Duct cleaning?

My daughter and I moved 2 years ago, and we have been sick basically ever since, all winter long both years. Lots of colds and she's had bronchitis twice. We're fine in the warmer months. I can't help but believe it has to do with the house. The main culprit seems to be the hot air heating system. Of course I'm not sure that's what it is, but that's my best guess.

Anyway, when I moved in, my dad (who's a contractor) looked into the ducts with a flashlight and told me they were sparkling clean. So I didn't bother getting them professionally cleaned, even though I wondered if he could actually see deep enough into the ducts to know for sure.

My daughter has another long-lasting cough now. I'm back to feeling like I need to do SOMETHING, and I think I'm going to try getting the ducts cleaned to see if it does anything. But I've read that there are lots of scamming "duct cleaning" companies out there, so I wanted to ask for advice here first to see if anyone knows about this topic. Anything I should know? Any recommendations?

ETA: My house is not dusty at ALL. Does that mean it's not the ducts?

Message edited 12/14/2010 3:57:38 PM.

Re: Duct cleaning?

We used cunningham. They were fantastic. My uncle rec them to us. They do all the king kullens. Our plumber said them, i think someone else said them too. They came in, wore bootites not to get the floor dirty did there thing and were goine in about an hour, hour and a half.

Re: Duct cleaning?

i used one i think it made a difference (but my house is old)

you should get an air purifyer--that helped us a ton

Re: Duct cleaning?

It can't hurt to get the ducts cleaned. I believe we used Sears, but not 100%.

I would also def get a humidifier or 2, especially if it's mostly when the heat is on.

Gross, but when mucous membranes dry out form the dry weather (even more in the dry heat), peolpe become more prone to upper respiratory infections. I'd definitely try a good humidifier.

Message edited 12/14/2010 9:32:05 PM.