Furnace duct cleaning scare tactics

[ductdoctor]

Duct cleaning itself is a total scam and complete waste of money. Change your filter regularly and if your kids drop crap down the registers, lift them up and drop the old vacuum hose down there. If there's dust sitting in your ductwork then it's clearly not becoming airborne when the fan runs, so forget about it.

Maybe this customer wouldn't agree.

[KelownaDavid]

that is some build up on the squirrel cage there ductdoctor

[ductdoctor]

that is some build up on the squirrel cage there ductdoctor

That's actually a dryer lint sheet stuck in the fan..... don't ask!
Stupidity was at play because there was no filter installed in the furnace and clearly hadn't been for some time and all through the renovations as well. Problem is some idiot put new flooring down and as the furnace was already mounted on the floor the filter opening was now completely obscured by the floor! Hence no filter
It was a house with some history and a long series of renters so the new owners were learning a lot as they went through the renos.

[Urban Cowboy]

that is some build up on the squirrel cage there ductdoctor

That's actually a dryer lint sheet stuck in the fan..... don't ask!
Stupidity was at play because there was no filter installed in the furnace and clearly hadn't been for some time and all through the renovations as well. Problem is some idiot put new flooring down and as the furnace was already mounted on the floor the filter opening was now completely obscured by the floor! Hence no filter
It was a house with some history and a long series of renters so the new owners were learning a lot as they went through the renos.

So as I suspected when I first noticed that picture, you posted an example of the most extreme exception, as opposed to the rule.
Fact is in this thread both sides are right really, in that those who maintain their furnace and filters properly, really have no need for duct cleaning.
The negligent ones who don't bother with regular maintenance, or rentals often times, probably would benefit from it.

[Grace_Pearl]

Agree re: beware the up-sell. Duct cleaning can be a good investment, though.

The ducts in the house purchased years back were pretty bad. Previous owners had a lot of pets and didn't keep up with the cleaning. The filter had been plugged so bad the furnace wasn't able to keep the house warm. Replaced that and then took off the return-duct grills to have a look. Good half-inch of dust and pet hair and who-knows-what in there. Some of the air flowing through those ducts gets recirculated, and even if it does go through the filter it's probably still contaminated with that who-knows-what.

Tried vacuuming out the first few feet but there was some kind of residue that needed to be wiped (maybe a microfiber would have worked, but this was the olden days) and figured there was probably some crud in the warm-air ducts, too, so had a cleaning company in to do the whole system. No scary up-sell tactics, fortunately, just nice clean ducts.

Good day@ rustled

I was wondering which company did you use for duct cleaning?

[rustled]

Agree re: beware the up-sell. Duct cleaning can be a good investment, though.

The ducts in the house purchased years back were pretty bad. Previous owners had a lot of pets and didn't keep up with the cleaning. The filter had been plugged so bad the furnace wasn't able to keep the house warm. Replaced that and then took off the return-duct grills to have a look. Good half-inch of dust and pet hair and who-knows-what in there. Some of the air flowing through those ducts gets recirculated, and even if it does go through the filter it's probably still contaminated with that who-knows-what.

Tried vacuuming out the first few feet but there was some kind of residue that needed to be wiped (maybe a microfiber would have worked, but this was the olden days) and figured there was probably some crud in the warm-air ducts, too, so had a cleaning company in to do the whole system. No scary up-sell tactics, fortunately, just nice clean ducts.

Good day@ rustled

I was wondering which company did you use for duct cleaning?

Grace_Pearl. That was about 25-30 years ago and in a community up north. Sorry I can't be of more help. Good luck!

[Even Steven]

I used Modern Purair.

[GentleRevolutionary]

Hi Even Steven, so would you recommend Modern PurAir? I want to get the ducts cleaned at my place.

I used Modern Purair.