I think it might be, at least occasionally. Will be interested to hear what others have to say!

My son had it done and it was a huge difference.. They had bought a house and lived there a couple years. Didn't know if it had ever been done before.

My condo is 28 years old and I don't think they have ever been done.

Got a special coupon in the mail, and I've alrady called and set up for a cleaning.

They throw in a dryer vent cleaning,free.

Fully insured and registered with the BBB

I'm glad you asked this, Glenda, because I wonder, too. I've never had it done anywhere I live, but somehow I think I should. I've heard that it's a good thing and I've also heard it's a crock. I'll be interested in answers you receive.

YES! DD had it done after she bought her house. I can't remember how old DD's house is 10 years? Anyway, she had it done and was amazed! They showed her what the ducts looked like before and after. Hunter has some allergies and I think that is why she wanted it done. I don't know if it helped him or not but can't see it hurting. She said it helped lots with the dust in the house. If you have animals, which the previous owner had a dog and also did some remodeling all that junk can end up in the ducts, plus normal dirt,dust etc.
These guys came with a big truck mounted unit like a vaccum, is that what you will do Glenda?

The company that did her's didn't offer the dryer vent cleaning, she did it herself and was SO proud. The repair guy that came to fix her dryer told her it was the vent and said you HAVE to have a man clean it! LOL Said have hubby do it, nope no hubby, a BF? She says nope, sorry I don't have one. a brother? a Dad? LOL She finally said yep I will have Dad do it and then went and bought the stuff herself and did it.

People that live in a newly-constructed house, need it done. The construction dust is horrible in the ducts.

My parents have had it done after they moved in to their house (new) and I believe again since. They've been there 15 years.

When they're cleaning your dryer vent, that would do it for me, for sure. That's a huge safety precaution.

I've never had it done because I don't think it is necessary.

It might depend on where you live and how much dust, agricultural spraying, pets etc. We hope to get it done this fall. Just make sure the company is local, bonded and licensed.. As to BBB--well, anyone can join. Found that out when I sold Avon, and our manager told us to join as a independent contractor so it would look good. No I didn't--more paper work.

Our association highly recommend we do this, at last meeting.

So I'm gonna get it done

I don't think it helps...My kid's allergist actually recommended against --says the stirring up does more harm than good. I did a lot of research when we were considering it and found out the $300 jobs don't really do much, if anything. When I researched it, I found many companies that do it even admited it doesn't do anything --that they are just taking your money --You have to spend like $10,000 or something to really get them clean, and then they'll just get dirty again quickly anyway...

I wouldn't do it, and I would advise spending some time reading up/researching it if you are seriously considering doing it. I think you'll change your mind if you educate yourself.

Our puppies shed so much, that I could see the dog hair actually filling the vents. Wouldn't that be a fire hazard? Like dryer vents that get too much lint in them?

I highly recommend it about every 5-7 years, more often if you have home construction projects. One of my favorite parts of the process is being able to look at the mirror that is extended into the ductwork before the cleaning starts and then look again after they are done. The before is like a horrible science experiment, the after is like a sheet of glass.

We have a small house.

I've wondered about it, too. Thinking about having it done if we can ever have a week without the heat/air on. I've seen coupons to have it done for $99. And Stanley Steamer is doing it now, too. I will have my dryer vent cleaned for sure.

I've only had it done once - after I had some remodeling done. There was a lot of debris in there - can't help but think it was beneficial but who knows.

Yes. It's worth it.

Linda

I had it done at a place I lived in CA. It was $200 and I asked my landlady if she would split the price with me and she agreed. It was worth every penny. I have asthma and allergies. The house I now own doesn't have ducts but if it did I would have had it done when I moved in and every 5 years after that.

Sure differeing opinions from Doctors it seems. We live in the country on a dirt road, with lots of agriculture around us. We were having some allergy problems so I asked the doctor and she said to leave it alone, as it stirs up lots of "bugs." Then lasy year, we had a laundryroom drain problem and it drained into the vents. The insurance company sent a contractor out and they had to disconect the vents to dry them out. I was curious to see what they looked like. I expected in our situation with a 7 year old house they would be horrid, but they had very little in them. I do have a husband that is a stickler for changing filters and such whenever it is time so maybe that was why these were not very dirty. The contractor said he seldom saw large amounts of dirt and dust.
Can I ask those of you that say you saw a big difference, what that difference was? Was it allergies, heating costs, dust?

cathyid , good question

Can I ask those of you that say you saw a big difference, what that difference was? Was it allergies, heating costs, dust?

I've never had it done. But we've had plenty of animals (and dust) over the years and would expect it to be pretty bad. The cold air returns often look dusty enough to warrant vacuuming.

But I pulled a grill out of the basement horizontal ductwork last year just to look inside because I was curious and, unless I don't know how to judge what's in there, it didn't look dirty.

Either way, this is a good time to attend to things like that and furnace. Still plenty of time to leave windows open till the dust settles.

I stick my vacuum hose down the vents, once in a while. Just to get out any pet hair, etc. that may accumulate. I think back in the days of coal furnaces vent cleaning was kind of necessary. Coal dust accumulated and would discolor the walls around the heat vents. My dad was a heating contractor. When we had a coal furnace, he cleaned them. He never did once we got natural gas.

When we had been in our house for 25 years, I started to pay attention to the ads in the paper for duct cleaning. I thought we should have it done, thinking maybe it would help with DH's allergies. It was a few hundred dollars. Apparently, they only go so far into the ducts, not the entire duct system.
It actually stirs up whatever is in the rest of the ductwork. Bottom line is....we didn't notice much difference. Probably won't do it again. Maybe we just didn't choose the right company, although they were rated well.

carla35, that's exactly what I've heard/read.

This question was just asked last Saturday on WGN-Radio's Mr. Fix-It program. The advice was to skip it if the company is only going to use suction. It MAY be worthwhile if they use a powered brush to beat any debris off the interior of the ducts before using suction.

Anybody can connect up a vacuum and turn it on. That can even damage your ductwork by breaking seals if the suction is too strong.

Our contractor hired someone to clean our ducts before we moved into the house. I didn't see much come out. He'd covered the vents as he was building the house.

We have hardwood flooring, low-pile orientals, and a powerful central vacuum system. We have Aprilaire flow-through humidifiers and filtration systems on both furnaces and change the filters twice a year.

I see no reason to have our ducts 'cleaned'. When we change the filter material there's very little dust in them, and our house only gets dusty in summer when the doors and windows are open. The only time I saw dust on intakes was after a clumsy tech reversed the filtration systems!

I'd think you'd have to have an awfully large dog that sheds a LOT of hair many times a day to have ducts that are so full of stuff that they'd be a fire hazard. (My dog leaves her mark everywhere she goes--hair here, there, everywhere--but she's a little terrier.)

One thing that's a no-brainer is cleaning your dryer duct all the way to the outdoor vent, with a brush that will gently loosen stuff. That is certainly a fire hazard--happened in one of the nearby townhouses in my subdivision just last month.

I don't know Glenda DS just had mine done the begining of the month .The A/C guys did it (who we trust) I was alwys clening out the filters which would be full of cat hair nd the vents. one nice thing they did was clean up the ceiling around the ceiling bents which were pretty dark and bad looking.
I'be been in this house for ten yeas and had cats all that time so I imagine threre was a lot of build up.
Made DS happy anyway!!

I wish I knew for certain - I've had it done twice. Our house is 40 years old and we had the duct work cleaned 20 years ago after we put on the 2 story addition. We had it done again last year when we renovated the basement and bathroom. I personally didn't notice a difference - but I vacuum regularly, I clean the air filters on the furnace 3 or 4 times a year and we also have an Electronic Air Cleaner inside the furnace that I clean monthly.

I think it does help clean out the ductwork - but you really have to trust the company who is doing the work. I watched both times and I did see dust and debris. However there are untrustworthy contractors who will show you a bag of dirt and dust and say that's what they vacuumed out.

We had COIT do the work both times. Before starting they made sure all the ducts in the house were closed or covered so that the particles wouldn't blow back into the room. They used a device that goes through the vents and down into the duct and bumps around inside to loosen the dirt. At the same time there is a large vacuum next to the furnace collecting the debris.

We don't have allergies so I can't say that it's helped in that regard. But my vents are now clean and my DH did inspect the ductwork both before and after it was serviced and he also said it was noticeably cleaner.

I emailed DD and asked exactly what she thought and she said it was her gas company that reccomended it. She is on a maintence plan that they will repair her furnace or appliances. They come out once a year to check things over to prevent or try to catch problems before they begin. She said they told her her furnace was so dirty she needed to call a duct cleaner and have it all cleaned. Said it was a definite improvement, she could see it by looking into the ducts themselves. The duct cleaning place told her every 10-12 years you should have it done.

i wish they'd do the ones at dh's office...they pass around colds all winter..we're always the first to get flu shots just to be safe...

When they clean the ducts, do they brush off the dust that's accumulated on the central chamber of the furnace that encloses the fire, which all of the air goes over to get heated? Or does the hot fire break it down? Even so, there's likely an accmulation of residue. That would reduce the amount of heat that would transfer from the metal of the chamber itself, were it asbsolutely clean, to the air that's to circulate into the house.

This would be reduced if one were careful to to replace the filters regularly, as the air from the house comes through the ducts dirty, until it reaches the filter.

It would be difficult to acces the firebox, as one would need to have a few removable portals in the outer skin ... which I don't think that I've seen.

ole joyful

Filters here are changed on a regular basis.

These ducts have never been cleaned, and what prompted me, was I was seeing white paint flakes in two rooms, and they came from the ducts.

I use 3 month filters and change them every 2 months. It really helps reduce the dust in my home. If I forget to change it, I notice the difference. I date my filters so I know how long they have been in there.

My parents just got a new furnace and also had the ductwork cleaned. When I see all the dust in my house, I have to believe it would be a good thing to have it done.