Duct Cleaning in Ottumwa, IA
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Eight months of heating pushes a lot of air through your ducts
Your furnace runs October through May here, eight months out of the year. That is eight months of air moving through the same ductwork, carrying dust, pet hair, and whatever else settles in a house, back and forth every time the system kicks on. With nights averaging 18°F in December through February, the furnace is working hard and often, and the ducts are moving air the whole time it does.
Ottumwa's winters bring storms too, 17 of them over the past ten years, plus 69 damaging wind events. Power outages hit some Iowa households for a full day or more. When a system sits idle through an outage and then starts back up, whatever was already loose in the ducts gets pushed through the house again.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace pushes air through your ducts
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner does the same
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should air ducts be cleaned?
- There's no fixed schedule that fits every house. It depends more on what's going on inside the ducts than on the calendar, so look at whether dust keeps coming back after cleaning, whether anyone in the house has allergies, or whether pets shed into the return vents. A renovation or drywall work is also a reason to have them checked sooner. A contractor can look inside the ductwork and tell you what's actually built up before deciding it's time.
- Is air duct cleaning worth it?
- It's worth it when there's a real reason behind it, like dust that keeps coming back after you clean, a musty smell when the furnace kicks on, or ductwork that hasn't been touched since the house was built. It won't fix a furnace or a cooling problem on its own. A contractor can check whether the ducts are the actual source of what's bothering you before any work starts.
- What does air duct cleaning involve?
- A contractor connects a vacuum to the duct system and uses brushes or air tools to knock dust and debris loose from inside, then pulls it out through the vacuum before it can resettle. Registers and grilles get cleaned too, along with the return vents. The furnace and coil may get looked at during the same visit since they connect straight into the ductwork.