Sunday, November 02, 2008
A real life illustration as to why it's impotant to clean your house ducts!!!
When I sadly had to begin to turn on the heat this Autumn I started to get really stuffed up and sneezy. Lucky for me, I decided to change the duct work in my new (to me) home. This is what we discovered. I doubt the ducts had been cleaned since the house was built ... 55 years ago!!! Now I'm hoping that all this dust is gone that my sinus' will clear up.
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10 comments:
Incredible, Leslie...but I don't quite follow. What are ducts for? Are they in the cellars below the floors? I've never heard of them before.
Nevertheless, i'm glad you've got rid of those mountains of dust. That will definitely not have helped your sinuses one little bit!
AAACHOOO!
Remember to wear a dust mask when the ducting comes down. Who knows what may be lurking in those neglected passages...
Hope all goes well.
Love
Dale
wow, 55 yrs, time for a clean, I hope your sinus clear up. Geez who knows what you were breathing.
nice to see you :)
Hi Val, Ducts are used in conjunction with forced-air furnaces. The furnace pushes warm air into the house and pulls cold air back. Both the warm and cold air flow through ducts. The ones that get really dirty (as seen in the pix are the cold air ducts because they carry air - plus lots of dirt etc. from the house back into the furnace. Ducts can be found below floors and also in walls and attics.
Dale - we certainly were using dust masks. Thank goodness the dust is gone.
Grace - nice to see U2 :-)
Yikes! We used to clean them every two years when we have a house.
xx
AM
Aha! Now I understand. We don't have that type of heating here as far as I know, so no air ducts. Our central heating is mostly from gas boilers which deliver hot water to radiators. I do know you have to clean under the radiators quite regularly, or you get the same kind of dust as you show in those photos. It looks like grey cotton wool! Hope all's well now, dear.
AH! I have always maintained that ducts should be cleaned annually! or at least every few years!
I did a story along those lines for The Echo years back, and ever since talking to HVAC folks, I have been a little paranoid of what lurks in the ducts. Good for you for having the ability to solve your sneezes!
xo
Never knew why duct tape was called that, but after your great post I now know. Thanks Lesley!
Impotant? Must be French for impotent I guess :-)
My goodness Koos! You're right! Duct tape is for that, isn't it?
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