Duct Cleaning in Muscle Shoals, AL
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Seven months of duct use a year, then a storm stirs it up
Your ductwork runs from October through April here, close to seven months of the year pushing heated air through the house. Nights average 32°F from December through February, so the furnace runs long stretches without a break, and whatever is sitting in the ducts, dust, pet hair, drywall grit, gets pushed through the house that whole time.
Colbert County has also seen 463 damaging wind events and 7 winter storms over the past ten years. A storm that kicks up dust and debris around the house, or knocks the power out and back on, adds to what is already moving through the ducts the rest of the year.
- 7 months
- October through April, 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 is no fixed schedule that fits every house. Homes here run the heat October through April, seven months a year, so ducts get worked hard during that stretch and dust has more chances to build up. If anyone in the house has allergies, if you have pets that shed, or if you just finished a renovation, get them checked sooner rather than later. Look inside a vent cover between cleanings. If dust builds up fast, that is a sign the system needs attention.
- Is air duct cleaning worth it?
- It depends on what is going on in your ducts right now. If you can see dust kicking out of the vents, if a room never seems to get fully warm or cool, or if the system has sat unused for years, cleaning solves a real problem. If your ducts are newer and the filter gets changed on schedule, there may not be much built up in there to remove. A contractor can look at the actual ducts in your house and tell you whether cleaning will make a difference before any work starts.
- What does air duct cleaning involve?
- A contractor uses a vacuum system connected to the ductwork to pull dust and debris out, then goes through the supply and return lines with brushes or air tools to knock loose what has settled on the walls of the ducts. The vent covers come off so each opening gets cleaned too. The coil and blower housing inside the furnace or air handler often get looked at during the same visit, since dust collects there as well. Once the ducts are clear, the covers go back on and the system is checked to make sure air is moving the way it should through the house.