Duct Cleaning in South Bend, IN
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Eight months of heat pushes a lot of air through your ducts
Your furnace runs from October through May here, eight months a year. Every one of those months it is pushing air through the same ductwork, and whatever is loose in your house rides along with it. Dust, pet hair, and the dry skin that builds up in any home get pulled in at the return and settle in the bends and the low spots of the duct run.
On the nights that average 20°F, the furnace runs longer to hold the house at temperature, and all that extra runtime means more air dragged through the same buildup. A narrowed duct makes the furnace work harder to push the same amount of heat into your rooms.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace pushes air through your ducts
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner does the same
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should air ducts be cleaned?
- There is no set schedule that fits every home. Most homes only need it when something points to a reason, like visible dust coming from the vents, a musty smell when the furnace kicks on, or work that was just done on the ductwork itself. If anyone in the house has allergies, or the furnace runs eight months a year like it does here, a contractor can take a look and tell you whether it is worth doing now.
- Is air duct cleaning worth it?
- It is worth it if there is a real reason for it, like visible dust coming from the vents, a musty smell when the furnace runs, or recent work on the ductwork itself. It will not lower your heating bills or stop allergies on its own, so if that is the only reason you are considering it, talk to a contractor about what is actually going on first. Where it does help is keeping the air moving through the system clean and cutting down on dust settling back into the house.
- 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, then pulls it out through the vacuum so it does not just resettle further down the line. Every supply and return vent in the house gets done, along with the main trunk lines. The furnace or air handler itself, including the blower and coil, usually gets cleaned as part of the same visit since air passes through it too.