air duct cleaning?

I noticed that recently there are more dust in my house than before. Is that because the air duct system is too dirty? I change furance filter every month and the filter is not dirty at all. But the dust level in the house is definity higher than before. Usually I clean the house twice a month, but now even after 1 week, I can see the dust accumulated in the dresser! Is the dust all from the vent or where else?

Some online material said that there is no evidence showing that air duct cleaning improves air quality. And inapproriate cleaning may damage the system. I am really hesitate to call the service.

what is you guys opinion? do you have your air duct system cleaned? what is the reasonable price per vent?

Thanks very much.

 

What type of filter do you use now?

House dryer than normal?

Old Carpet?

Duct cleaning may help. but if the filters are not dirty, then it's something else. My parents did duct cleaning when they put in a new furance. it has helped them. Cuz over the years, dad has done alot of remodel and other work, and also they used to burn wood.

 

First air duct cleaning can improve air quality! 2nd If you think duct cleaning is going to solve your dust problem its not! It will help! To many factors! To help REDUCE dust clean duct, Buy a HEPA vacuum, old carpets need to be replaced hardwood is best! If you are not in southern florida and your running your heat buy a humidifier this will help to. Last duct cleaning is a very good thing to do if done wright. In my area an average home will cost 550.00.

 

Some of my rooms are dustier than others, but for me the biggest culprit is the clothes dryer.

John

 

The filter I use is brand "TrueBlue" and it costs about one dollar each. Cheap one. The thing that confused me is that the filter is not dirty at all. I don't know how old is the carpet. It was there when I moved in 3 year ago. Looks kind of old. The humidity in the house is about 50%.

It was about 1 month ago that I noticed the high dust level. Before that it was fine.

Thanks.

 

I need to clean the dryer vent too. I sometime can smell the dust from the dryer vent in the basement. Do you know how to DIY? what kind of tools I need? My dryer vent is not long, it is about 10 feet. Thanks.

 

When using those blue mesh type filters you might as well not have one in there. Use the pleated ones you get at like Home Depot that cost around $5 bucks each.

If you've been using the blue filters for a long time you'll want to get your blower and indoor coil cleaned good this spring.

 

I've posted several messages about dust in the home. I became interested in the matter when we moved from the north to our present location in the southern United States. In the north, we had radiant heating (no ductwork) and never noticed accumulations of dust. When we noticed that our home here in the south was a hundred times more dusty than in the north, I began to look for the source of all the dust, did some research, etc. It upset me to know that we were probably inhaling zillions of dust mites and foul air which was being forced into the house via the ductwork.

The dust does indeed come from the ductwork. Dust and dirt and possibly a few insects and other unsavory things, build up and accumulate in the duct system, and it doesn't make much difference what kind of filters you use. I've experimented with them all. Of course, some of the more expensive and fancy filters are better than others, but eventually dust is still going to accumulate inside your ductwork only to be recycled and re-circulated around and around and back into your living space via the floor registers.
You can install much thicker media filters, but my contractor says if you overdo it, they will restrict the airflow.

I'm not saying that I'm an expert on dust, but I draw a lot of my knowledge from practical experience with three rental houses. All of them are dusty. And flex duct (the kind with the spiral ridges which is virtually replacing metal ductwork these days), a home will be even dustier. Flex duct harbors a lot more dust than metal duct.

My southern neighbors say nothing really can be done about the dust -- you just have to get used to it and dust often. And not with a feather duster which just fans the dust around from one place to another. Use a moist cloth or something.

The general conclusion is that having the duct system cleaned doesn't do much, if any good. Even if you get it cleaned, dust will soon accumulate inside the system again.

We have hardwood and tile in all our houses, which helps to keep down the dust levels. Carpet is inherently nasty.