Vent Cleaning -

My brother used to work for a company that did duct cleaning. Since he was the smallest guy, he got the dirtiest job. He came home filthy in dust, so it must be true. I'd tend to go with places that are either nationally known or through a recommendation.

Well, we had our vents cleaned out last fall and honestly, it did not really do much. It was kind of expensive and I don't really think I got any benefits from it...well not a lot of benefits anyway, certainly they didn't match the costs.

We have lived in this house for 8 years and had never done it...I have no idea if the previous owner did it and this house was built in the 60s. So, we went for it because our house gets very dusty, so we thought this might be the culprit. I saw some of the stuff that they guys pulled out of the vents, and yeah, it was a little icky, but it was mostly giant hair/fur balls from me and the dog ;) and dirt. There was nothing super grody pulled out of there though.

However...I will add this...a friend of mine's parents recently bought a house and they had their vents cleaned and found 3 dead mice. Yeah, I'd be happy to have my vents cleaned then for sure!

I don't know the answer, but look forward to seeing what others say. My house was built in teh 50's and has central heat and air. It seems to get dusty VERY FAST. I wonder if having the vents cleaned would help the dust problem?

I think they are a scam. They sent someone to our starter house to clean saying it would be $40 and the guy tried to charge us $250. Citing some nonsense about our trunk lines. My husband showed him and his assessment right out the door. Since then I continue to do as I was taught and use the vacuum hose to get what I can reach and not worry about the rest.

I once had a tech come out to look at my dryer, it wasn't drying or taking absolutely forever. He said it was because my vents were clogged and I should get them cleaned and they twisted and turned at odd angles to get from the machines to the outside. He could find nothing wrong with the dryer. So I had a vent cleaner come out. The guy almost felt bad for charging me as they barely had anything in them at all. Of course he did in the end charge me.
So, the dryer continues to not dry like it should. So have another tech come out, heating element in the machine was going out. Got it fixed and, no surprise, clothes dried again.
Having the vents cleaned was both a waste of time and a waste of money.
I've never bothered to have any vents cleaned after that day. Heating, A/C or dryer. Am I crazy for not? I don't know. But considering that vent was put in during the 70s and I seriously doubt it had ever been cleaned and it wasn't an issue in the endI don't think I'll waste my time and money again.

Added for Katrina: You are lucky that your dryer vents weren't clogged. Clogged dryer vents don't just prevent your clothes from drying in a timely fashion. They also cause fires.

Your tech didn't know his job - he certainly didn't know how to fix a dryer. I'm glad your dryer is fixed now. Make sure to change your heater/AC filters every month - it costs you more money to run them with dirty filters, and puts stress on your system so that it can't work as efficiently.

Original:
How old is your house? How long have you lived there? Do you have pets? Did the people who owned the house before you have pets? When was it done last? Has it ever been done?

My house was 20 years old when I moved into it. The former owners had dogs. It had never been done before. I had terrible sinus problems when I moved in, was having surgery for it and didn't want to subject myself to anything that would complicate things.

I had mine cleaned. WOW! The stuff in there! I saw what the receptacle looked like before and after. So, it's not a scam if you have a reputable company do it.

It was kind of expensive (maybe it has to do with the size of your house, I don't know.) But since I don't have pets and haven't done "construction" on my house since, I won't be doing it again for a very long time. (If ever.)

So decide what your reasons for doing it are, looking at my series of questions.

Dawn

It is not a scam per se but some companies do like to increase their pay. Vent cleaning is not really needed unless the house and vents are really old and there has been construction or a lot of shedding pets and allergies etc. I can see into my vents in the basement. They are clear. We vacuum them every year, end of winter and start of heating season. vent cleaning means putting holes in the vents and then using a special vacuum/brush ystem to clean them out. Unfortunately, you have some companies insisting on using cameras and such to show you how dirty they are. A friend had one come and this was after she checked the vents herself. The guy had a camera with a prerecorded pic. The vent in the pic was fithly. hers weren't. She kicked him out.

My house is over 80 years old and very dusty. We've been here 12 years and have never had it cleaned, and I often wonder if I should. One company quoted over $500 to do it and wanted to cut holes in the duct work in the process. Meanwhile, other people have told me it's a total scam. If the dust that adheres to the sides was going to circulate, it would be doing that already. So I don't know... I'm also curious to see what people say.

I live in cali and we have a million companies out here to clean vents. when i had an ac replaced the tech was someone i knew through a friend. well he told me that with my older system that i would definately break it if i got it cleaned. im not in the hvac business, so im not the expert, and he could've been wrong, but i found this interesting.