Services

Duct Cleaning

A lot of dust and dirt can build up in your air ducts over the years, and some of the following factors will increase the need for air duct cleaning: Pets, renovation or remodeling projects, cigarette/cigar smoke, water damage, and occupants suffering from allergies/asthma. If you notice a lot of dust build up around your registers, suffer from allergies or frequent headaches, notice an increase in your utility bill, you may be due for a duct cleaning.

Residential ducts should be cleaned every 3 to 5 years.

We clean the following:

• Furnace
• Air Exchanger
• Dryer Vent 
• Bathroom Fan
• Kitchen Hood Exhaust Fan

Dryer vents should be cleaned once a year to prevent lint build-up in the exhaust, which is a fire hazard! With our equipment we can clean your dryer vent from inside behind the dryer and outside. We clean both sides when accessible to guarantee a clear duct. (as demonstrated in our videos below)

What to expect:

For an average home including a furnace and up to fifteen supply/return ducts it will take approximately four hours of time to clean your ventilation system. We will enter you home with a “dust collector” a.k.a. negative air pressure machine which will be brought close to your furnace. Our dust collector is capable of vacuuming 3000 cfm (cubic feet per minute). Access will be cut in your main supply and return ducts to hook up the dust collector to the duct. Before we can start the work, you will be asked to turn off your furnace. For your comfort a few portable heaters will be available to you for the duration of our visit.

All supply and return registers or diffusers will be removed and the ducts will be covered with adhesive plastic to create a maximum suction effect. An air compressor will be set up and the hose with compressed air will be taken to the supply duct located furthest from your furnace. We also bring an industrial vacuum cleaner with dual motor and Hepa filter to first vacuum the debris in and around the duct. We will than use a hose with compressed air and pneumatic whip to loosen up the dust and dirt buildup inside your duct and push it towards the main duct where the dust collector is hooked up. Once that is done, we degrease inside the duct and the register or diffuser. We than cover the duct with the register or diffuser and move on to the next duct to repeat the same procedure and so on. Once we are done with the supply air ducts we move the dust collector to the return air duct branch and repeat the same procedure as with the supply air ducts.

Upon finishing the cleaning of all supply and return ducts throughout the home, we move to the furnace room to clean the main ducts, using extendable brushes to agitate the debris inside the main supply duct, and once all the dirt is loosened up, we pull it inside the dust collector with a reversed air pneumatic whip. The same cleaning procedure is done with the return duct and the return plenum up to the filter. The filter will be removed, and vacuum cleaned or replaced if you have a replacement filter available. Upon request we can fog your ductwork with biocide which is an antibacterial product. This is optional and is included in the price of the duct cleaning.

At this point we remove the dust collector and cover the openings in your ducts with sheet metal plates and seal them off with foil tape. You will now be asked to turn on your furnace. Finally, we pack up our equipment and show you the pictures we took before and after the cleaning of your ducts to show what has been removed from your duct system.

Why choose a portable dust collector over a truck mounted dust collector?

There are several advantages to choosing a portable dust collector.

• Distance is not a factor, as it will be carried inside your home close to the furnace, wherever the location; in the basement, in the attic or on the fifth floor of an apartment building. The dust collector is designed to fit in small spaces and can either be assembled horizontally or vertically according to the space. Truck mounted dust collectors are very limited at how far they can reach.
• No energy loss, as the dust collector is inside your home, and the hose which is connected to the dust collector and your main duct are within a few feet proximity. Truck mounted dust collectors still need to have the hose attached to your main duct in your home, which means either your door or window will be left open for several hours and will affect the temperature inside your home. During the warmer months this may mean bugs will enter your home or your pet may wander off.
• Distance is a factor, the portable dust collector is hooked up within a few feet of your main duct, which means it loses absolutely no power vacuuming the dirt at 3000 CFM (cubic feet per minute). A truck mounted dust collector is parked far from your furnace, and therefore will have to struggle against more static pressure that can reduce the suction airflow rate. So even if they offer fantastic airflow rate, it will be reduced by the distance it has to go to reach your furnace.