Clean Ductwork to Improve Air Quality?

LESLIE: Alright. Now we’ve got L.T. Cooper on the line from Texas. What can we do for you today?

L.T.: Just got a question reference the advisability of cleaning ductworks, if you feel like there’s maybe an air-quality problem within a home.

TOM: Well, if you think there’s an air-quality problem within the house, cleaning the ducts is not the first thing you want to do. What you’d want to do is look at the filter system. I presume you have a hot-air heating system or is this just for air conditioning?

L.T.: It’s A/C and hot air; air conditioning.

TOM: OK. So what kind of a filter do you have on this, L.T.?

L.T.: Fiberglass filters, mesh filters and the pleated filters.

TOM: We call those rock-stoppers, because that’s about the size of the dust particle it has to be for them to stop it.

L.T.: OK.

TOM: What you really want to have is an electronic air cleaner.

LESLIE: Mm-hmm, which will clean all the air in the house. Everything that goes through the system will be cleaned many times during the day as all of the air cycles through it.

L.T.: OK. Where do you get an air – electronic air cleaner?

TOM: You contact your HVAC professional. It has to be permanently installed. I’ll give you two good brands to look at: one is Trane CleanEffects and the second one is the Aprilaire.

L.T.: Aprilaire.

TOM: Yep. Both of those are excellent air cleaners and they’ll stop even virus-sized particles. So if you have a good filtration system on there like that, you’re not going to have to worry about what’s inside your ducts.

L.T.: Right. OK. Well, I think that’s great. Thank you.

TOM: You’re welcome. And you should be breathing a lot easier, L.T. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.