hi i’m mitch your air quality expert not a bad thing to have right and today i’m going to show you what the inside of an hvac system looks like before and after an air duct cleaning so in this video i’m going to demonstrate and show you and explain everything to you you should be able to make a fully educated decision after watching this video this video i am going to break down the anatomy of an hvac system and how it generally works
Beware of Groupon or Coupon Companies
One thing you definitely need to watch out for is Groupon or other coupon companies. You know those little mailers that show up in your mailbox offering “limited vent cleaning” for $49, $69, or $129? Here’s the truth: there’s no way a professional air duct cleaning can be done properly for $129. It’s simply impossible, and there’s always a catch. Let me explain what usually happens—I’ve been in the industry for over 12 years.
These coupon companies sell you an “unlimited vent” package. Let’s break down what that really means.
Think about your HVAC system: it has a supply side and a return side. The supply side is where the air comes out of the vents. If you have a 1,000-square-foot house, you probably have about 10 vents. These companies will clean those vents—but only the branches leading to them. They won’t touch the main trunk line, which is the central part of your system. To clean the trunk line, they’ll try to sell you an additional service for $150.
On top of that, they typically use brushes, which are not recommended. And that’s just the supply side—there’s still the return side, the coils, the furnace, and the blower motor to consider.
Once they have you hooked with the $129 “unlimited vents” deal, they’ll try to upsell every other part of your system:
- Return side (cold air returns): $150
- Trunk line (supply side): $150
- Coils: $100
- Blower motor: $225
So, let’s add that up: $129 + $150 + $150 + $100 + $225 = $754. What started as a $129 deal ends up costing $754 for a full HVAC cleaning.
Here’s why the low prices exist: no legitimate business could operate and do a proper cleaning for $129. These companies often overbook, scheduling 15 jobs a day. Most of these appointments are rescheduled or canceled because they simply can’t complete that many jobs properly. The low price is a hook to get in your door, and once they’re inside, the upselling begins.
So, whenever you see these cheap coupon deals, be very cautious. What looks like a bargain is often just the first step in a series of costly add-ons.
What a Real Air Duct Cleaning Looks Like
now we’re going to take it back we’re going to rewind we’re going to show you what a real air duct work looks like okay we’re back now i’m going to show you how an hvac system works
Why are air duct cleaning scams such a huge thing on Facebook?
byu/wiener_dawg inScams
Let’s start with the supply side. The supply side consists of your vents, which can vary from house to house. I’m basing this explanation on a house with a basement furnace, which is very common in the Midwest. These vents supply your heating and cooling throughout the home. Here’s your furnace—this is the supply side. All the vents that push air into your rooms are part of the supply side.
Return Side and Air Filter
Next, we have the return side. What does this mean? The return vents are generally located on the walls. These vents pull air back into the system and are the ones that get dirty the most. Air is drawn through these vents, traveling through the wall, down through the ductwork, and into the return system. Here is your air filter—this is what cleans the air. The air filter removes dust and debris before the air reaches your furnace.
Furnace, Blower Motor, and Heat Exchangers
Now, let’s look at the furnace itself. In most basement setups, you’ll find the blower motor here, also known as a squirrel cage. This component forces air through the HVAC system. After the blower motor, if you have a gas system, the air passes through the heat exchangers. From there, the air continues upward to the coils—these are your coils, where cooling or additional heating occurs.
Coils and Mold Risk
The coils are a critical part of your HVAC system—they are the last point before fresh air comes into your home. If debris gets here, it can create serious problems. Here’s what you need to know:
Key Points:
Humidifier and UV Air Purifier
A lot of times, some people might have a humidifier in their system. The humidifier is usually installed somewhere in your HVAC system, and it adds moisture. When you’re not using your AC coils—like during the winter months—you’ll still be running the humidifier. This means it’s putting moisture back into your system, so it can feel like you never really win.
If you have a humidifier, it’s highly recommended to also have a UV air purifier. This is typically installed in your plenum, at the top of the system. The UV air purifier works 24/7 and will kill 99.9% of mold, germs, viruses, bacteria, and even eliminate bad odors.
Here’s why it matters: if there’s already a little mold inside your furnace, the UV air purifier will take care of it. Many companies wait until the last minute to sell these devices, but installing one proactively can prevent mold issues before they get out of control.
So, if you want to fix a potential mold issue—and a lot of people do—having a UV air purifier in conjunction with your humidifier is the best approach.
Trunk Lines and Branches
Now that we’ve covered your coils and air filter, we’re moving to the trunk lines—this is essentially the last step before fresh air reaches your rooms. Here’s how it works:
- Air comes up from the furnace and flows through the trunk lines (also called main lines).
- From the trunk lines, air is distributed to the branches, which lead to your floor vents in each room.
These floor vents are what you, as the consumer, actually see. Most people don’t know much about what’s happening behind the walls, which is why I’m breaking it down step by step.
Both the supply and return sides of your system have trunk lines. Depending on your system, you might have three or four trunk lines, but in this example, we’re using a very simple setup—probably similar to what you have in your household.
While HVAC anatomy can seem confusing at first, understanding the role of trunk lines and branches helps you see how fresh air actually moves through your system.
In the Field: Supply Line Cleaning
Here’s the deal—we’re taking you live into the field. Using small cameras, we show exactly what the inside of a clean branch line looks like. This lets you go from a simple drawing to seeing real-life results. One of our technicians demonstrates what cleaning the inside of a supply line actually looks like, step by step.
In the Field: Cold Air Return Trunk Line Cleaning
Next, we move to the cold air return trunk line. Again, we show the cleaning process live in the field. This gives you a clear picture of how debris and dust are removed from these critical components of your HVAC system.
Post-Cleaning Options
Once the HVAC system is fully cleaned, we offer several options to every customer, regardless of whether mold is present. Not every furnace has mold, but we inspect each system carefully and report our findings.
Sanitizer via ULV Fogger
- One of our most popular services is the use of a sanitizer applied with a ULV fogger.
- This anti-microbial mist is sprayed throughout your entire HVAC system, coating all interior surfaces.
- The fog helps eliminate mold spores, germs, viruses, bacteria, and other contaminants that may be present on the duct surfaces.
UV Air Purifiers
While we’ve been installing these for several years, they’ve recently grown in popularity due to their proven effectiveness in maintaining a healthy HVAC system.
Another highly requested service is our UV air purifier installation, which has been featured on Fox 2 News.
These purifiers are installed in your air handler or plenum.
They help increase air quality, maintain cleaner coils, and remove contaminants that can back up into your system.
UV air purifiers provide a long-term solution by killing 99.9% of airborne viruses, germs, bacteria, and eliminating odors.
What to Ask When Shopping for Air Duct Cleaning
when you are shopping an air duct work around make sure to ask the right questions because you want to get all of this cleaned during the air duct work you don’t just want this and that and clean that you don’t want that that does nothing all they’re gonna do is push that down into here and then try to sell you that so you want to get the entire hvac system clean it’s very important to get the entire hvac system cleaned
Conclusion and Contact
so this is going to be the whole thing this is going to be the conclusion of this video at the around it somewhere on the bottom of it top of it the side of it somewhere around this video there’s going to be a contact form and it’s going to have a questionnaire fill that out it’s going to get your information and that’s going to allow us to give you the best quote possible and we’re going to lock you in with a locked in rate fill that out and our team will get back to you asap and we will be in your house increasing your indoor air quality until next time my friends you all have a great day and we’ll see you soon
