Duct Cleaning in The Dalles, OR
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Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Ten months of heating pulls dust through the same ducts
Your furnace runs September through June here, close to ten months a year. That's most of the year that air is moving through the same ductwork, carrying dust and whatever else settles in it back into the rooms you live in.
Wasco County has also seen 86 winter storms and 43 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Storms like that knock out power, and when the furnace stops mid-cycle and starts again, it pushes another round of air through ducts that haven't been cleaned. Over ten months of that, the buildup inside doesn't go anywhere on its own.
- 10 months
- September through June, your furnace pushes air through your ducts
- 2 months
- July through August, your air conditioner does the same
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NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should air ducts be cleaned?
- Most homes do fine having their ducts checked every few years, sooner if you can see dust building up around the vents or someone in the house has started having more allergy trouble. Homes here run the furnace from September through June, so the ducts stay busy most of the year. If a duct was open during any work on the house, like a remodel, that's a reason to have it cleaned regardless of when it was last done.
- Is air duct cleaning worth it?
- It's worth it if the ducts are visibly dirty, if you're noticing more dust settling around the house, or if you're dealing with pests or a musty smell that traces back to the vents. It won't fix a furnace that's cycling wrong or a house that's still cold in spots. A contractor can look at the ducts and tell you honestly whether cleaning will help your situation or whether the real issue is somewhere else, like a leak or a duct that was never sized right.
- What does air duct cleaning involve?
- A contractor connects a vacuum system to the ductwork and uses brushes or air tools to knock loose dust and debris from inside the duct walls, then pulls it all out through the vacuum. Every supply and return vent in the house gets cleaned this way, and the furnace or air handler itself often gets attention too, since that's where air moves through a coil and blower before heading into the ducts. The filter gets checked as part of this, since a clogged filter is often why dust built up in the ducts in the first place.