The air ducts in your home provide an important function. They circulate the air from your heating and cooling system into and out of each room, which allows for consistent interior comfort regardless of seasons.
Did you know that all of the air in your home circulated through your ducts multiple times a day? The indoor air that you breathe in, is the air cycling through your ducts and fills your environment. It’s the same air you and people around you breathe. So, you want the air to be as clean as possible.
What is Air Duct Cleaning?
Air duct cleaning is an important part of cleaning service. You have to clean all your duct systems. This includes cleaning the supply, intake and return vents using a professional air duct cleaning equipment.
Additionally, air duct cleaning also includes cleaning the registers, grills, fans, the HVAC unit and the furnace (if you have one). Since the ducts hide behind walls and above ceilings, to clean them effectively is to use a high-powered, truck mounted vacuum and compression system. This method guarantees a complete clean.
If you have indoor pets or are sensitive to indoor air quality, we recommend you clean the air duct frequently. You should also clean your air ducts if your home has gone through renovation recently, as this increases the amount of dust in your air system.
What Equipment do Air Duct Cleaners Use?
If you have an appointment with a professional air duct cleaner, then it’s good to keep in mind the equipment they use.
Air duct cleaners use a variety of equipment. It ranges from small hand held tools to heavy duty machinery. Moreover, they probably have one inspection tool, at least.
A simple mirror, to a periscope or even a camera system with flexible cables that can get to the hard-to-reach areas of the air duct system.
The inspection tool is mainly used where there is a clog or for other reasons, such as bad odors.
The basic cleaning tools are brushes, vacuums and other devices.
The Importance of Cleaning Air Ducts
It’s important to maintain to a clean air duct and here’s why:
Cleaner environment.
Cleaner air ducts lead to a cleaner environment. Dirty air ducts contain millions of tiny dust and dirt particles, which travel through the air and eventually rest on your furniture.
These particles are microscopic and you can’t look at your furniture to see if it’s unsanitary. Trust that the air ducts tell the full story and clean it regularly. Specks of dirt might not seem harmful, yet that’s not the only place they can fall.
Even if your air duct is far away from, let’s say the kitchen, you have no control over where these particles fall. They travel easily from one room to another and can settle on edible things.
Easier breathing.
By cleaning your air ducts you’re removing the dirt from the air. Specks of dust and dirt fill the air and make it difficult to breathe. People with asthma or allergies are severely affected by unclean air.
Dirty air can cause coughing and other serious reactions. Although you might not have respiratory issues, guests and others who live with you might. You want to provide them with the most comfortable experience.
While you can use air purifiers as an option for clean air, it’s better to find a solution at the source – your air ducts. Additionally, prolonged exposure to contaminants is dangerous in itself. Your air ducts are permanent and a prolonged build-up of dirty ducts lead to a higher chance of infection.
Removes odors.
Air duct cleaning removes odors from your home. Your duct could have mold and mildew that release bad particles into the air. Moreover, that air doesn’t smell good. You might have had experiences of lingering odors that don’t go away.
You can use as many air fresheners as you want and leave all the windows open, the odor remains in your home for weeks. If you start smelling an odor, skip the air freshener and check the duct to see if there is a build-up of mold.
If left unattended, mold can smell really bad. Cleaning up the mold and mildew will likely remove the odor from your home.
Increases airflow.
Another effect of mold is that it blocks airflow through the duct. The physical existence of mold is enough to limit airflow and prevent air from reaching all the rooms of your home. The purpose of an air duct is to increase ventilation and mold prevents the duct from doing its job.
If you live in an older home, it’s important to know that older homes are susceptible to this issue.
If you notice a decrease in ventilation, the cause of this could be from clogged air ducts. Clean out the air duct so you can enjoy the air flow through your home.
Improves Air Conditioner Efficiency.
If you have air ducts in your home, then you probably have an air conditioner as well. When the air conditioner generates cool air, the duct disperses it around your home. Cleaner air ducts mean your AC is able to do its job efficiently. As the air travels feely, the unit doesn’t have to work as hard to cool down your home.
In turn, the unit consumes less electricity and saves you money on your utility bills. When your home feels sticky and unpleasant, you immediately turn the AC system on in hope that it solves the issue.
This usually works, but it doesn’t get to the root of the problem. The true cause of the problem might lie within your unclean air ducts. Instead of blowing the dust particles away with your AC, clean the air ducts and get rid of them. This is a more sustainable solution in the long run.
Clean Your Air Ducts
The bottom line is having a dirty air duct is bad for many reasons. If you don’t check on them you might end up with a serious problem in your home.
It’s a good idea to clean the air ducts with rags and soaps regularly.
At the end of the day, all you want is to have a clean air duct so that you don’t have to face the consequences. A clean air duct makes a clean home.