Best Air Duct, Dryer Vent & Chimney Cleaning in Alliston, ON

It depends on the fuel and the hours you burn, not the calendar. A stove that heats the house all winter fills its flue much faster than a fireplace lit on a few holidays, and green wood makes it worse. Oil and gas flues still need a look. Ask the sweep what the deposits looked like, and set your next visit from that.

Sometimes. Renovation dust, mice in the ductwork and debris blowing out of registers are the honest reasons. A furnace with a filter that gets changed doesn't need its ducts done on a schedule. In Ontario, a duct cleaning deal struck by an uninvited door-to-door seller is void, and you can keep the service without paying. Ask whether registers come off and how far the equipment reaches.

A dryer that needs extra cycles, a load that comes out hot but damp, a laundry area like a sauna, and lint collecting around the outside hood. In winter the hood flap can ice shut, and drifting snow can bury it. Ontario's carbon monoxide advice includes keeping the dryer vent clear of snow. Long runs, extra elbows and crushed foil hose are where lint packs in and catches fire.

Only if it's certified. The City of Montreal bans solid-fuel stoves and fireplaces unless they meet a tight particle limit, shown by EPA certification or the Canadian CSA standard. During a smog warning, even certified ones have to stay cold, unless the power has been out for hours. Every appliance must be declared to the city, used or not. Check the label before you book a sweep.

The burner, the gas line and the vent connector belong to a gas technician, not the sweep. In Ontario that means a contractor registered with TSSA, sending a technician who holds a gas certificate. A sweep can still clear a blocked chimney serving a gas appliance and report on the flue. If a gas appliance is spilling fumes or the CO alarm sounds, get everyone outside first.