Duct Cleaning in St. Cloud, MN
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Nine months of heating puts a lot of air through your ducts
Your furnace runs September through May here, and on the coldest nights, the ones that average 6°F, it runs almost constantly. Every hour it's on, it's pushing air through the same ductwork. That's a lot of dust and debris moving through and settling in the bends and joints over a heating season this long.
Stearns County has seen 30 winter storms and 86 damaging wind events over the past ten years. When storms like that knock the power out and the furnace stops and starts back up, it stirs up whatever has settled in the ducts. Most homes in the county are owner-occupied, so the people living there are the ones breathing what comes out of those vents.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace pushes air through your ducts
- 3 months
- June 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, so a contractor should look at the ductwork itself before you decide. Signs like dust blowing out of the vents, a musty smell when the furnace kicks on, or someone in the house with new allergy symptoms are what actually tell you it's time. Homes here run the furnace nine months of the year, September through May, so ducts get steady use pulling air through them all that time.
- Is air duct cleaning worth it?
- It's worth it when there's a real reason behind it, not as routine maintenance on its own. Visible dust at the vents, a musty smell when the furnace runs, or new allergy symptoms in the house are good reasons to have it done. Cleaning ducts in a home with none of those signs usually doesn't change anything you'd notice.
- What does air duct cleaning involve?
- A contractor connects a vacuum system to the ductwork and uses brushes or compressed air tools to loosen dust and debris, then pulls it out through the vacuum. They clean the supply and return ducts along with the grilles and registers, and sometimes the coil and blower housing if those are accessible. The furnace filter still does the ongoing job of catching what's in the air, so a clean duct system works best paired with a filter that gets changed on schedule.