If you have a force hot air heating system in your home you should clean the ducts periodically. Keeping your forced air vents and ducts dust free and clean of debris will improve the quality of your indoor air as well as reduce cooling and heat costs. Although many professional air duct cleaners are available to do this task it will cost a lot of money for a job you can do yourself as a DIY homeowner. Cleaning the air ducts is not a difficult task.

Nearly all the forced air duct systems and grates in your home are removable. All that is necessary is removing the grates and a few sections of the duct work on various branches so a long brush and a vacuum house can be inserted into the duct to clean the interior. The dirt and debris will be sucked into the vacuum as you clean each section of the duct work. After cleaning, change the filters at the furnace and you are done. Cleaning dirty forced air ducts should be performed at least every two years to insure optimum performance of your cooling and heating system.

How to clean forced air ducts:

Remove all the grates in the floor or walls. Insert a common vacuum hose into the opening and vacuum any dust, dirt or debris from the duct. Hose extensions will be required to reach all the areas of the system.

Remove a section or end piece of the air duct in the basement or ceiling.

Pass the brush with an attached long handle (s) through the duct to loosen the dirt.

After using a brush to dislodge the dirt and dust, pass the vacuum hose through the duct to suck up the debris.

When complete, reinstall the grates and any duct ends or section that was removed.

The furnace air filters should be changed when you are finished cleaning the ducts. The filter should be changed twice a year to help keep the duct work clean of dust.

By doing this task yourself, you will save several hundred dollars and insure that it is done properly. Although the duct work may span the entire house in the basement, it’s quite easy to clean them by taking off the duct end cap or removing a section of the duct at a curve joint. It only takes a few standard household tools to gain access to the ducts.

Older homes will probably have a lot more dust, dirt and debris in the ducts because older houses have more openings and air leeks for duct and dirt to get into the system. Newer houses are a lot more air tight and do not get as dirty as older houses.

See related articles:

Heat Pumps

Heating Cost Savings

Heating System Tune Up

Heating the Basement