Duct Cleaning in Montgomery, AL
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Wind works at your duct joints all year
Montgomery County has logged 34 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Wind that strong flexes a house, and it flexes the ductwork running through the attic or crawlspace along with it. Joints that were sealed tight when the system went in can work loose, and once that happens, the ducts pull in attic dust and insulation fibers instead of just carrying air.
Your furnace only runs November through March here, five months a year. The rest of the time that dust settles in the ducts undisturbed. When the furnace fires up again on a winter night, it pushes that buildup through the vents before the air moving through the house clears.
- 5 months
- November through March, your furnace pushes air through your ducts
- 6 months
- May through October, your air conditioner does the same
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should air ducts be cleaned?
- Most homes do fine with a duct cleaning every few years, not every year. Move that up if anyone in the house has allergies, if pets are shedding into the return vents, or if you just finished a renovation that kicked up drywall dust. Homes here run the furnace November through March, so a cleaning before that stretch starts keeps five months of heated air moving through ducts that aren't coated in dust.
- Is air duct cleaning worth it?
- It's worth it when there's a real reason behind it, not just as a routine chore. If you can see dust kicking out of the vents when the furnace kicks on, or you're noticing more dust settling on furniture than you used to, cleaning the ducts will help. It won't lower your heating bill or fix a furnace that's struggling, so if that's the goal, the problem is probably somewhere else.
- What does air duct cleaning involve?
- A contractor connects a vacuum system to your ductwork and uses brushes or air whips to knock loose dust and debris off the inside walls of the ducts, then pulls it all out through the vacuum. They'll go through the supply and return lines, and usually clean the vent covers and check the furnace or air handler while they're in there. Alabama requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license through the Board of Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Contractors, so it's worth asking to see it before the work starts.