the sides of the duct work in an attempt to knock this caked on dirt free. The hose is then turned on again for run #2.

Is Poor Indoor Air Quality Making You Sick?

Suck Out Through the Returns

While the hose from the central housing is very efficient, it doesn’t always get the dirt and grime that settles farther away. For a real thorough cleaning duct cleaning Edmonton companies will go to each register and use a smaller hose if needed to once again suck the buildup out of the hard-to-reach areas. Traveling around the house from register to register is usually very successful in providing an immensely cleaner house, remember you’ll never get every speck of dust.

Wipe Down Vents/ Registers

After the sweep of the registers, most of the heavy lifting is done as far as the cleaning of the actual ducts. It’s good practice to do some maintenance by wiping down the vents and registers and cleaning up any dust that has escaped the hose onto the walls or floor.

Clean Fans, Motors and Other Components

The final process of the duct-intervention is hand wiping all the dirt and debris that has escaped into the components of the furnace. Control panels not usually recommended for the homeowner to open can be accessed and wiped down delicately. The air handling housing can be wiped down as can any and all fans in addition to the blower motor, heat exchanger, and any other parts where dust may creep in to. As the duct cleaning Edmonton company nears the end of their visit, the entire furnace unit should look almost brand new…except for the fresh hole in the side for the hose which now can also be patched up and sealed.

Replace Filters

The final step in the furnace cleaning the ducts and furnace system is keeping the ducts and furnace. Brand new filters are placed in with a box placed next to the furnace labeled ‘don’t be afraid to use me.’ Filters should be replaced frequently so that you don’t have to have a duct cleaning Edmonton company come back in next year and drag a huge hose through your house and drive a big truck all around your yard.

As you can see the process of duct cleaning isn’t the most surgical operation but there’s enough to it to know it makes a difference. There’s basically two options when it comes to dust in the ducts – either let it sit there and continue building up year after year or take initiative and clean them and start new every season. It’s totally your choice, but it’s also a pretty easy one.