Duct Cleaning in Waukesha, WI
Tell us about your home, and a licensed contractor who covers Waukesha County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Eight months of heat means eight months of air moving through your ducts
Your furnace runs from October through May here, close to eight months of the year. Every time it cycles on, air pushes through the ducts and picks up whatever has settled since the last run. On the nights that average 16°F, it's cycling on and off for hours straight, moving that same dust over and over.
Waukesha County has logged 18 winter storms and 103 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Wind like that works dust and debris in around vents and duct joints, and once it's inside, the furnace just keeps circulating it.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace pushes air through your ducts
- 3 months
- June through August, 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's no fixed schedule that fits every home. If anyone in the house has allergies, or you've had a pest problem or water damage in the ductwork, it's worth doing sooner rather than later. Your ducts run all winter here, October through May, so anything sitting in them gets pushed through the house for a long stretch of the year.
- Is air duct cleaning worth it?
- It's worth it if there's a real reason for it, not just as routine upkeep. Dust buildup, a musty smell from the vents, or debris you can see at the register are all signs it will help. If the ducts look clean and the air moves fine, cleaning them on a schedule alone won't do much.
- What does air duct cleaning involve?
- A contractor connects a vacuum to the duct system to pull air through it, then agitates the inside of each duct with brushes or air tools to knock loose dust and debris off the walls as it gets pulled out. Every supply and return in the house gets done this way, along with the main trunk lines. The furnace or air handler itself, including the blower and coil, usually gets cleaned as part of the job too, since it's part of the same air path.