Furnace Cleaning/ Duct Cleaning

Thanks for all the imput.

Actually I wasn't asking for medical opinions. LOL.

The main point of the question was-- should the ducts be cleaned or is it something that is unneccesary because the filter works fine.

The house is about 15 years old, but I have noticed some dust around the vents. However, I changed the filter and it is an industrial strength $40 one-- the size of an accordian. I guess it is always useful to tune up the furnace and AC. At this point, it sounds like I should pass on the vents for a while.

Reply to
Sennin
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This also depends if you have animals, dust, pollen, smoke etc. The intake vents anything and EVERYTHING in.

If you want to take a look and see how dirty they are, take one of them off and get your hand in there. Wipe the walls. You can then judge from that if you want to go for it.

Reply to
Sexytom976

Some of the dust around the vents may not be coming from the system. It may be from the venturi effect.

When was you system serviced last?

Reply to
HeatMan

venturi effect? What is that?

I don't know last service. I moved in 2 years ago. I had a home inspection done and it seemed ok.

Reply to
Sennin

'Actually I wasn't asking for medical opinions. LOL. The main point of the question was-- should the ducts be cleaned or is it something that is unneccesary because the filter works fine.'

ME: You should get the ducts cleaned IF you have a medical reason .... such as allergys to mold, spore, animal dander, dustmites, etc... If you dont, then i wouldnt waste the money. However....you may have a couple pieces of drywall chunks in the ductwork leftover from construction which could be affecting airflow., at least somewhat.

Reply to
Dave in Lake Villa

I paid $150.00 for furnace inspection when I bought this house, using the heating company I'd been with for 20 years. It's got a Goodman furnace, which some people expressed some doubts about in this forum. The guy found some installation mistakes, and repaired a couple of duct junctions which were whistling. I think it was worth it.

Reply to
Doug Kanter

venturi effect = bullshit from someone that hasnt a clue Inspection done = someone looked at it to make sure it was hopefully in good working order. Note: Inspectors/Inspections look at things. They dont clean them. Your furnace needs at least annual cleaning. Bubba

Reply to
Bubba

Right, skip the duct cleaning for now. Go wtih the humidifier.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Despite what Bubba thinks, there is a Venturi effect. While I'd suggest a google search, I'll try.

The naturally dusty air in your house will be moving around by air currents. These currents will take the dusty air and blow it harder near the vents. This may cause the dust to become attached to the registers and the nearby walls.

An annual servicing and cleaning, if necessary, is a good idea.

Reply to
HeatMan

HeatMan, Read what you are typing. You are explain the snake oil bullshit. While there is a word Venturi, and it is an actual and real effect, the way you are explaining it and applying it to a heating system is boloney. Surely you can come up with a better explaination than that. Bubba :-)

Reply to
Bubba

If you caulk the outside and make the home that tight ( which isn't going to happen in an older home unless you use a fire hose) you will encounter mold and condensation in the walls and actually increase your heating bills due to conduction. If your going to seal any structure you always do it on the warm side and not the cold side.

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Reply to
geoman

I hate to jump into such a good argument, but the Venturi effect ( a better term is aspiration") is real around registers and ducts. It is covered in RSES heating courses and ASHRAE. Some call it "aspiration" "" a drawing of something in, out, up, or through by or as if by suction:""

I have seen systems that use hepa filters and the ducts are spotless but around the discharge register on the ceiling there are patterns of dust with discoloration. What happens is the register blows and mix's with the air by actually 'aspirating' the room air with supply air.

Rich

Reply to
geoman

So - in a typical US house, when would one put in a Heat Recovery Ventilator vs an Energy Recovery Ventilator (captures humidity) to deal with air exchange and freshness issues? Is there an infiltration rate that would suggest and ERV over a plain jane HRV?

Karl Pearson

Reply to
k.pearson

Thanks, Geo.

Okay, so I wasn't using the correct term.

Reply to
HeatMan

The filter only covers the air that is being blown OUT of the vents, that is usually clean in the first place. The air that is being sucked in is the problem. The intake registers do NOT have filters on them.

Storm> Right, skip the duct cleaning for now. Go wtih the humidifier.

Reply to
Sexytom976

Reply to
Bubba

You might be doing yourself a disservice.

In the 1990's, the CMHC in Canada and the EPA in the USA conducted research and found there was little, if any improvement in air quality resulting from duct cleaning. The basic reason is that ducts are just passages for air -- there is no source of dust in ducts, while there is in the rest of your house.

You can download a paper on this at

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Another document is available at
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In a quick glance at these documents, I couldn't find reference to this, but I have heard that one study the CMHC did found that the cleaning process can kick up a dust problem as build-up in ducts tends to remain in the ducts. When it is disturbed, it becomes airborn again -- sort of like what can happen with some asbestos situations: nothing harmful until it is disturbed.

Reply to
Calvin Henry-Cotnam

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