New Mexico HVAC Pros
Rigid galvanized and flexible insulated HVAC ducts running through a dark attic, with dust particles visible in a shaft of light from a louvered vent.

Duct Cleaning in Santa Fe, NM

Tell us about your home, and a licensed contractor who covers Santa Fe County will get in touch.

Tell us about the job

It takes about a minute.

Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Flexible insulated air ducts running through a dark attic, with light rays from a louvered vent illuminating airborne dust particles.

Eight months of forced air, and wind that carries dust with it

Your furnace runs October through May here, eight months of the year. That's a long stretch of air moving through the same ducts, and every pass leaves a little more dust behind on the duct walls.

Santa Fe County has logged 187 damaging wind events over the past ten years, along with 134 winter storms. Wind that strong works dust and fine grit into a house through every gap it can find, and the return air pulls it straight into the ductwork. Buildup like that narrows the path air has to move through, and your furnace has to push harder to get the same air where it needs to go.

8 months
October through May, your furnace pushes air through your ducts
2 months
July through August, your air conditioner does the same
Isometric cutaway illustration of a single-story house with a dark shingled roof, showing interior rooms with furniture and a network of round ductwork connected to a central unit.
Your ducts carry heat October through May and cooled air July through August.

NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals

How often should air ducts be cleaned?
There is no fixed schedule that fits every house. Have the ducts checked if you can see dust blowing out of the vents, if it has been years since anyone looked, or if the house went through a remodel that stirred up drywall dust. A technician can tell you from a look inside whether the ducts need cleaning now or can wait.
Is air duct cleaning worth it?
It is worth it if you can see dust coming out of the vents, if a vent has not been cleaned in years, or if someone in the house has allergies that flare up indoors. Cleaning removes the dust and debris built up on the inside walls of the ducts. It will not fix a furnace or air conditioner that is struggling, so if the real problem is heating or cooling itself, that calls for a look at the equipment, not the ducts.
What does air duct cleaning involve?
A technician connects a vacuum system to the ductwork, then uses brushes or air tools to loosen dust and debris from inside the ducts so it can be pulled out through the vacuum. Vents and registers get wiped down or taken off to be cleaned separately, and both the return side and the supply side get covered. The furnace or air handler may get checked too, since it connects directly to the same ducts.
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