I thought everyone enjoyed a vent roasted mouse now and then? Mine has a flap, haven't had any issues in 7+ years. But now that I said it...
Not busting balls, just putting it out there!
Getting ducts cleaned?
- Thread starter MMuller
- Start date
Not busting balls, just putting it out there!
THATmanMANNY
Well-Known Member
ekuhn
Well-Known Member
I've used Duct Dudes for dryer vents, now I've switched to Basic Chimney Service outta Old Bridge - cause he was half the price. We did a vent cleaning at work and you'd be amazed at the crap that does come out even with HEPA filters on the intakes not sure if it made a difference tho.
As I read this thread, I get a groupon email for duct cleaning. I feel like someone is watching me.
As I read this thread, I get a groupon email for duct cleaning. I feel like someone is watching me.
JonF
Well-Known Member
Short answer: In my opinion, NO.
Long answer: I suffer from moderate allergies and with working from home for the long term, i thought it would be helpful, especially give the house we bought 5 yrs ago has a ton of pets living in it. The crew showed up on a day where it was absolutely PISSING rain all day long. The house has 2 separate small zones so they routed their equipment differently for both (basement vs attic). So they drag their wet ass equipment and boots all through the house to run the vacuum and compressed air hoses to the trunks and each and every register. All through the time they were here (3-4 hours), they were in and out getting the house all shitted up. For the basement, they opened up my garage shop to run the hoses which caused a massive condensation issue on my metal working equipment. When they left, the place was absolutely filthy with duct dust mixing with rain water throughout the entire house. I spend 4 hours vacuuming and mopping after that just to clean up their crap. Utter and total nightmare. And in the end i didn't feel my allergy situation improved even 1 iota. They even forgot to patch a few holes with grommet plugs in the basement trunk because it was clear they were rushing to pack in another job at our expense.
I think this type of job falls under some category of dubious, cash-grab type services with no real measurable, empirical evidence of benefit. Maybe if your ducts are as dingy as the ones in the cheesy promo vids with 1 inch of crap laying in there, but i think most peoples' ducts are probably fairly well free of such effluence. Buyer beware for sure!
Long answer: I suffer from moderate allergies and with working from home for the long term, i thought it would be helpful, especially give the house we bought 5 yrs ago has a ton of pets living in it. The crew showed up on a day where it was absolutely PISSING rain all day long. The house has 2 separate small zones so they routed their equipment differently for both (basement vs attic). So they drag their wet ass equipment and boots all through the house to run the vacuum and compressed air hoses to the trunks and each and every register. All through the time they were here (3-4 hours), they were in and out getting the house all shitted up. For the basement, they opened up my garage shop to run the hoses which caused a massive condensation issue on my metal working equipment. When they left, the place was absolutely filthy with duct dust mixing with rain water throughout the entire house. I spend 4 hours vacuuming and mopping after that just to clean up their crap. Utter and total nightmare. And in the end i didn't feel my allergy situation improved even 1 iota. They even forgot to patch a few holes with grommet plugs in the basement trunk because it was clear they were rushing to pack in another job at our expense.
I think this type of job falls under some category of dubious, cash-grab type services with no real measurable, empirical evidence of benefit. Maybe if your ducts are as dingy as the ones in the cheesy promo vids with 1 inch of crap laying in there, but i think most peoples' ducts are probably fairly well free of such effluence. Buyer beware for sure!
iman29
Well-Known Member
Interesting topic as my family of expert teenagers seem to think that its a must do to have the vents cleaned. On the otherhand I am not so sure this is really something thats needed (like someone mentioned above the night mare of the "we dont give a shit workers").
We also have an Aprilaire 2400 whole house filter on the central furnace/AC unit, plus the humidifier I had upgraded a few years ago which includes separate humidistat setting. I never realized how much of a difference that makes since it kicks on when humidity is needed instead of just when the heat is on.
FYI I also retrofitted my Aprilaire 2400 with a kit they sell to use a media filter with more surface area to capture crap. I used to change it every winter/summer season but I am realizing after the last time I changed it in November, its already looking somewhat dirty. We have always had 2 cats and a dog in here too so this might make a difference. this thread reminded me I need to check the returns too.
As for the dryer vent, I have easy access in the basement and I clean that end to end myself every 6 months without fail. Thats one thing that scares the crap out of me to have that go up in flames and with 5 of us we do a shit ton of laundry. Over the summer I changed the external part of the vent to one with plastic flappers on it since the old one was stuck open and i was worried we would fry some birds or chipmunk in there. I had to take the external clip on screen off because it was catching too much lint.
But without any real experience I am still on the side of duct cleaning is a bit of a scam.
We also have an Aprilaire 2400 whole house filter on the central furnace/AC unit, plus the humidifier I had upgraded a few years ago which includes separate humidistat setting. I never realized how much of a difference that makes since it kicks on when humidity is needed instead of just when the heat is on.
FYI I also retrofitted my Aprilaire 2400 with a kit they sell to use a media filter with more surface area to capture crap. I used to change it every winter/summer season but I am realizing after the last time I changed it in November, its already looking somewhat dirty. We have always had 2 cats and a dog in here too so this might make a difference. this thread reminded me I need to check the returns too.
As for the dryer vent, I have easy access in the basement and I clean that end to end myself every 6 months without fail. Thats one thing that scares the crap out of me to have that go up in flames and with 5 of us we do a shit ton of laundry. Over the summer I changed the external part of the vent to one with plastic flappers on it since the old one was stuck open and i was worried we would fry some birds or chipmunk in there. I had to take the external clip on screen off because it was catching too much lint.
But without any real experience I am still on the side of duct cleaning is a bit of a scam.
MMuller
Well-Known Member
Looking into this. Thanks. Not sure if it'll help solve the mystery allergy thing but at $60 probably worth it.