Duct Cleaning in Westerly, RI
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Eight months of forced air a year takes a toll on your ducts
Your furnace runs from October through May here, close to eight months of the year. That is eight months of air moving through the same ductwork, carrying dust, pet hair, and whatever else settles in your house. It builds up on the inside walls of the ducts and on the coil where the return air passes through.
Winter storms add to it. Washington County has had 31 winter storms and 111 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and outages come with some of them. When the power drops and the furnace stops, then starts again, air that was sitting still gets pushed through the ducts and stirs up what has settled. Over enough winters, that buildup can narrow the airflow through the ducts your furnace depends on to heat the house evenly.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace pushes air through your ducts
- 2 months
- July through August, your air conditioner does the same
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should air ducts be cleaned?
- Most homes do fine having it done every few years, not on a set yearly schedule. If anyone in the house has allergies, or you've had a renovation that left dust behind, sooner makes sense. Pets in the house are another reason to move the timeline up. A contractor can look inside the ducts and tell you whether there's enough buildup to justify it now.
- Is air duct cleaning worth it?
- It's worth it if your ducts actually have a buildup of dust, pet hair, or debris you can see or feel at the vents. A contractor can check the return and supply vents and tell you whether there's enough there to matter. If the ducts are fairly clean, cleaning them won't do much, since ducts carry air and it's the filter that actually cleans it.
- What does air duct cleaning involve?
- A contractor connects a vacuum system to the ductwork, then uses brushes or air tools to knock loose the dust and debris built up inside the duct walls so it can be pulled out. Every supply and return vent in the house gets cleaned this way. The furnace or air handler and its blower usually get cleaned too, since dust collects there as well.