Ducting, Air Circulation and Ventilation Systems - central air
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sean shannon
05-03-05, 02:32 PM
I just purchased a new ranch and am getting ready to use the central ac my wife insists we have the ducts cleaned because the old owners had a dog she keeps the house spotless and i just put in a 25 dollar filter should we clean the ducts ourselves or spend 400 dollars and have someone come in and clean them.
Ed Imeduc
05-04-05, 05:13 PM
Most of the time I tell people to just get a MERV 5 pleated filter is all and change them a lot. might look into
http://www.puracleanspray.com put some on the filter when you put it in. Id put the money in lots of new filters.
A dog, might want to clean the indoor AC coil there and check the intake side of it for any dog hair is all.
ED :thinker:
http://www.puracleanspray.com put some on the filter when you put it in. Id put the money in lots of new filters.
A dog, might want to clean the indoor AC coil there and check the intake side of it for any dog hair is all.
ED :thinker:
Jay11J
05-04-05, 09:44 PM
Take the return grills off, and take a look.. if you see lots of hair and what not, and also orders in the air, it won't hurt to do it.
My parents had it done in thier last home when they put a new system in. Sure lot of stuff came out, and it made it easier on mom's breathing.
in my home, I was able to run a long shop vac hose down the duct work, and put the control board on my system to run the blower on highest speed to suck out the mess..
My parents had it done in thier last home when they put a new system in. Sure lot of stuff came out, and it made it easier on mom's breathing.
in my home, I was able to run a long shop vac hose down the duct work, and put the control board on my system to run the blower on highest speed to suck out the mess..
notsohandy
05-05-05, 11:21 AM
It's been my experience from trying to maintain my personal home as well as some rental houses over the years, that nothing associated with a home is more gross than ductwork. (I'm not a handyman or professional) In some cases having ductwork professionally cleaned does help. It seems to depend on who you contract to do the cleaning. It's important to get references.
Whether you have ductwork cleaned -- or completely replaced, is not going to be a permanent solution to having dust inside the house. No matter how much or what kind of intake filtering you use, dust and dirt will soon build up and accumulate inside your ductwork all over again. Which means that the newly accumulated dust and dirt (albeit fresher) inside the ductwork is simply going to be recycled and recirculated around and back through your house again and again. Short of using hydronic heating systems, nothing can be done to prevent a dusty house that I know of.
Most health professionals will reluctantly admit that central heating and air conditioning presents a health hazard, particularly for those with allergies, etc. All kinds of stuff eventually accumulates inside the ductwork -- dead insects, lizards, cockroaches, etc. It's not healthy for even healthy lungs to be inhaling air which has passed over such a mess.
The government would probably ban central systems were they not so widely used. They are also (when compared to other systems) much more economical and use less energy. And we all know how the government wants us to conserve on energy.
We dust our home once a week using a damp cloth. We don't use feather dusters because they just move the dust around from one place to another. During autumn and spring, when the central air is not much running, there's noticeably far less dust in the house. The dust comes from the ductwork via the floor registers.
Whether you have ductwork cleaned -- or completely replaced, is not going to be a permanent solution to having dust inside the house. No matter how much or what kind of intake filtering you use, dust and dirt will soon build up and accumulate inside your ductwork all over again. Which means that the newly accumulated dust and dirt (albeit fresher) inside the ductwork is simply going to be recycled and recirculated around and back through your house again and again. Short of using hydronic heating systems, nothing can be done to prevent a dusty house that I know of.
Most health professionals will reluctantly admit that central heating and air conditioning presents a health hazard, particularly for those with allergies, etc. All kinds of stuff eventually accumulates inside the ductwork -- dead insects, lizards, cockroaches, etc. It's not healthy for even healthy lungs to be inhaling air which has passed over such a mess.
The government would probably ban central systems were they not so widely used. They are also (when compared to other systems) much more economical and use less energy. And we all know how the government wants us to conserve on energy.
We dust our home once a week using a damp cloth. We don't use feather dusters because they just move the dust around from one place to another. During autumn and spring, when the central air is not much running, there's noticeably far less dust in the house. The dust comes from the ductwork via the floor registers.
scottg
05-08-05, 01:52 PM
I have not been totally sold on the duct cleaning. Change it where you can and clean the rest.