The Junk We Find In Air Ducts is Weird

We’re often surprised by what we find when we clean out air ducts. How they got there is a mystery. Some items even seem too big to just be dropped in the vents by accident, especially if you’ve got vent covers. Yet, here we are again, with more weird junk to share.

What We Found

1. A Picture Frame

These ducts had been cleaned five years ago, but we still found multiple large items in the ducts. This one in particular we didn’t suck out with the initial go. Fortunately we always make sure to do a double check with the cameras after to make sure we get everything. We weren’t sure what it was at first. It looked sot of like a cardboard box, sort of, but we couldn’t see any labels on it. When we finally got it out, it turned out to be a cardboard frame for a picture Jesus. I guess it’s true what they say, “you can find Jesus in any situation.”

2. Promotional Ball

This little ball has the logo of Ace Hardware on it. Probably given out at some promotional event. We even called the location. We were really impressed with the quality. Ace really does pride itself on its quality. Kids might have dropped it down the vents on purpose. I have no idea why kids do this, but they do. It could also have been an accident, but I suppose we’ll never know.

3. A Spool of Ribbon

The owners of this home had just recently purchased it from a previous client of ours who suffered from allergies. Now, I could imagine a bit of ribbon slipping through a vent cover. It’s pretty thin, right? How about a whole entire spool of the stuff? Just stuffed right down there. Just one of many “treasures” we dug up. It’s worth to clean up your vents before you move out.

4. Broken Hanger

This hanger’s hook was broken off, so it was totally useless. Air ducts aren’t supposed to be for garbage disposal, though, so I’m not sure what exactly this was doing down there. At first, we though they might have taken the vent off to try and clean it. Perhaps it fell down accidentally? The amount of dust suggests there hadn’t been any cleaning for a while, though, so that theory quickly went out the window.

5. Photos, Bookmarks, and Playing Cards

This one’s a bit easier to make sense of. Small, thin objects that can easily slip through the holes in the vent. The bookmark looks like some kind of school promotional and the photos are from the 70s. They didn’t even belong to the owners of the house! As for the playing card, we see those all the time. This owner had just bought the home and was remodeling it, converting a two-story unit to two separate apartments. The landlord cleans out the air ducts following any kind of remodeling to make sure new tenants have fresh air when they move in. How thoughtful!

Dust As Thick As A Carpet

Now, this image is more like what we expect from air ducts that haven’t been cleaned before. That looks like a carpet, but it’s actually all dust. Especially in older houses, it’s very easy for dust to build up in air ducts over time. Modern filters manage to keep out a lot, so it’s less of a problem in newer houses. That doesn’t mean you can just ignore it, though. If you want to make sure the air in your home is nice and fresh, then you’ve got to have your ducts cleaned once every three to five years at least.

This wasn’t exactly an older home, though; it had been built in the early 2000s in Nibley, Utah. Houses from that period usually have better filtering, but you never know where construction crew might have cut corners. It’s always a good idea to check when you move in. You never know what’s lurking in your ducts.

Bad Air Duct Designs

Here’s one that baffled us when we saw it. Look at those bits of wood there. Those are beams meant to support the ducts. What’s the problem you ask? Well, they’re on the inside of the ducts. Those beams create little spots for dust to cling to and get stuck on. Dust will build up in these ducts faster because those beams mess with the flow of air, keeping it from being properly moved. I don’t know why the crew that built this house did it this way, but they really should have put those supports on the outside.

Luckily, we don’t see many bad designs like this in the Logan, Utah area. Our friends at Mountain Vally HVAC were just as dumbfounded. To see the shock on their faces as we told them about these terrible designs is all we need to know just how important having the right duct design really is for your home.

Breathe Easy with Easy Breezy

Clean air is important for your health. Having a lot of dust in your air ducts can really mess with your allergies. With spring finally kicking in here in Cache Valley, you don’t want to deal with that any more than you have to. On top of that, dust and junk in the air ducts will hinder the air flow, which can force your HVAC system to work harder, costing you more money in the long run.

If it’s been five or more years since you’ve cleaned your air ducts out, why not give us a call and schedule an appointment? We’ll have you breathing fresh air in no time flat!