Duct Cleaning in Alexandria, MN
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Nine months of heating pushes a lot of air through your ducts
Your furnace runs September through May here, nine months a year. That is nine months of air moving through the same ductwork, carrying dust and whatever else settles in the house back through the system again and again.
Douglas County has seen 27 winter storms and 44 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and storms like that knock out power. When a furnace shuts off and starts back up, or the house sits without heat for a while, dust that would normally keep moving through the ducts has a chance to settle instead. With winter nights averaging 5°F, the furnace is working hard most of the time it runs, pushing whatever has settled in those ducts through the house.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace pushes air through your ducts
- 2 months
- July through August, 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, since it depends on how dusty the air gets and what's living in the ducts. A contractor can look at the vents and tell you whether buildup is heavy enough to matter. If anyone in the house has allergies, or you've had a rodent problem, get it looked at sooner rather than waiting.
- Is air duct cleaning worth it?
- It depends on what you're trying to fix. If dust keeps settling back on surfaces right after you clean, or you can see buildup inside the vents themselves, cleaning the ducts will help. It won't fix a house that's dusty because of pets, nearby construction, or a filter that needs changing more often.
- What does air duct cleaning involve?
- A contractor connects a vacuum system to the ductwork and uses brushes or air tools to loosen dust and debris, then pulls it out through the vacuum. Every supply and return vent gets cleaned, along with the main trunk lines. The furnace or air handler often gets attention too, since dust collects on the blower and coil just like it does in the ducts.