Duct cleaning and furnace tune up-Worth the money?

Lots of ads for these services including different levels of cleaning-any of it worth the money? Is the furnace tune up just an inspection? Fishing for other business maybe? Anyone know about this stuff?
Thanks

We own a hvac company in the metro. I will be completely honest with you. The duct cleaning is a joke now days and unless your ductwork has 2 inches of crap inside it it is doing nothing for you. Change your filter on a regular basis and you should be fine. However the tune up/ inspection is all depended on the company you call we do a tune up/inspection and mainly camera the heat exchangers to look for cracks to make sure it is going to be safe for you and your family for the winter. A lot of the big companies like Saint Paul plumbing and heating and oconners/onehour / bonfe are going to come in your house and do a inspection and try and sell you everything under the sun. Cause that guy makes a good percent of what he sells to you. I’m not saying at all that these are not great companies to do business with in fact I have seen installs done by all and they look great. but just be careful they will try and upsell you everything.
Thanks Matt

I agree with Matt on the furnace stuff. Dryer vents are another story and I’d suggest you have those vacuumed out every couple years.

Also, absolutely do NOT get your ducts cleaned if you have any kind of flex ducting installed in the home.

Well….I have a 50 year old house and when we installed the new furnace we had the ducts cleaned at the same time….it was staggering the amount of crap that came out.I would have to say it depends on a bunch of factors

Yep. Like Matt said above if there is a lot of crap build up in the ducts I would get them cleaned. Or if you have not had it done in many many years. Or if the wife keeps asking about it. Find a quality company to clean the ducts and service the furnace.

Had mine cleaned a couple of years ago when the new furnace was put in. Plenty of build up inside the ducts. The company also added some cold air returns to my basement. Made a world of difference with my basement being humid in the summer and cold in the winter time. New furnace does a fantastic job of evening out the cool/hot spots in the home also.

Good post!

I’m looking for someone to check over my furnace here in Lakeland (55043). PM only if you cover this area.

Fan is making a “rump rump” noise and the pilot light won’t stay lite if the air conditioner is turned on.

In a related topic, make sure you have your Carbon Monoxide detectors are working before the winter season arrives. Last winter our heat exchanger cracked (I believe that’s what it was if I remember correctly) in our furnace and our CO detector went off in the middle of the night. Had a HVAC guy come out in the middle of the night, he detected the highest CO reading he’s ever seen in our exhaust. He said we probably wouldn’t have woke up in the morning based off the readings he was getting.

I clean my furnace every year with shop vac. I have replaced the igniter once. I usually clean the igniter every year by lightly rubbing it with fine sandpaper. Very lightly as they are ceramic.
I also do the same thing to the metal flame sensor.
Its 20 years old and working.

ps-Thanks for the reminder. I just did it!

We just finished a complete remodel of our 38 year old home. The wife has been hounding me about getting the ducts cleaned now that the work is all done…I’ve been wondering if it’s worthwhile myself. We have an Aprilaire purifier also, if that makes any difference…Matt, what’s your opinion?