Q: How do I know if I should have the air ducts in my home cleaned, repaired or replaced?
This is a good question, which unfortunately doesn’t have an all encompassing answer. There are many factors that contribute to the need to have your ducts cleaned or replaced. Let’s discuss cleaning the ducts first.
According to the EPA “Duct cleaning has never been shown to actually prevent health problems. Neither do studies conclusively demonstrate that particle (e.g., dust) levels in homes increase because of dirty air ducts.”
The truth is, a light amount of household dust in your air ducts is common and is no more harmful than the dust you find regularly inside your home. Duct cleaning is not something that must be performed as part of your regular maintenance and according to the EPA, you should only look into getting your ducts cleaned if:
• There is visible mold growth inside hard pipe ducts.
• Ducts are infested with rodents or insects.
• Ducts are fully clogged with excessive debris.
The above being said, there are reasons to look at replacing versus cleaning with the above items.
• If mold is identified inside hard pipe, you should still have all of the external insulation removed and re-installed no matter if you choose to keep the existing ductwork and have it cleaned. You can attempt to clean the hard pipe ductwork, but if the conditions that are causing the mold growth are not taken care of, the mold will re-appear. There is also the fact that there are situations where you cannot clean 100% of the hard pipe ductwork. If even one mold spore is left behind, you end up back at square one.
• If your ducts are infested with vermin, you are likely looking at damaged ducts. When a rodent chooses to make a nest from your ductwork, they have likely torn the ducts in order to do so. If you have flexible ductwork, you will likely have to replace the damaged duct run.
• If your ducts are fully clogged with excessive debris, there is likely a larger cause. While ducts do accumulate debris over the years, it generally takes around 20-30 to accumulate an amount that would necessitate cleaning the ducts. After that amount of time, the ducts likely wouldn’t be able to handle a cleaning and should be replaced. If your ducts are newer and have accumulated enough debris to clog, there is likely a problem with air leaks in the ducts, which should be addressed. You should also look into the filtration, or lack thereof.
So, how do you know if your ducts are dirty?
Properly designed ductwork is a closed air system. The only air that enters your ductwork should be from the return air grille and the only way the air should be exiting the duct system is through the supply air grilles inside your home.
If you have proper filtration and are noticing debris coming out of your supply air grilles, you may have compromised ductwork. It is best to have a licensed technician come out to check the integrity of the ductwork in the attic to see if there are any air leaks or loose ducts. Sometimes with older ductwork, you could have a buildup of debris that sticks to the side of the ducts. There is no way of knowing that this is occurring unless you have a technician remove one of the ducts at the plenum in the attic.
The image below was taken during an evaporator coil installation at a customer’s home. This older ductwork had compacted debris. Due to the age of the ductwork and the fact that it was the lower R4 insulation value (Current codes require R8) this customer opted to replace the ducts.
If you suspect your ducts are dirty and aren’t sure whether you need to have the cleaned, repaired or replaced, feel free to give us a call to assess your situation and provide a plan of action.
Call Central City Air today at 713-861-1977
For the full article from EPA.gov:
https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/should-you-have-air-ducts-your-home-cleaned
