17 posts, read 24,344 times I am in an older home and having significant /breathing asthma problems. I'm considering getting the air ducts cleaned, but want to hear from some homeowners who have direct experience as to its effectiveness in cleaning the air. Also, I am considering Ozone Generator Treatment, and also want to hear from anyone who has had this done to their home. Medically, I can't afford to make things in the home worse, and that is why I am being so cautious. 25,841 posts, read 22,811,034 times We have a 30-year-old house. We had the air ducts cleaned by a professional company that advertises that as their main "thing." It cleaned out the ducts, yes, but it did not help one bit with dust or any sort of breathing/allergy issues we had. We still have the same amount of dust we always had (a LOT). I do not recommend it. I have no experience with the ozone thing, but I know that even low amounts of ozone can cause severe reactions. I would read this before you go that route:

Ozone Generators that are Sold as Air Cleaners | US Environmental Protection Agency 14,097 posts, read 19,136,496 times 27,825 posts, read 27,645,559 times 33,867 posts, read 33,197,533 times Originally Posted by BigJon3475 ^^^This is so true. aaf car air purifierSeveral years ago we had Coit who was running a special to clean air ducts. oreck xl air purifier consumer reportsWhat a waste of time and money. air purifier perfect aireThe guy hooked up something to one of the ducts to suck out the dust and while it ran for about an hour he stood outside smoking a cigarette and talking on his cellphone. Then he wanted $200.00 for the job and we refused. We got a ladder took off the vent and checked, stuck hand inside and showed him there's dust all over inside the ductwork, and he said that's the deal.

Ha, no way Jose'. Scam artist at work. His boss called us and said they were going to sue us if we didn't pay and I told him that we were going to file a fraud complaint with the State Atty Generals Consumer Affairs office. Never heard from them again. 9,918 posts, read 15,524,109 times I always think of ozone generators as more of an odor remover. Hotels will use one in a room if someone smoked in it, for example. You also can't be in there when it is used. I don't think it will do much if anything to alleviate your symptoms. I can't really speak to the duct cleaning; I moved into my house several years ago, it was 20 years old at the time, and I didn't bother. Sounds like most of the time it is not worth bothering in fact. Presumably you are allergic to something inhaled which is triggering the asthma symptoms. I don't know if you've ever had allergy testing and are aware of what those triggers may be. If you haven't, some of the possibilities include pet dander and mold as well as the dust you are targeting with this post.

If you have a pet (especially if you just got one recently) that is something to consider. Not getting rid of the pet but being aware and taking steps to help mitigate the problems. Mold is another significant allergen which may suggest a problem in the house somewhere (water leaking, etc.) Did you move to the house recently and did the symptoms coincide with the move? Obviously that would suggest something in the new house, which could also be a pet that a previous occupant had in the house. If not, is it something that has recently come on? This could indicate a recent change in conditions in the house. To me that's not likely to be dust. Do you notice it worse when you're sleeping? Another common allergen is dust mites (separate from dust) and the most significant exposure to these is in your bed when you're sleeping. There are steps you can take to help mitigate this exposure. I'm allergic to dust mites and I've never gotten an asthma reaction from that (see more details below) but I suppose it is not impossible.

I haven't been tested again in probably 15 years, but I've had long running reactions to dust mites, molds and dust. I take steps in the house to mitigate this, including with the bed for dust mites, keeping the humidity down to help inhibit mold and mite growth and, well, someday it's going to be removing the carpet but I haven't done that yet. Actually my reactions these days are pretty few and far between, a bit of sniffling is it generally around here. I do have some room HEPA air purifiers (these are basically a box with a fan that draws air through a thick pleated filter), but these will be overwhelmed by a forced air HVAC system if that is not adequately filtered at least. I use high MERV pleated filters in mine, just standard 1" disposable type but traps much more stuff than the cheapies. Important to change them often so it doesn't get too plugged. The filters are really only moderately useful against dust, maybe a little bit against pet dander. Most air filtration does essentially nothing for mold if I remember right.

I occasionally visit a house where I get significant asthma issue, not crazy threatening but enough that I'd like to hit an inhaler after a little while and gets significant if I stay in there for hours. I still don't know for sure what is the trigger there. Based on that plus another house where I get a little milder reaction, one theory is that their long haired cats trigger something my short haired cat doesn't. (I've never tested positive for being allergic to cats.) Another is that those houses are supremely dusty in spots, though I'm not exactly the neatest here about that either so I'm not sure it's significantly different. The worst house is circa 1950s I think. My own house is 1980s vintage. Not really sure what the difference might be. Another theory is mold; the little 1950s house has sump pumps in the basement and has had some water issues in there before. That makes me suspect there could be mold. They are with any luck moving in a few months so perhaps I will once and for all determine whether it is the house or the long-haired cat.