We recently had our air ducts cleaned and I wanted to share my experience because so many of you asked about the process and the results and the cost! So often I have heard “is air duct cleaning worth it”? To preface, we live in the Kanas City area in a home that was built 7.5 years ago (as of July 2019). We have a single-family home in the suburbs consisting of 3100 sq. ft. of living space, and 1500 sq. ft. of basement space. We had the company clean every duct in our entire home. This post or service was NOT sponsored, I’m just sharing our personal experience!
Deciding to Get Our Air Ducts Cleaned
We ultimately decided to get this done because this house was a new build over 7 years ago. Many homes on our street were constructed after it was built, which means lots of construction debris around. We also had our basement finished 2 years ago, which is more construction in the home. My son has been having allergy issues and I always just felt like our home looked dusty, even after dusting. I’ve also just read/heard it’s a good thing to do for your air quality. I really also just wanted a baseline since we are the original owners of the home.
This particular company, Duct Doctor, uses a patented truck for all of their systems and output. Kind of handy! I found them online, called the service line, got an appt. set up, they showed up and did the rest!
They started by removing all of the return air vent and floor vent covers so they could get their large hoses inside to suck everything out. You will be surprised when you really start looking at how many vents you have in your home! The floor vents are easy to pick up and vacuum out just on your own. Gross right? And we have a newer home and no pets! All of these vents get cleaned inside and out!
This company was careful about covering their shoes and covering the areas where the hoses connected. The whole process takes about 3-4 hours, so you will need to be home!
This company provides before and after pictures which I really like. It seems everything was very transparent. This pics are grainy and dark because I had to take screenshots of them and then transfer over.
A Few Bullet Points about Air Duct Cleaning
- They told me that my humidifier dial was turned up. They turned it down for me and told me to keep it off in the summer! I appreciated that!
- They changed out our air filter. Despite what the “months” say on the filter, they recommend we change ours every month for optimal air quality.
- They recommend this service every 3-5 years. Now that we have had it done, and we don’t have pets or construction going on, I will probably only consider doing it about every 10 years.
- This company charges by square footage, not by the number of vents. Our total cost was $549.
They did tell me they work with home builders in my area to clean the vents after new builds now. They did not offer this service when we moved in over 7 years ago. Check your builder to see if your home has been done before spending to do it again!
Would We Do This Again?
- I would do this again mostly because now I have peace of mind about what was lurking in the walls of our home and no longer is! They told me your home is only as clean as the inside despite how often you clean.
- I do feel our home looks less dusty. We pump our heat and air all year long, so I like knowing our vents aren’t blowing out all that gunk anymore!
- This is a pricey thing to do, I don’t deny that. It took me a few years to bite the bullet and have it done. I feel good about just doing it and not having to do it again for a long time. We spend so much time in our home, I just want to feel we are living the best we can.
Let me know if you have any additional questions about air duct cleaning! xo