Duct cleaning necessary?

[MMMdude]

Is duct cleaning something that is a waste of $?  I am replacing my furnace in a few weeks and was told it would be a good idea to clean them out beforehand.  Have not done it in the 12 years I've lived here

[Mr One Wheel Drive]

I think that it's a big scam... But,  do you have dust problems in your house? Does a thick layer of dust settle on everything you put down? If you leave a cup of coffee out overnight is it mouldy the next evening? If yes them maybe it's worth it.

[deborah]

I think that it's a big scam... But,  do you have dust problems in your house? Does a thick layer of dust settle on everything you put down? If you leave a cup of coffee out overnight is it mouldy the next evening? If yes them maybe it's worth it.

Better to check that there are no leaks in the ducts.

[Zaga]

We had it done once, def not a scam!  The crap they pulled out of our ductwork was amazing and horrifying!  Think about 50 years of dust, toys, small items of clothing and general crud built up, and the air that is supposedly filtered at the furnace then blowing over that before moving to the rooms in the house.  Yuck.  Our allergies improved after having this done.

That said, I wouldn't do it often, but sometimes, yes!

[GuitarStv]

It's a waste of money in most cases.  Don't take my word for it though:

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/airduct.html

[Ottawa]

I wouldn't do it.  I tend to think it is more along the lines of wasted money for 99% of people.  Rather, buy a decent reuseable filter.  The planet will thank you for not excreting resources on throw aways! 

Also, I think that having ducts done promotes dust build up, as it introduces jagged little edges around the holes that are cut to access your duct system.  These accumulate dust like snowdrifts...that would have otherwise moved to your filter.

[homeymomma]

After that long, I would err on the side of caution and do it. However, we have allergies and small children in our home so I'm biased.

[Frankies Girl]

We got it done on a house we're fixing up to sell, but only because they were solid metal runs (house built in 1968) and the house had never had it done, and it is a hoarder house with some air quality issues... so mostly it was to clean out the mold and heavy dirt/dust build up that had accumulated over the last 40+ years.

Not sure I'd bother with getting it done on a younger house. We have flexible duct runs in our current house and just replaced them about 10 years ago since the ones we had were disintegrating (blowing little bits of insulation out). I would think that any type of physical agitator would damage the flexible ductwork, and just vacuuming wouldn't get very much unless they feed it completely through the ductwork.