it is true that there is no outside source evidence that air duct cleaning does any good. but nadca is spending a quarter of a million dollars in 2009 to put an end to this discussion. the reson why the epa says"nor here nor there" about air duct cleaning is because there has never been a study anywhere.

yes Aaron, air duct cleaning is a scam when you hire a company to run a glorified shop vac or carpet cleaning hose down your vents. i dont care if they are useing compressed air or brushes or both. there is no physical possible way a hose down your vents will clean your duct system. we recently inspected another(totaling 15 now)of these hose job cleanings. this man was 88 years old has a wife that is bed ridden and always will be because of resperitory problems. he called us to see what we charge for sanitizing the system.after talking to him for a while i asked if he recently had his ducts cleaned. he said yes. i said do you feel like you were ripped off. he said yes. they charged him @ $180.00 to shop vac his vents which is fair i guess(knowing what i know, i wouldnt pay .02 cents for that)but they said he had mold and bacteria so this concerned husband paid an additional $460.00 to have them turn on his blower motor and blow some kind of juice into it as it was running. it took him 15 min. to do that. that wont kill anything exept maybe his furnce.also 2 days after his cleaning he checked his furnace filter and said"that is the dirtiest filter i have ever seen in 88 years".so what this company did was charge him over $600.00 dollars to stir up the dust in his system and potentialy ruin his furnace.did i mention he is a retired doctor and is looking for a class action law suit against this company.when i go into a house of elderly folks who have major health and resperitory problems and have been scammed like this it makes my blood boil.but dont worry we are helping this man get his money back and are going to reclean his(entire) system propperly. as far as lakelandude is concerned. what an upset man. dude i have your portable hepa vac. in fact i have 4 of them that pull 5000 cfm. i bet yours is a 2500 cfm(most popular and inexpensive for beginers)sure its better than the hose job but not better than the gas powered vacs.i will put my cleaning to yours any day.

having been in the duct cleaning business for more years then i care to recall, i can tell anyone, including who ever it is at NADCA, the statement of cleaning an average home of 2000sq ft will run between 400.00 and 1,000.00, is grossly misleading, and just adds more confusion, in the consumers mind. first off, NADCA has no place in determining pricing of any kind! furthermore, they're an entity, who's main concern is the almighty dollar for thier pockets! thier purpose should be education, and education only, for those who are new to the business, and teach them proper techniques, and the very many ways that an HVAC system can be cleaned!! other then education, they are somewhat useless. why a 600.00 spread? you sound worse then the B&S cleaners that are being reported. add to that, the fact that it was stated a large vacuum truck is needed is also very misleading. i have owned vac trucks and have and still own portable high power vacuums, specifically designed for duct cleaning, and can tell you, in the proper hands, can do just as good a job at cleaning. yes, the vac trucks have gargantuan power, but the owners will never tell thier customers, there is a risk of implosion of thier ductwork. there is a video online, that shows just how much power the trucks have, and how easily metal ductwork can collapse under intense negative air. i certainly do not want that risk in my home!

My situation was some what similar, but with a couple of differences. What was similar, was I was given a bid to clean my air ducts, but when they came out to do the cleaning they said, "the duct work was a bit more complicated than they expected so the price is going to be more." I did not except the offer. I had a bid, that is why you get a bid. If they change it at the last minute, that is their loss. I had another company clean my ducts. However, I did have the original company still install the UV air purifying lighting system. Unfortunately, the expensive system was installed incorrect. It was installed too close to my air-filter. Now I didn’t find this out until years after it was installed. How was I to know. So now the lifetime warranty air filter, I was convinced to buy, has been replaced twice. When I gave up on that filter I just started purchasing disposable ones. The UV light just disintegrated those and made disintegrated particles from the filter circulate in and through my heating and cooling system. This complete defeats having a UV air purifying lighting system. Moral of the story: MAKE SURE THINGS ARE INSTALLED PROPERLY.

I recently had my ducts cleaned. I have no complaints. I was shown before and after pictures. There was definite difference. I'm not defending these air duct cleaners but the "bait and switch" is not true. The coupon I had clearly stated what services were covered by the coupon price. Additional services were more. I had more vents than the coupon stated and it was a little extra. If you choose to have all of your vents cleaned of course it will be extra. C'mon, no matter where you go for any type of service you always have the option of the basic service or something that includes many extra services. I see it at the mechanics. You go in for one service but ending up paying for extra stuff that you can't gurantee is needed or not. Even at the car wash you have the option to buy a basic car wash or an EXTREME car wash with wax,under cleaning, rainx for your windows. Its what you prefer. I would say to these consumers is do your homework. I work in a field where I deal with customers who complain all the time. I get tired of explaining what I said to a customer. I explained to them on the phone when they scheduled their appointment, when they arrived, and when they were checking out. There are no surprises. It's not fair to my boss if a customer claims they did not know. I know I had told them three times and they know it too. Somehow they feel "jipped". I'm sorry to say that it's not only air duct cleaners that are "bait and switch". Look at all you junk mail, you've got coupons for everything. You either get something for free BUT only if you buy something else. These are people's lively hoods. Not every business is registered with the BBB and guess what they're not bad. It's a tough economy right now, do your homework. I know that when I walk into a furniture store or an appliance store, or have any type of service done that I'm gonna have options. I may be able to afford the basic or I may want to invest in a little extra. I did not feel cheated. I had a choice.

Professional duct cleaning will remove dust, debris and anything else that may have collected or fallen into your ducting system; however, there is no credible, independent evidence that shows duct cleaning will improve the air you breathe or lower your heating/cooling bills. During the 1990’s, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) studied duct performance in homes before and after they had been professionally cleaned. Researchers found little or no evidence to support the duct-cleaning industry’s claims; airborne particles and airflow levels were the same as they had been before the ducts were cleaned. It is very unlikely that dust, allergens or other debris will accumulate to levels that would make your household air quality unhealthful. Dust, allergens and other airborne particles are brought or blown in from outside, they may be filtered through your home’s carpet and upholstery, then released as your family and pets move about your residence. Duct cleaning may be appropriate in cases when there is an extreme blockage of your ducting system or where water has gotten in and created mold/mildew conditions. In the case of water in the ducting system, it would be far better, and cheaper in the long-run, to eliminate the source of the mold causing water and replace that section of the ducting system rather than to have a cleaning service maintain the ducts on a regular basis. Duct cleaning is not necessary for most homes--ever! Don't give these guys a cent of your money. If you really want your ducts clean, then take the $1000 and go to Sears, purchase their best shop-vac. This should cost you way under $500. Buy a couple extra lengths of house and push it through your system. Duct cleaning is a SCAM. If you don't believe me then pick up the phone, call a duct cleaning service and challenge them to show you the independent evidence that backs up a single one of their claims (and make sure it is truely independent Arron MacDonald