Cleaning Heating Vents

Hi S.,
Do you change the filter in the furnace every year? Also, have you tried a humidifier in her room? That helps my little guy who also has a similar problem with dryness and coughing. We usually don't clean the air ducts since we also don't have air conditioning.

The builders are just glad to be finished building your home and are not very good at cleaning the vents. We also had our house built and shortly after we had moved in, I thought I would see if the builders actually did clean. I was so shocked to see how much debris was in the vents. I got someone to come in and clean out the vents. What a difference! Right away you could
feel the difference. So by all means, if you haven't already,
clean your vents. May I also suggest getting something that will add moisture into the air for the winter time. It gets so dry in CO for the winter. It will definitely help.

Hi S.,
Unfortunately new homes have tons of dust, dirt, garbage and other construction debris in them. I think it is a good idea to get it done right away. I've been in this house for 5 years and had them done when we moved in (figured if it helps decrease the dusting all the better). Make sure you go with a good company versus a cheapo one. They need to have strong equipment. Since the initial vac, I've just tried to vacuum the ducts with my sweeper. Pricing all depends on the size of your house and the number of ducts and vents. Plan on several hundred. We used Monster Vac in the past.

When the kids were younger, we ran a humidifier at night in the hall. Colorado air is very dry. I also run HEPA quality air filters in my house that also give out negative ions. Make sure any unit you get does not give off ozone in the process as that is really bad for your lungs. Email me if you want info on the unit we have. I had to get rid of my ionic breeze for that reason. Indoor air pollution is a huge problem - paint, hardwood floors, dust, dirt, and the cleaners we use in our air tight homes.

Good luck. S.

S., I know that with the dry air in Colorado many people suffer from that dry cough in the winter mainly too associated with the dry air the furnace is kicking out. My kids peds recommended a cool air humidifier. We purched the Vornado room humidifiers from Bed Bath and beyond. What I like about them is that they hold a large capacity of water and their is a filter in them that filters the incoming air. They are a little large they take up about a 2 ft by 1 1/2 ft area on the floor of a room but they are great for the dry winter months. As a plus we use them in the summer months too when we don't run our a/c cause it sorta works like a evaporative cooler in the rooms. As for the ducts in your home as a realtor I would recommend having them cleaned every couple of years. Good luck to you.

You really should get your vents cleaned once a year. (I honestly have never done it once a year) New home vents are probably some of the dirtiest. If the builder was good, there is probably tons of dust and other dirt from the building process. If the builder wasn't so good, you could have insulation or even other items, like trash, in your vents. You should also change your filter monthly. Look for a filter that also filters allergens. This might help some with the cough. Finally, we run humidifiers year round in our house. I have a big one for the main rooms and smaller ones for all of the bedrooms. I hope this helps!