Duct Cleaning

Has anyone here had this done? How much did it cost? Also, I’m looking to get some remodeling done in the next year or so. Should I wait until that’s finished? Should it be done before I get a new A/C unit?

AC wondering

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I had a fire in the Master Bath years ago, stopped only by the breaker for the fan tripping and tile flooring stopping it, but it dd send smoke throughout including the heating ducts. Insurance covered it ll, including cleaning clothes from drawers, closets, etc. But I never saw the billing, it was a crew for a few days, so not just the ducts… Since then a leak in the crawlspace meant complete removal of all the asbestos wrapped duding before we could get the plumber in there, and then replacing all the ducts! Several thousand , well, $6K or so overall…

OTOH, I had my furnace guy clean out our dryer duct, maybe 20 feet tot he outside, and I gladly paid $150 for that service…

A good thing to do,

From this, not so bad:

https://www.homeadvisor.com/cost/cleaning-services/clean-duc…

Most of have air filters in the heating and AC system to collect lint etc. Some does get through and can accumulate in the ducts. The worst is if it collects in the heat exchangers ie the A-frame, of your AC system. Having ducts cleaned before installation of a new A-frame sounds like a good idea.

You might be able to judge how bad is the need by removing one of the air registers and looking inside with a flashlight.

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Read around about it
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/considering-ha…

"The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), a government agency, conducted a study in the 1990s to investigate two claims: Duct cleaning makes indoor air healthier; and it reduces energy costs by improving airflow. After testing 33 homes in Montreal before and after duct cleaning, the study found that there was no significant improvement in air quality and that duct cleaning alone did not improve airflow or energy efficiency. In some cases, measured particle levels actually increased immediately after a cleaning. In other cases, particle levels decreased immediately after cleaning but returned to previous levels within weeks.

Like the EPA, the CMHC concluded that duct cleaning is unnecessary:

“Ideally, the inside surface will be shiny and bright after cleaning. Duct cleaning may be justifiable to you personally for that very reason: you may not want to have your house air circulated through a duct passage that is not as clean as the rest of the house. However, duct cleaning will not usually change the quality of the air you breathe, nor will it significantly affect airflows or heating costs.”"

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