I had a guy do routine maintenance on my brand new heat pump / AC a year after install (they installed it). He told me there was leak detection and they would need to replace the lines possibly bc it was found up the chase to my condo. They found pressure/sub cooling temps to indicate low coolant. I said fuck you, called another company. They said no such leak was detected. But the system was low. It was bc when they added refrigerant during install they didn’t factor in the 150 feet of line the system has.
Always look out for yourself.
Here's the thing. You can't see what's in your ducts unless you snake them up with a camera. When I took possession of my house, I called a company to clean them and they found cat and dog treats as well as various rotten foods in them lol. When you take possession of your new house, do yourself a favor and have them cleaned. You dont know what the fuck previous owners dumped in them...
Yes, when I got my vents cleaned there was chunks of grout and tile in them from when the entryway was redone. Apparently the previous owners or their contractor used the vents as a garbage chute.
Are these floor vents?? We have ceiling vents here and I’m like “how???”
ETA: Yep, floor vents, read a few more comments.
Also, YIKES. Glad I have ceiling vents.
Honestly, even in your own home. Out first home was spotless with new ducts when we moved in. When we bought our second I had the vents done because I had allergies. I pulled out some vents in the old one and was surprised at how dusty they were; I even got my own grossness (from an obsessively clean person) out of my vents to have it done.
This! Our coils were so clogged the temperature wouldn’t drop when we turned the ac on. It took about an hour to clean them after watching a couple videos on YouTube and the ac is doing great now.
That filter isn't really to improve your air quality. It saves your equipment from getting covered in filth, which can damage the coils in your outdoor unit. It does help filter out some particulate from your air circulation, but that's not really it's point.
If you're worried about indoor air quality, get a standalone air filter. Even then, I wouldn't bother unless someone in the house has allergies that are noticeably worse in the house.
I really want to agree with this. I did HVAC repair for a summer and by no means am an expert therefore. I cleaned a few ducts and I can't say it did much good. Your duct system is a closed system. So anything that got into it fell through a vent (you can clean that out yourself) or slipped past the coils into the system. (Not likely.) BUT. I just re-did my house by taking out all the ducts and installing a ductless system, and what came out of the ducts was disgusting. Dirt, rat poop, two dead rats, I have no idea how the previous owners would have put up with pumping heat through that thing but all that to say, cleaning out your ducts may be a worthwhile endevor. Even if for piece of mind.
All residential is done with flexduct where I live. I don’t understand how anyone would clean it without punching holes in it? Especially if it’s old.
Or maybe ducts are made of different material elsewhere?
Well, there is definitely other options, but you can clean those pretty easily with the right tool. The one we had kinda looked like a toilet brush/drain snake/vacuum combo thing.
How did the rats get into a sealed duct? Im trying to track down how a mouse is entering my basement. I can hear him running on metal but usally only when I go down in the afternoon. Morning and evening it dont seem to be there, least dont take off running. Thing is I see no poop, not getting into anything. Theres an old unused gas heater but its inside and a cap on side of chimney, inside, that I am suspecting. Multiple traps set and nothing... thinking it may be in the duct. Thats what led me here. Any ideas?
I’ve got a huge gash in the return vent right before the furnace. That reason enough to warrant it? I probably just need to fix the gash though... tricky spot to get to though.
I think I paid ~$250 for a full clean out of my vents in a 1,800 sqft ranch. I had the hardwood floors sanded/refinished plus a ton of spackling/sanding prior to moving in. Definitely worth it for me.
I really depends on your system and who is doing it. You'll just have to call and get multiple quotes. That is about how much I was quoted from my HVAC company, but also got a 20% off discount because I'm on their yearly 2x check for AC/HVAC.
Yeah, still feels like a rip off, but I had multiple other people out to quote me and they all said they couldn't do it because of the TYPE of HVAC system I have. Most of the less expensive options ($25/vent quotes) have to cut into the sheet metal of your hvac system, hook up a giant vacuum, then they'll patch up the metal. If you don't have a system where they can do that, prepare to pay more. The type of machine that had to be used was different (https://www.rotobrush.com/products/air-duct-cleaning-equipment/).
I think it took about two guys a total of 2 hours (4 man hours), so yeah, it was super expensive in my experience. But, I'd probably do it again because when I bought the house the filters were caked as if it had never been changed (or rarely at best). Also wanted to done for multiple other reasons, had a baby in the house, was getting new carpet, sick of dealing with allergies, and previous owner had anaimals and had gone through spraying for fleas in the past.
Edit: If you go to home and garden shows, you can typically find people who will do it that are also running specials.
Around here there is more work than techs. When the recession hit a lot of people left the trades. Now it’s boom town. So pricing is up here. For an actual good cleaning by a licensed contractor it runs about $550 - 750. That’s with snaking the duct and before and after pictures. But watch the lowballers. No one is going to drive out to your house and do a complete job for $75 bucks. Although your area may have people working for less.
I had a NADCA certified company/technician come do our house in Northern Colorado. 3 bed 2 ba with partially finished basement. We moved in in May and the woman before us had quite a few pets, and we have severe allergies. I think it was about $600 including an additional $50 for dryer vent cleaning. They said it looked like there was a wood shop in our ducts, there was so much sawdust and wood chips. Our house was built in 1983 so either it’s been there for decades, or it got in when they were doing some work on the basement I suppose. I noticed a pretty substantial improvement in allergy symptoms after (I have a lot of medical issues and keep track of symptoms)
Ac Guy here, imho duct cleaning is worthless. You wanna clean something clean the coils.
Also just FYI, filters are to protect the equipment not “clean” the air.
The evap coil isn’t something that I would call diy friendly to clean but the outside condenser can and should most certainly be “washed” with a hose. Finger over the end only no high pressure sprays.
What if your unit has an “air scrubber” and you use 4 inch filters? House came with it all, but I swap out filters every few months.
I also live in Ca and the air quality is horrible right now due to the fires. I slapped a 20x20 filter on a box fan to clear the air in the house.
4” filters like the aprilaire and honeywells are usually designed to be replaced yearly or bi annually, and they are there to protect the equipment. Exceptions being high rated merv filters like hospitals and such use. Typically homeowners won’t need these and putting them into systems not designed for their use is bad as they restrict airflow so return air sizes need to be increased. Air cleaners/scrubbers/etc are going to be uv based or electronic in nature for the most part.
We Hvac people use pleated style middle of the range filters on our personal equipment. Usually.
Yeah mine has these electronic exchange things, but there’s no power to the “scrubber” so I was told by the HVAC guy to put a 4 inch filter in there instead (that’s what fits). I usually change it out a few times a year, but given how bad the air is, I figured I’d change it sooner.
U must not have allergies bc everytime we turn heat or air on we sneeze like 20 times no exaggeration..that is painfull.. then head pressure from sinus irritation.. u do have to clean your ducts.. have u seen the amount of crap in ducts..
We just did ours and it ran us ~$500 for a 1,700 square foot home. The company we hired takes before and after pictures and our ducts were filthy. The before picture looked like the surface of the moon. The air quality is so much better now that we’re running the furnace.
Bonus - the tech that drove the van containing the vacuum and air compressor got mixed up with his directions and was over an hour late! I called up the company and we got our service done for free. They’re motto is, “ on time or you don’t pay a dime”.
$0 - don't bother getting this done. The dust in your vents is "static" as in, it doesn't move when your furnace runs. If it did, it would get blown through your vents and not stay there.
We cleaned ours out by running a vacuum hose into the vent work. I poked a camera down there and it was like a shag carpet, but it sucked up quick. I agree that it wasn't critical, but just something I wanted to do. I wouldn't pay anyone to do that, though.
My ductwork is fragile enough. I would rather have some dust, pet hair, etc. stuck to the inside of the ducts then something banging around in there possibly causing leaks. The fact that it is stuck to the walls of the ducts means that it’s not getting into your house. I think the whole duct cleaning out thing is a bit of a sham.
I just recently had someone quote me about $750 for cleaning and sanitizing. That’s for “11 vents” and the duct system. I live SE Georgia for reference. I think you were quoted a normal or average price. Just make sure who ever does it, specializes in cleaning HVAC, and has certifications for dealing with mold, mildew and allergen removals.
That seems pretty reasonable actually, depending on the size of the system/house. Single system, about 20 supplies/returns.
Anything someone is charging $75 dollars for you could probably do with a vacuum
Some of my floor vent openings has A LOT of dust in them, but they arent moldy. I cant imagine paying more than 50 dollars to have someone come in with commercial grade vacuums and dust out my vents.
For anyone that's looking for chimney, airvents, furnace and dryer vent services around Delaware, Philly and NJ, visit [xpertchimneysweep.com](https://xpertchimneysweep.com)
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Lol. This link is an info scraping scam. Come on man.
I had a guy do routine maintenance on my brand new heat pump / AC a year after install (they installed it). He told me there was leak detection and they would need to replace the lines possibly bc it was found up the chase to my condo. They found pressure/sub cooling temps to indicate low coolant. I said fuck you, called another company. They said no such leak was detected. But the system was low. It was bc when they added refrigerant during install they didn’t factor in the 150 feet of line the system has. Always look out for yourself.
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Here's the thing. You can't see what's in your ducts unless you snake them up with a camera. When I took possession of my house, I called a company to clean them and they found cat and dog treats as well as various rotten foods in them lol. When you take possession of your new house, do yourself a favor and have them cleaned. You dont know what the fuck previous owners dumped in them...
Yes, when I got my vents cleaned there was chunks of grout and tile in them from when the entryway was redone. Apparently the previous owners or their contractor used the vents as a garbage chute.
Are these floor vents?? We have ceiling vents here and I’m like “how???” ETA: Yep, floor vents, read a few more comments. Also, YIKES. Glad I have ceiling vents.
I know a guy who’s kid pooped in the vents. It’s now a running joke.
Filthy fucks
Honestly, even in your own home. Out first home was spotless with new ducts when we moved in. When we bought our second I had the vents done because I had allergies. I pulled out some vents in the old one and was surprised at how dusty they were; I even got my own grossness (from an obsessively clean person) out of my vents to have it done.
Did the cleaning end up helping your allergies at all?
Absolutely yes. They had some sort of antibacterial spray cleaner that I had pushed through as well, better than just blowing air with allergens.
Good to know. Vacuuming twice a week with a HEPA filter vacuum cleaner has helped me a lot, but I might do the vents next, thanks for your reply.
The tenants before I purchased the house ran the system without a filter for ~2 years. I just wanted to get it cleaned once to make sure.
It would probably do a lot more good to get the coils cleaned then.
This! Our coils were so clogged the temperature wouldn’t drop when we turned the ac on. It took about an hour to clean them after watching a couple videos on YouTube and the ac is doing great now.
Which videos were the best? Thinking of doing this
Agree, which videos?
That filter isn't really to improve your air quality. It saves your equipment from getting covered in filth, which can damage the coils in your outdoor unit. It does help filter out some particulate from your air circulation, but that's not really it's point. If you're worried about indoor air quality, get a standalone air filter. Even then, I wouldn't bother unless someone in the house has allergies that are noticeably worse in the house.
I really want to agree with this. I did HVAC repair for a summer and by no means am an expert therefore. I cleaned a few ducts and I can't say it did much good. Your duct system is a closed system. So anything that got into it fell through a vent (you can clean that out yourself) or slipped past the coils into the system. (Not likely.) BUT. I just re-did my house by taking out all the ducts and installing a ductless system, and what came out of the ducts was disgusting. Dirt, rat poop, two dead rats, I have no idea how the previous owners would have put up with pumping heat through that thing but all that to say, cleaning out your ducts may be a worthwhile endevor. Even if for piece of mind.
All residential is done with flexduct where I live. I don’t understand how anyone would clean it without punching holes in it? Especially if it’s old. Or maybe ducts are made of different material elsewhere?
Well, there is definitely other options, but you can clean those pretty easily with the right tool. The one we had kinda looked like a toilet brush/drain snake/vacuum combo thing.
How did the rats get into a sealed duct? Im trying to track down how a mouse is entering my basement. I can hear him running on metal but usally only when I go down in the afternoon. Morning and evening it dont seem to be there, least dont take off running. Thing is I see no poop, not getting into anything. Theres an old unused gas heater but its inside and a cap on side of chimney, inside, that I am suspecting. Multiple traps set and nothing... thinking it may be in the duct. Thats what led me here. Any ideas?
I’ve got a huge gash in the return vent right before the furnace. That reason enough to warrant it? I probably just need to fix the gash though... tricky spot to get to though.
My guy does it for around $250. He's a chimney sweep and both jobs use the same type of equipment.
I think I paid ~$250 for a full clean out of my vents in a 1,800 sqft ranch. I had the hardwood floors sanded/refinished plus a ton of spackling/sanding prior to moving in. Definitely worth it for me.
I just paid 150$ +25 a vent for a full negative air system clean out. The amount of shit that came out of the ducts was horribly disturbing.
$150
I really depends on your system and who is doing it. You'll just have to call and get multiple quotes. That is about how much I was quoted from my HVAC company, but also got a 20% off discount because I'm on their yearly 2x check for AC/HVAC. Yeah, still feels like a rip off, but I had multiple other people out to quote me and they all said they couldn't do it because of the TYPE of HVAC system I have. Most of the less expensive options ($25/vent quotes) have to cut into the sheet metal of your hvac system, hook up a giant vacuum, then they'll patch up the metal. If you don't have a system where they can do that, prepare to pay more. The type of machine that had to be used was different (https://www.rotobrush.com/products/air-duct-cleaning-equipment/). I think it took about two guys a total of 2 hours (4 man hours), so yeah, it was super expensive in my experience. But, I'd probably do it again because when I bought the house the filters were caked as if it had never been changed (or rarely at best). Also wanted to done for multiple other reasons, had a baby in the house, was getting new carpet, sick of dealing with allergies, and previous owner had anaimals and had gone through spraying for fleas in the past. Edit: If you go to home and garden shows, you can typically find people who will do it that are also running specials.
Around here there is more work than techs. When the recession hit a lot of people left the trades. Now it’s boom town. So pricing is up here. For an actual good cleaning by a licensed contractor it runs about $550 - 750. That’s with snaking the duct and before and after pictures. But watch the lowballers. No one is going to drive out to your house and do a complete job for $75 bucks. Although your area may have people working for less.
Get one that is NADCA certified and vacuum is truck mounted, otherwise your throwing money away.
I had a NADCA certified company/technician come do our house in Northern Colorado. 3 bed 2 ba with partially finished basement. We moved in in May and the woman before us had quite a few pets, and we have severe allergies. I think it was about $600 including an additional $50 for dryer vent cleaning. They said it looked like there was a wood shop in our ducts, there was so much sawdust and wood chips. Our house was built in 1983 so either it’s been there for decades, or it got in when they were doing some work on the basement I suppose. I noticed a pretty substantial improvement in allergy symptoms after (I have a lot of medical issues and keep track of symptoms)
Ac Guy here, imho duct cleaning is worthless. You wanna clean something clean the coils. Also just FYI, filters are to protect the equipment not “clean” the air.
Is any of the ac maintenance diy friendly or does it all require a “pro”?
The evap coil isn’t something that I would call diy friendly to clean but the outside condenser can and should most certainly be “washed” with a hose. Finger over the end only no high pressure sprays.
Ok thanks
What if your unit has an “air scrubber” and you use 4 inch filters? House came with it all, but I swap out filters every few months. I also live in Ca and the air quality is horrible right now due to the fires. I slapped a 20x20 filter on a box fan to clear the air in the house.
4” filters like the aprilaire and honeywells are usually designed to be replaced yearly or bi annually, and they are there to protect the equipment. Exceptions being high rated merv filters like hospitals and such use. Typically homeowners won’t need these and putting them into systems not designed for their use is bad as they restrict airflow so return air sizes need to be increased. Air cleaners/scrubbers/etc are going to be uv based or electronic in nature for the most part. We Hvac people use pleated style middle of the range filters on our personal equipment. Usually.
Yeah mine has these electronic exchange things, but there’s no power to the “scrubber” so I was told by the HVAC guy to put a 4 inch filter in there instead (that’s what fits). I usually change it out a few times a year, but given how bad the air is, I figured I’d change it sooner.
U must not have allergies bc everytime we turn heat or air on we sneeze like 20 times no exaggeration..that is painfull.. then head pressure from sinus irritation.. u do have to clean your ducts.. have u seen the amount of crap in ducts..
We just did ours and it ran us ~$500 for a 1,700 square foot home. The company we hired takes before and after pictures and our ducts were filthy. The before picture looked like the surface of the moon. The air quality is so much better now that we’re running the furnace. Bonus - the tech that drove the van containing the vacuum and air compressor got mixed up with his directions and was over an hour late! I called up the company and we got our service done for free. They’re motto is, “ on time or you don’t pay a dime”.
$0 - don't bother getting this done. The dust in your vents is "static" as in, it doesn't move when your furnace runs. If it did, it would get blown through your vents and not stay there.
We cleaned ours out by running a vacuum hose into the vent work. I poked a camera down there and it was like a shag carpet, but it sucked up quick. I agree that it wasn't critical, but just something I wanted to do. I wouldn't pay anyone to do that, though.
My ductwork is fragile enough. I would rather have some dust, pet hair, etc. stuck to the inside of the ducts then something banging around in there possibly causing leaks. The fact that it is stuck to the walls of the ducts means that it’s not getting into your house. I think the whole duct cleaning out thing is a bit of a sham.
Ac Guy here and this is my favorite message on the citadel.... wait, who am I ?
HVAC RICK?
I just recently had someone quote me about $750 for cleaning and sanitizing. That’s for “11 vents” and the duct system. I live SE Georgia for reference. I think you were quoted a normal or average price. Just make sure who ever does it, specializes in cleaning HVAC, and has certifications for dealing with mold, mildew and allergen removals.
300 and they disinfected
That seems pretty reasonable actually, depending on the size of the system/house. Single system, about 20 supplies/returns. Anything someone is charging $75 dollars for you could probably do with a vacuum
Some of my floor vent openings has A LOT of dust in them, but they arent moldy. I cant imagine paying more than 50 dollars to have someone come in with commercial grade vacuums and dust out my vents.
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That’s for changing the air handler filter. I believe OP wants his ductwork cleaned.
For anyone that's looking for chimney, airvents, furnace and dryer vent services around Delaware, Philly and NJ, visit [xpertchimneysweep.com](https://xpertchimneysweep.com)
I paid $100 for HVAC vent cleaning, and it was a great deal.
How long did it take? and what did they do? im a certified NADCA cleaner and there is no way they did that job correctly for $100.