Duct Cleaning in Lewiston, ME
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Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Nine months of heat pushes a lot of air through your ducts
Your furnace runs September through May here, nine months of the year. That's nine months of air moving through the same ductwork, carrying dust, pet hair, and whatever else settles in the return before it gets pushed back out through the vents.
Winter nights here average 13°F, so the furnace is cycling on and off often to keep up. Androscoggin County has also seen 45 winter storms and 47 damaging wind events over the last ten years. Each time the system shuts down and starts back up, it stirs whatever has settled in the ducts since the last run.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace pushes air through your ducts
- 2 months
- July through August, your air conditioner does the same
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NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should air ducts be cleaned?
- There is no fixed schedule that fits every home. Have the ducts looked at sooner if anyone in the house has allergies, if you have had rodents or a water leak near the ductwork, or if the home just went through a renovation, since drywall dust settles deep into the runs. Otherwise, a contractor can tell you what the ducts look like inside and whether cleaning makes sense now or can wait.
- Is air duct cleaning worth it?
- It is worth it when there is a real reason behind it, not just as a routine chore. If you can see dust kicking out of the vents, if a musty smell shows up when the furnace runs, or if someone in the house has started having more allergy or asthma symptoms indoors, cleaning the ducts can help. Your furnace runs September through May here, so dust sitting in the ducts gets circulated through the house most of the year, which gives a dirty system more months to cause trouble than it would somewhere with a shorter heating season.
- What does air duct cleaning involve?
- A contractor connects a vacuum system to the ductwork and uses tools like brushes or air whips to knock loose dust and buildup from inside the duct walls, then pulls it out through the vacuum. The supply and return vents and the main trunk lines are part of the job. The furnace or air handler cabinet often gets cleaned out too, since debris collects there as air moves through it.