How to clean air ducts? A look at before and after photos of air duct cleaning.

There are articles online that claim that air duct cleaning has not been shown to conclusively prevent health problems or improve HVAC system efficiency.

In fact, the EPA does not recommend that the air ducts be cleaned routinely, but only as needed.

I shrank the image on purpose to save you from an immersive experience of my unclean air return vent.

Yeah, what do you think? NEED OR DON’T NEED?!

Dr. Anthony Fauci would beg me to clean my air ducts.

Now, before you judge me for being a gross home owner, let me remind you that I’d just bought my house in late August 2021 and so basically inherited this grossness.

I had been looking for a company to get them cleaned but all I got were astronomical quotes. A local HVAC company in Littleton quoted me $1,300 for the job!

Riiiiiiight. I may be a little desperate for cleaner ducts but I’m no fool.

I finally settled with CleanAIR Duct Services and paid $645 for the job.

How did I find this company? Good old Groupon read my mind when I was searching for a nail salon. The search prediction is mind-blowing. Anyhow, CleanAIR Duct Services popped up with 4.5 stars out of 196 reviews so I bought the service coz I’m a big believer in reviews.

How do Air Ducts get professionally Cleaned

Air ducts are cleaned by specialized air duct cleaning equipment that is akin to a vacuum equipped with a rotating brush head. The equipment that was used in my home was the BrushBeast from Rotobrush.

Here’s Steve quoting and explaining exactly what parts will be cleaned. It’s basically a front-to-end system clean- from the blower motor in the furnace to the supply main to the vents and returns.

I appreciated having the equipment on blankets; the fact Steve was so thorough he’d use a brush or screwdriver to get dust that was at the corners of the register.

The BrushBeast in action. The green brush would rotate while the vacuum sucks dust through the opening in the hose.

Beast mode. 🤘

Here’s how the supply main gets cleaned. 2 openings were cut at the front and end of the shaft where Steve sent his trusty vacuum in to do the job before sealing them up with duct tape.