Duct Cleaning in Raleigh, NC
Tell us about your home, and a licensed contractor who covers Wake County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Wake County ducts stay busy most of the year
Your system runs seven months a year here, October through April, pushing air through the same ducts night after night. That is a lot of hours for dust, pet hair and pollen to settle in the bends and joints where the airflow slows down.
Wake County has seen 308 damaging wind events and 7 winter storms over the last ten years. Storms like that can force outside air through gaps in the ductwork, stirring up whatever has settled inside and pushing it into the rooms you're heating.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace pushes air through your ducts
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner does the same
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should air ducts be cleaned?
- There is no fixed number of years that fits every house. If anyone in the house has allergies, or you have had rodents, a water leak, or renovation dust near the ductwork, that is a reason to check sooner rather than wait. A contractor can look at the supply and return vents and tell you whether the buildup is worth removing now or can wait.
- Is air duct cleaning worth it?
- It depends on what is actually in the ducts. If dust is visibly blowing out of the vents, there is a musty smell when the system runs, or you know there has been pest activity or construction dust in the house, cleaning will make a real difference. If the ducts look fine and nobody in the house has breathing trouble, it is not something you need on a schedule. A contractor can inspect the ducts with a camera and tell you what is actually in there before you decide.
- What does air duct cleaning involve?
- A contractor connects a vacuum to the duct system to create negative pressure, then uses brushes or air tools to loosen dust and debris from inside the supply and return runs so it pulls into the vacuum instead of blowing into the house. The vents, the plenum, and the coil area near the furnace or air handler usually get attention too, since dust collects there as much as in the runs themselves. The furnace filter gets replaced or the contractor will tell you it needs one, since a clean duct system with an old filter just gets dirty again.