So what is all the talk about duct cleaning, is it a scam? Is it snake oil or is there a reason for it? The fact is, it can be all three and its important to educate yourself about duct cleaning to see if its right for you.
So lets start with the possible scam. Many so called "duct cleaners" will promote what we call the "name your price special" meaning each week they are in a different flyer with a different price but always below $99 and often with a free dryer vent cleaning. We call this a possible scam because there could be a legitimate company out there but its very unlikely. Most companies that promote this to good to be true price will have no CCB number and will have different names. Look for discrepancies in the ads since usually the people creating the ad have no local knowledge of our area. They will sometimes have a seattle number listed as a local office or area codes that are not local to our area. If you google "duct cleaning scam" you will find hundreds of news videos, including to catch a contractor with Chris Hansen and Buck Sheppard, former president of the National Air Duct Cleaning Association who lives right here in Portland and works with Sky Heating. The fact is duct cleaning takes 4 hours for an average 1,800-2,400 sq foot home and requires a $30,000+ vehicle. So for a house you are paying somebody only $25 per hour to use their $30,000 machine to do duct cleaning... something doesn't add up. Mechanics don't charge only $25 per hour, electricians charge more than $25 per hour and a duct cleaner needs to charge more than $25 per hour as well. They make their money telling you things are wrong when they really are not. They will perform unauthorized work and threaten to call the police if you don't pay and more. If you decide to try one of these companies out, its buyer beware.
So is duct cleaning snake oil? It can be, there are many duct cleaners that use a "rotobrush" machine which is not an approved duct cleaning method by the National Air Duct Cleaning Association. These rotobrush machines are a cheap machine that claims to clean your ducts. It has a 3-4" hose with a small brush that spins inside of your ductwork while allegedly removing contaminants. The machine sits inside your house so its dust collection capabilities are no better than the filter in the machine which is often very similar to your furnace filter. Many customers have noticed that their house gets dustier after a rotobrush cleaning. A rotobrush also only has a 15-25' hose so this machine can only reach small portions of your ductwork and only has around 200 CFM of suction power. A rotobrush duct cleaning is the same price as negative air in most cases but a much lower quality cleaning that often only cleans 25% of the ductwork while putting the dust back in your home.
What is the reason for duct cleaning? After years of living in a house, its amazing what can fall down into your ducts. Crumbs, dirt, debris, food, toys and more. These are all now in your airstream and can spread mold and allergens throughout he house. Your ductwork should be cleaned once every 5-7 years, you do not need a yearly duct cleaning unless you have a specific need for it. Each customers needs will be different and your neighbor may need duct cleaning every 3 years due to allergy sensativities and your home may only need it every 7 years. Our technicians can tell you during your annual maintenance if it may be time to consider duct cleaning.
Sky Heating only uses negative air pressure duct cleaning, the approved method by the National Air Duct Cleaning Association. Negative air pressure involves setting up a large scale collector with multiple filters and HEPA efficiency outside of your home so that if anything does make it through the filter it doesn't end up in your home. Unlike a rotobrush that only has around 200 CFM a negative air pressure setup will pull thousands of CFM's through your ductwork to create over 10X the suction. Negative air pressure also uses a positive pressure compressor to remove the debris attached to the ductwork without harming the ductwork.
To learn more about our duct cleaning please call us at 503-235-9083
