Duct Cleaning in Charleston, SC
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Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Storms and long power outages both work on your ducts
Charleston County has logged 304 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Storms like that knock out power, and when the power goes, the system sitting idle for a day or more can let dust and moisture settle in the ducts before air is moving through them again.
In 2024, 45% of South Carolina households lost power for at least 24 hours. Heat only runs here from November through March, so most of the year the ducts are carrying cooled air instead, and whatever has settled in them during an outage gets pushed through the house once the system starts back up.
- 5 months
- November through March, your furnace pushes air through your ducts
- 6 months
- May through October, your air conditioner does the same
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NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- How often should air ducts be cleaned?
- There is no fixed schedule that fits every home. Homes with pets, smokers, or someone with allergies tend to need it more often than homes without. If you see dust coming out of the vents when the system runs, or notice more dust settling around the house than you used to, that is a better signal than any calendar date.
- Is air duct cleaning worth it?
- It depends on what is actually in the ducts. If there is visible dust, debris, or signs of rodents or mold, cleaning them makes a real difference in the air moving through the house. If the ducts are new or were cleaned recently and the home has no pets or smokers, there may not be much to gain. A contractor can look inside with a camera and tell you honestly whether cleaning will help your situation.
- What does air duct cleaning involve?
- A contractor connects a powerful vacuum to the duct system, then uses brushes or air tools to loosen dust and debris from inside so it can be pulled out. This covers the supply and return ducts along with the registers and grilles, and usually the coil and blower if they are part of the job. Homes here need heat from November through March, so the same ducts carrying warm air through those months are the ones doing the work the rest of the year for cooling.