Ensuring both your home and your loved ones are safe is crucial. In fact, few things are near that level of importance nowadays.
The truth of that is only heightened when you consider what your home represents– all the collected wealth you have earned through hard work. And on a similar note, your loved ones represent all the joyous things in life.
With that being the case, when an opportunity arises to ensure the safety of both in one step, you should leap at it. This is one of those opportunities! By following these safety tips, we’ll help you ensure your home remains a safe place that’s in good condition.
Let’s get started with a general safety warning regarding your air ducts!
Don’t let the out of sight slip your mind.
We all know the saying– out of sight, out of mind. That saying is often the thought in the back of someone’s head as they neglect their air duct system. That can lead to more than a few problems down the line– all of which are preventable.
Luckily, you’ve already taken the first step away from that state of mind by clicking on this post!
Now, you should understand that those problems we mentioned mainly stem from an air duct system becoming bogged down with dust and debris– that’s one of many reasons why it’s so heavily recommended that you have your ducts cleaned.
So, our first piece of advice is exactly that– have them cleaned regularly. It can be a good idea to set a reminder for an air duct cleaning in 3 months or put a note on the fridge to keep the date fresh in your mind. It should keep you in line and hopefully keep your home safe.
That said, let’s look at a few more tips!
If you follow these tips and have your air ducts cleaned on a regular basis, then your home and system will be more than okay for years to come.
1. Keep the area around the HVAC system clean and clear.
We all know that it can be challenging to find the right space to store the Christmas decorations or whatever else. But it’s very important that you don’t resort to placing anything around the HVAC system.
In most cases, the HVAC system will reach high temperatures, which leaves flammable objects around it at risk of catching fire. So, for the safety of your family and your home– never store any things too close to the system. Ideally, keeping a distance of three to four feet.
2. Keep close tabs on the parts of your system.
Another problem stemming from the out of sight, out of mind mentality is the neglect of the HVAC system itself.
Too often nowadays, people forget about their HVAC system– believing that it will just continue to run for as long as they need it to. However, that’s the furthest thing from the truth. The system may not need constant oversight. Yet, it does require a checkup every now and then.
You see, as time goes on, people rarely turn their system off, which can lead to the parts being slowly worn down over time. Those parts may be easily replaced, but that’s assuming you do it quickly– without giving them the chance to cause additional harm to the system.
Do yourself and your wallet a favor and check the system. So, you can keep the repairs small.
3. Look into having a fire damper installed.
Fire dampers are installed in the air ducts system in the case of a fire. These dampers can lock down a raging fire– keeping it from reaching the rest of your home or loved ones for up to 3 hours!
That may not seem like a long time– however, it’s more than enough to evacuate you and your loved ones. And at the end of the day, that’s what we’re aiming for, right?
If you don’t have one, you should quickly look into installing one.
4. Monitor carbon monoxide levels.
We all know that carbon monoxide is one of the most toxic and poisonous gasses out there– or at least one of the most dangerous ones to which we are at normal risk of exposure. When inhaled, it can cause respiratory problems.
But in addition to that risk, if the carbon monoxide is released in the air ducts, there’s an increased risk of fire as well.
To prevent that, you should keep your air ducts well ventilated and install a carbon monoxide monitor near your HVAC system.
5. Have a professional check-up.
While you can check your HVAC system on your own, you most likely have limited knowledge of the system. That increases the likelihood of you accidentally overlooking a certain part or function.
To ensure that doesn’t happen and you aren’t caught by surprise later on, you should call in the professionals every little bit.
They’ll be able to use their expertise to investigate your HVAC system and scan for any anomalies– reducing the chance of the system running into problems.
Use these safety tips now!
Do you want some more air duct safety tips? Good! We’re glad to hear that you’re on board with us!
After all, there’s nothing better than wanting to keep your home and loved ones safe, as we said before. So, do yourself a favor and implement these safety tips as fast as you can! While you’re doing that, consider contacting a professional! They know these systems inside and out– as a result, they’ll surely have more than one tip in their back pocket for you!
In the meantime, be sure to check out the other blogs that we have here on the website! It could be that the answers to your other air ducts questions are just waiting to be found!
