Few homeowners pay attention to their air ducts, and those that do usually don’t want to do the cleaning themselves. Whether you clean them yourself or hire a professional, it is important to make sure the job is done right, because cleaning your air ducts improperly can be worse than not cleaning them at all.
There are a lot of cleaning companies out there that will offer to clean your air ducts for cheap. Some claim that they will perform a complete cleaning for under $100. It sounds like a great deal at first, but homeowners often find out the hard way that it is anything but. Many cleaning companies perform what is called a bait and switch. They will advertise a rate for cleaning which is less than $100, but when they arrive to your residence they will try to upsell you to $400 or more.
Then there are the companies that will do the cleaning for the actual rates they advertise, but the quality of work they perform is lackluster. These types of companies are actually more hazardous than those that upsell because they come to your house, blow air into the ducts, and focus on only cleaning the areas which are easy to see and reach and then take your money. Their lackluster cleaning of your air ducts will make the air quality in your home worse because large amounts of loose particles will flow through the air and can potentially damage your HVAC system. Both the evaporator coil and fan blower are vulnerable to debris that comes into contact with them.
Before you hire a company to clean your air ducts, there are a number of questions you should ask. You should find out how long the cleaning will take, what procedures are involved in the cleaning process, and are the prices they advertise guaranteed? The answers they give to these questions will determine the overall quality you can expect from them. If you decide to do the cleaning yourself, you should make sure you have the knowledge, time and skill which are needed to do it. This is not a job that you want to do halfway.
If the air ducts are improperly cleaned, and debris enters the evaporator coil or the fan blower, the amount of money you will spend getting them fixed or replaced will be far more than you would spend by simply hiring a reputable professional. Some homeowners attempt DIY projects for the same reason they hire the cheapest cleaning companies – to save money.
While there is nothing wrong with saving money, choosing a company to clean your ducts purely based on cost is foolhardy. In addition to the cost, you should also look at the value they provide. It is also important to only hire cleaning companies that have reviews or referrals. Be wary of fly by night operations or companies which are new to the business!