Duct Cleaning in Portland, OR
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Nine months of heating pushes a lot of air through your ducts
Your furnace runs October through June here, close to nine months of the year. Every one of those months it is pulling air through the same ducts, and whatever is in that air ends up along the way. Dust, pet hair, the fine grit that comes in on shoes, it settles in the bends and joints where the airflow slows down.
Multnomah County sees its share of winter storms, and a good number of those bring power outages. When the furnace shuts off and restarts, or when the house sits without heat for a stretch during a cold snap, dust already in the ducts gets stirred and pushed further into the system. Over enough winters that buildup narrows the path the air has to move through, and the furnace has to work harder to push the same amount of heat into the rooms.
- 9 months
- October through June, your furnace pushes air through your ducts
- 1 months
- August through August, 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. A contractor looks at what is actually in your ducts, dust buildup, pet hair, signs of mold, before recommending a cleaning. Homes with pets, recent renovation work, or someone with allergies in the house tend to need it sooner than others.
- Is air duct cleaning worth it?
- It depends on what is going on in your ducts right now. If you see dust building up around your vents, or more dust settling in the house than seems normal, cleaning them makes a real difference. If your ducts are newer and there is no obvious dust or mold problem, there may be little to gain from cleaning them just to keep to a schedule.
- What does air duct cleaning involve?
- A contractor connects a high powered vacuum to your duct system, then uses brushes or air tools to loosen dust and debris from inside the ducts so it can be pulled out. The supply and return vents get cleaned too, along with the coil and blower housing where dust tends to collect. A thorough job covers the whole system, not just the vents near the furnace or air handler.