Duct Cleaning in Millbrook, AL
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What Elmore County weather does to your ducts
Millbrook homes run the furnace from November through March, and on nights that drop to 37°F it cycles on and off again and again. Every time air pushes through the ducts, it carries along whatever dust has settled in there, and most of that dust ends up back in the rooms you're heating.
Elmore County has seen 81 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and wind like that works dust and debris into the gaps around vents and into the attic or crawlspace where ductwork often runs. With most homes here built as single-family houses, that ductwork tends to stretch long, giving buildup plenty of places to collect before it ever reaches a room.
- 5 months
- November through March, your furnace pushes air through your ducts
- 5 months
- May through September, 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. It depends more on what's going on with the house, pets, allergies, recent renovation dust, or a musty smell when the system runs, than on the calendar. Winds have caused damage here 81 times over the past ten years, and a bad storm can push debris into a system that wasn't drawing dust before. A contractor can look inside the ducts and tell you whether yours need cleaning now or can wait.
- Is air duct cleaning worth it?
- It depends on what's actually in the ducts. If dust is visibly blowing out of the vents, there's a musty smell when the system runs, or you can see debris inside the ductwork, cleaning is worth doing. If the ducts are already clean and the system runs fine, cleaning on a schedule alone won't gain you much. A contractor can inspect the ducts first and tell you honestly whether it will make a difference in your case.
- What does air duct cleaning involve?
- A contractor connects a powerful vacuum to the duct system, then uses brushes or air tools to loosen dust and debris from inside the ducts so it can be pulled out through the vacuum. The vents, the return grilles, and often the blower compartment get cleaned along with the ducts themselves. It's worked through room by room, covering the whole system rather than just the parts you can see. When it's done, the ducts should look clean of dust and debris when checked with a flashlight.