How to Clean Furnace Ducts
If the air in your home doesn't feel fresh or you sneeze a lot when the furnace blows, it's time to clean out the ducts. Though professional services have the tools to reach deep down into duct work, these tools are easily bought at any hardware store. With a vacuum cleaner, a hand drill and the right panoply of duct brushes and attachments, you can clean your own furnace ducts and spare yourself the cost of labor. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Agitation brushes
- Duct tape
- Duct whip cable
- Hand drill
- Masking tape
- Plastic wrap
- Screwdriver
- Tape measure
- Utility knife
- Vacuum cleaner with upholstery extension
Instructions
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1
Using a tape measure, measure the length of your duct work and the diameter of your ducts. This will help determine how long of a whip cable and what diameter of agitation brushes you need.
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2
Measure all vents in your home in terms of width and height.
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3
Using a utility knife, cut out enough plastic sheets to cover every vent in the house.
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4
Unscrew all vents in your home and place them in a sink or wash tub to be cleaned later.
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5
Cover all exposed vents with the plastic covers you cut for Step 3. Use masking tape to hold them in place.
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6
Choose a centrally located, easy-to-reach vent as the suction center.
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7
Cut a hole large enough for your vacuum cleaner upholstery cleaning attachment to fit through.
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8
Slide the vacuum attachment approximately 4 inches into the hole. Use duct tape to hold the attachment in place. Do not turn the vacuum cleaner on yet.
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9
Choose a starting point. Choose any vent you prefer and remove the plastic cover.
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10
Attach the appropriate length of whip cable to a hand drill, then attach an agitation brush to the other end of the whip cable.
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11
Turn on the vacuum cleaner. You may notice the suction pulls the plastic covers on all of the vents. This is a good sign that you have enough suction to do the job.
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12
Place the agitation brush approximately 10 inches into your starting duct and activate the hand drill. This will cause the whip cable to turn and rotate the brush.
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13
The rotating brush will clean the debris, dust and allergens off the walls of your ducts, sending them to your vacuum.
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14
When the whip cable has reached its full extension, retract the brush, turn off your vacuum, cover the vent opening and move on to the next duct.
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Tips & Warnings
Empty your vacuum cleaner bag or debris receptacle periodically.
Be careful when cutting with a utility knife.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Image from Wikimedia Commons.
