Are dryer vent cleaning and HVAC duct work cleaning DIY projects the average homeowner can do? OR should I call a professional? I’m pretty sure my house could use both!- Judy
The answer is: Yes. And definitely not!
What you can do:
– Change your furnace filters every quarter (more if you’re remodeling or have lots of foot traffic, pets that shed, hayfever or other allergies, etc). If you’ve just bought the house and the furnace filters aren’t new, we replace them.
– Clean the HVAC vent covers. Remove them, clean the lint, replace. Some may just lift out of the opening. Others may require removing screws. Be careful not to drop them down any deep ducts. Also, one of my fave gizmos for this job is the mighty HYDE Quickly Clean Glove. You’ll love it to un-icky icky stuff.
– You can also clean out some HVAC ducts. A little. For example, with the vent cover off a floor duct, look into the duct. If there’s an elbow, you can reach down there (there is no creature in there…probably) and look for stuff like cat toys and Hot Wheels and yummy, yummy cat hair. If there’s dust, zap it up with a vacuum.
Beyond this, cleaning HVAC ducts is best left for the pros. Much like balancing and tuning your HVAC system is purely a pro job—trust me, you don’t have the right tools and know-how unless you’re a professional with the right tools and know-how working on your own house. Long brushes, agitators and large vacs are necessary to clean a duct 30-feet or more from a vent cover. Oh, and don’t look at what they brush and suck out of there. Just don’t. >>>smile emoji<<<.
And use this as a reminder that an HVAC system is like a car; it benefits from regular tune-ups, also not a DIY thing.
As for a dryer vent cleaning, in many cases, this is something you can do yourself. I go into more details in the blog and video, but chances are you’ll either be able to clean it fairly easily, or should replace it immediately. Check out the blog.
I hope this helps! Let us know how it turns out.
