What You Need to Know About Air Duct Maintenance
If you don’t know why air duct cleaning is necessary, you may be tempted to put it low on your list of priority home maintenance tasks. But your home’s air quality may affect you more than you realize. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) says that IAQ impacts everyone, but especially children, the elderly, and people with health conditions like asthma and heart disease. And your air ducts and HVAC system are a major factor in your home’s IAQ.
With all of that in mind, maintaining your home’s air ducts is vital, and you should perform regular maintenance and upkeep. But why is it so important, and how are you supposed to maintain them?
What Are the Best Times to Clean, and How Often?
The National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA) recommends professionally cleaning your air ducts every three to five years. That time frame may change depending on a few factors, and the EPA says duct systems should be cleaned as needed. Still, developing a routine maintenance schedule can prevent you from forgetting to clean the ducts, and ensure you keep your system running at peak capacity.
Why Is Air Duct Cleaning Important?
Your air ducts are necessary to heat and cool your home. Alongside your HVAC system, they are responsible for maintaining air quality and optimizing air circulation. Air filters are part of the overall system, but these filters can only capture so much particulate matter before they become clogged.
Once saturated, the filters in your air vent can no longer filter dust and debris from the air. When this happens, the system not only becomes less efficient (causing energy bills to rise), but it can even begin to push the dust and dirt back into the air. To help you avoid getting to this point, here are some maintenance tips.
Maintenance Tips
The first step to air duct maintenance is knowing when they need to be cleaned and what signs to look for. These signs include musty or unpleasant odors, unexpectedly high energy bills, allergy-like symptoms, and more. If your air-conditioned spaces have these signs, it’s time to consider calling professional duct cleaning services. An air conditioning filter is easy to change, and you can find one at most hardware or home improvement stores.
Other Tips:
- Never block vents and ducts with furniture, curtains, or other objects.
- Make sure seals remain intact.
- Clean dust covers when they get dirty or dusty.
- Change your air filters regularly.
Can You Clean Ducts Yourself?
While there are parts of the system, like vent covers, that you can clean yourself, it’s impossible to adequately clean your air ducts and HVAC system without specific tools that only specialists in the field usually possess. It’s also hard to access all of the ductwork, and it’s not enough to just wipe away surface-level dirt and debris. The entire cleaning process is best left to the professionals. It’s also important to realize that you may damage the system if you try to clean your air ducts yourself.
AdvantaClean
Getting your air ducts cleaned regularly is essential to maintaining a clean HVAC system and high indoor air quality. It’s also important to make sure that you hire experienced professionals who know what they’re doing. That’s where AdvantaClean comes in. We’ve been in this field for years, and professional air duct cleaning is just one of our specialties. We also perform water and fire damage cleanup and restoration and mold removal and remediation. We’re available anytime day or night for emergencies because disaster doesn’t keep to business hours. Call us today at 877.800.2382.
