The Best Type of Air Duct Cleaning Equipment

Are you looking for the best type of air duct cleaning equipment? Well, it really depends on your target market. Are you trying to clean residential & light commercial ductwork or large commercial & industrial ductwork?

Air duct cleaning equipment usually falls into two main categories: Negative Air and Rotary Brush.

Spoiler Alert: If you don't like to read, skip directly to the bottom of this article and see how the SpinVax 1000XT equipment resolves the problems of the different types of air duct cleaning equipment.

Let’s give a quick rundown of these two types of air duct cleaning equipment.

Negative Air Duct Cleaning Equipment

What you need: Negative Air Vacuum System, Air Compressor, plastic ducting, duct cutters, air hoses, and usually air whips.

Process: You will need to cut a rather large size hole into the ductwork to connect your Negative Air Vacuum. You will also cut smaller size holes throughout the ductwork for your air compressor hose. Basically, you are trying to blow & suck dirt back to the negative air vacuum. Many of these types of air duct cleaning equipment use “Air whips” on the end of the air compressor hose to try to agitate the duct wall (because we all know wind alone will not remove stuck on dirt). The air whips randomly flap around in the wind to hit the duct wall and dislodge the contaminates. This random process removes some of the dirt on the duct wall, but obviously the random process is inefficient. The powerful airflow then draws the dirt knocked off back to the negative air vacuum to remove.

Flaw in Process & Equipment: As explained, this type of duct cleaning equipment provides more of a “maintenance” vs. “cleaning.” There is no way airflow and random “air whip” agitation will remove years of build-up off a duct wall. The negative air process can really only remove loose dirt in ductwork. This is why it is not good for residential ductwork.

Pro’s of Process & Equipment: For large industrial ductwork that needs to be blown out, this type of duct cleaning equipment can be used for quick, easy particle removal.

Air Compressor & Air Whip Systems (just like Negative Air but worse)

Recently, there are now systems on the market that use an Air Compressor with Air Whips and a vacuum system that is weaker than Negative Air. These systems usually have a "clear shield" or "cover" that you place over the vent and connect your vacuum (this is needed with air systems because they would blow dirt back into your face and the room you are cleaning). These Air Compressor & Air Whip Systems are just like the Negative Air systems mentioned above, but actually worse. Yes, you don't need to cut holes into the ductwork. However, you are doing the same cleaning process as mentioned in the Negative Air method above where the whips are random and cannot properly agitate the ductwork. Even worse is at least with "Negative Air," whatever you knocked off would be drawn back with a 2000cfm Negative Air Vacuum. With "Air Compressor & Air Whip" systems, you are using a less powerful vacuum than Negative Air; so, not only do you knock less dirt off with whips than brushes, but you are also leaving off the most important part of the Negative Air process - powerful vacuum. So, basically, you are saving yourself from cutting holes, but getting all the worse parts of Negative Air Systems. It's like the "Blow" without the "Suck." This is just a cheap knock off of Negative Air!

Rotary Brush Air Duct Cleaning Equipment

This type of duct cleaning equipment relies on brushes to “scrub” the ductwork to remove years of build-up from the duct wall and a vacuum system to remove the dirt. Most of these systems have a brush that is mounted on the vacuum hose. Some systems separate the vacuum and brush as well.

What you need: A machine that can spin a brush and vacuum away the contaminants.

Process: With this type of air duct cleaning equipment, you will enter every single vent in the home or business. You will push the brush & vacuum hose through the ductwork to agitate the ductwork and vacuum away the contaminates that you dislodge.

Flaws in Process & Equipment: This really depends on your equipment. Many systems mount a brush on the vacuum hose. A couple questions arise with this setup. How will a brush mounted to a vacuum hose be able maneuver through ductwork? Also, if you have a round brush that is 8in, how will this brush clean rectangular ductwork? If the brush and vacuum hose are separate, some questions may still arise. If the brush removes dirt off the ductwork, how will the brush be able to carry the contaminants to the vacuum system? Many of the Rotary Air Duct Cleaning Equipment out there cannot solve these problems.

Pro’s of Process & Equipment: This type of duct cleaning equipment provides a better scrubbing and cleaning of ductwork in residential and light commercial ductwork. These types of customers are not getting their ductwork cleaned every 6 months… it might be 6 years! During this time, humidity and dust will cake the inside of the duct walls. Rotary brush provides a better process to clean this ductwork.

Summary of Duct Cleaning Equipment

As you can see, there are pros & cons to the different methods of duct cleaning equipment. We have found that most air duct cleaning companies focus on the residential & light commercial market. Thus, rotary brush duct cleaning is a better method for most. However, as mentioned, there are still many flaws in rotary duct cleaning. How can one overcome these flaws? The answer is the SpinVax 1000XT Air Duct & Dryer Vent Cleaning System.

SpinVax 1000XT Air Duct & Dryer Vent Cleaning Equipment

(Watch short 21-sec video clip of SpinVax 1000XT process in action!)

The philosophy behind the SpinVax 1000XT is simple: Better Technology = Better Cleaning.

Check out the SpinVax 1000XT Air Duct & Dryer Vent Cleaning Equipment package to get more information on the best air duct cleaning equipment available!