Would a dirty furnace cause fast soiling of carpet?

[ruff]

Here is an email I got from a client. From your experience, is it correct?

"I have a question for you. We just had our air ducts & return cleaned, but we did not get the whole furnace cleaned as it was
very expensive and we have that money designated for the carpet cleaning. The air duct cleaner said that if we don't get the furnace
cleaned first it will just get the carpet dirty all over again and quickly. Is that your experience as well?"

 

[renegade_cowboy]

It will resoil everything, but not in the dramatic fashion as the air duct tech said it would. Im willing to bet that he gets paid commission and in that situation, some people will say almost anything to make a buck.

 

[KevinD]

The air in the ducts pass over the heat exchangers but that area should be cleaned during a proper duct cleaning along with the return air and the blower motor area.

Were they trying to tell (sell) her that she needed her furnace serviced like in the burner area (tune up) because even if the furnace was burning improperly it would not effect the supply and return air and have any impact on the carpet.
Bad combustion air just goes up the chimney or outside through the vent.

 

[Hoody]

The air in the ducts pass over the heat exchangers but that area should be cleaned during a proper duct cleaning along with the return air and the blower motor area.

Were they trying to tell (sell) her that she needed her furnace serviced like in the burner area (tune up) because even if the furnace was burning improperly it would not effect the supply and return air and have any impact on the carpet.
Bad combustion air just goes up the chimney or outside through the vent.

I was thinking they were trying to upsell the home owner something like a coil cleaning. Which in my experience really doesn't do much IAQ rather than performance of the furnace. Dirty coils inhibit the furnace's full heat potential to reach the airflow making the furnace work harder, run longer to maintain the temperature its set at.

The duct cleaning companies claim seems to be pretty far fetched to me. Just because they used negative air pressure to evacuate the particles in the air ducts, they didn't remove those remaining particles from every surface and soft piece of furniture in the home.

 

[Connor]

I doubt this guy was an HVAC tech. Tell her to ask her HVAC contractor. At this point you could be liable if you told her no. But, unless it's some sooty fuel oil burner, I doubt there is a problem. CYA.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Not likely to the degree that it would be noticeable. Does the system pass particulate through it? Yes most filters are "rock catchers"around 15% efficiency. So yes they will in time, theoretically resoil everything.

However air ducting like carpet cleaning only lasts for a time period, after that they are no longer "clean" anyways.

 

[K P]

Should be part of the service...must have been one of those 69.00 up to 10 vents rackets.Any self respecting duct cleaner should also have a camera.

 

[Connor]

There's a company that drives from Columbia SC to Augusta, GA with TWO techs to do duct cleaning for $159.

 

[K P]

Ya,but to clean the furnace is 200.00 hey Marty, blow me

 

[Desk Jockey]

We have one that comes from KC (2-hrs round trip) to clean air ducts for $59.00, according to their ad.

However we also had a few people that called embarrassed that they had used them and paid in excess of $1,200.00 and didn't get anywhere near what we would do for $600.00.

 

[K P]

Please tell me you own a camera Chabez :?:

 

[Desk Jockey]

Kevin I'm not going to save you money on a colonoscopy if that's what you're thinking!

Yes. :mrgreen:

 

[K P]

No need Richard,been eating pond scum(algae)every morning for years.Just dont tell Mike,he will think we are some partial vegan brothers or some shit.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Don't say "shit" when colonoscopy was just mentioned.

 

[K P]

Actually "no shit" would be more cause for alarm shiteatinggrin

 

[rhino1]

Typically the particles we see in duct cleaning are pretty dry, easily vacuumed types of contaminants. Oily, greasy, sticky, or sooty soil in the unit could be indicative of an issue with the unit, past or present. Sticky soil in ductworks can also be caused by smoking, fireplaces, candles, etc. This type of soil is not easily dislodged nor would it cover the carpet in a layer of dirt.

The duct cleaners were probably trying to upsell your homeowner to pay for cleaning the unit at an inflated price.

 

[BradFenstermaker]

Make sure there system is not a fuel burning system. My grandparents HVAC tech messed up there wayne burner adjustment.

After 1 night they had to get servpro to do a soot/smoke restoration.

 

[John Buxton]

Its more important to keep the furnace clean than the ductwork. if you want to see if it's still dirty buy cheesecloth and put under the registers. Double it up cut it a bit large then tuck it in around the edges. Check it in a couple weeks and see how dark it is. If the furnace is spitting out anything you'll see it in a cheesecloth closest to the furnace.

If the house only has a couple returns you can replace the grills with ones that have a filter holder then you'll never need the ducts cleaned again if you change filters regularly.

When I did this work I charged $300-$600 a system. I cant believe you can do it for $59.00. An average sized ranch on a crawl takes about a half day for one person.

 

[rhino1]

In my experience the furnace is typically not the source of most of the contaminants. A unit is likely to be serviced annually and cleaning of the air handler, blower, and coils should be part of regular service.

At minimum a duct cleaner should use an air nozzle and vacuum to clean the air handler.

If blocking devices are not placed within the air handler or duct system to prevent blowing contaminants into the unit you can end up with a furnace literally filled with debris.