All About Air Ducts: Post Duct Cleaning Consumer Checklist

How to Determine if the Duct Cleaner Did a Thorough Job

A thorough visual inspection is the best way to verify the cleanliness of your heating and cooling system. Some service providers use remote photography to document conditions inside ducts. All portions of the system should be visibly clean; you should not be able to detect any debris with the naked eye.

Show the Post-Cleaning Consumer Checklist to the service provider before the work begins. After completing the job, ask the service provider to show you each component of your system to verify that the job was performed satisfactorily.

If you answer "No" to any of the questions on the checklist, this may indicate a problem with the job. Ask your service provider to correct any deficiencies until you can answer "yes" to all the questions on the checklist.

Post-Cleaning Consumer Checklist:

General

• Did the service provider obtain access to and clean the entire heating and cooling system, including ductwork and all components (drain pans, humidifiers, coils, and fans)?
• Has the service provider adequately demonstrated that ductwork and plenums are clean? (Plenum is a space in which supply or return air is mixed or moves; can be duct, joist space, attic and crawl spaces, or wall cavity.)

Heating

• Is the heat exchanger surface visibly clean?

Cooling Components

• Are both sides of the cooling coil visibly clean?
• If you point a flashlight into the cooling coil, does light shine through the other side? It should if the coil is clean.
• Are the coil fins straight and evenly spaced (as opposed to being bent over and smashed together)?
• Is the coil drain pan completely clean and draining properly?

Blower

• Are the blower blades clean and free of oil and debris?
• Is the blower compartment free of visible dust or debris?

Plenums

• Is the return air plenum free of visible dust or debris?
• Do filters fit properly and are they the proper efficiency as recommended by HVAC system manufacturer?
• Is the supply air plenum (directly downstream of the air handling unit) free of moisture stains and contaminants?

Metal Ducts

• Are interior ductwork surfaces free of visible debris? (Select several sites at random in both the return and supply sides of the system.)

Fiber Glass

• Is all fiber glass material in good condition (i.e., free of tears and abrasions; well adhered to underlying materials)?

Access Doors

• Are newly installed access doors in sheet metal ducts attached with more than just duct tape (e.g., screws, rivets, mastic, etc.)?
• With the system running, is air leakage through access doors or covers very slight or non-existent?

Air Vents

• Have all registers, grilles, and diffusers been firmly reattached to the walls, floors, and/or ceilings?
• Are the registers, grilles, and diffusers visibly clean?

System Operation

• Does the system function properly in both the heating and cooling modes after cleaning?