Can your A/C air ducts really be cleaned?

You may have recently gotten a call from an air conditioning company offering to sell you a cheap duct cleaning. They run specials for $69 and claim to be able to clean the air in your home. They may tell you that you have filthy moldy ducts and your family’s health may be in danger.

Did you know, that most residential AC ductwork can not be cleaned properly?

Companies say they can remove the dirt and debris from your ductwork by sticking brushes at the end of a long pole into your ductwork. The majority of homes have flexible ductwork and by stuffing a brush through them the material will rip and create holes in the ductwork. If you allowed someone to do this, not only are you NOT getting clean ductwork but more than likely you will now have holes in the ductwork where you are allowing cold air to seep into your attic and allowing other outside contaminants in as well.

If your ducts are made of fiberglass board – not only can they NOT be properly cleaned, but the act of trying to clean them will most likely result in filling your ducts, and your home with tiny little fiberglass particles.

You can “sanitize” ductwork by using a type of fog machine that will mist a chemical that may kill contaminants growing in ducts. You will have to vacate the premises for up to 6 hours during this process. The success rate is about 40% of your ducts will actually be “sanitized”.

About the only way to clean old and dirty ductwork is to REPLACE it.

So, BEWARE of duct cleaning offers. Dishonest and unscrupulous contractors will use this sales tactic as a means to get into your home and mislead the homeowner into paying hundreds or thousands of dollars for additional or unnecessary work.

Simpson Air wants to help keep you informed and educated on your home comfort system. Call us today. (813) 558-0858.