Duct Cleaning in Columbia, MO
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Seven months of heat pushes a lot of air through your ducts
Your furnace runs October through April here, seven months of the year. On nights that average 24°F, it cycles on and off again and again, and every cycle pushes air through the same ductwork. Dust, pet hair, and whatever settles in the return over the summer gets carried through and worked into the lining of the duct a little more each time.
Columbia has seen 54 damaging wind events and 8 winter storms over the past ten years. Storms like that drive dust and debris into attics and crawlspaces where ductwork runs, and some of it finds its way in through gaps and returns. Over years of heating and cooling, that buildup narrows the duct and gives the rest of the house less clean air to breathe.
- 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 with pets, a smoker, or someone with allergies tend to need it more often, since more gets pulled into the return air between cleanings. If a room never seems to get warm or cool no matter what the thermostat says, that is worth a look regardless of when the ducts were last done.
- Is air duct cleaning worth it?
- It depends on what is going on in the house. If dust keeps settling back on furniture within a day or two of cleaning, or a register is blowing out visible debris, clearing the ducts will help. If nobody in the house has allergy trouble and the vents look fine, it may not do much. A contractor can look at the actual ducts and tell you whether buildup is the problem or something else is.
- What does air duct cleaning involve?
- A contractor connects a vacuum system to the ductwork and uses brushes or air tools to knock loose the dust and debris built up on the inside walls, then pulls it out through the vacuum. Each supply and return vent gets opened and cleaned, and the furnace or air handler itself usually gets attention too, since that is where air moves through most. The filter should be replaced afterward so it is not putting old debris right back into clean ducts.