When is it Time to Clean Your Ducts?

Your mother probably told you a lot when you were a kid to clean your room, but nobody probably ever told you to clean your ducts. And really you probably never even think twice about your heating and air ducts, nicely hidden away behind drywall and the framing of your home. Out of sight, out of mind as the saying goes, but even if you don’t see your ducts they are there and they need to be cleaned. It is important to maintain your HVAC system and part of that maintenance means keeping your duct system clean too.

Everything can attract dust and dirt and your duct system is no exception to this. Think about it, when air is being pushed through to heat or cool your home it is also pushing through everything it comes in contact with including fine dust particulars, dirt residue and even pet dander. If you have allergies or asthma you actually want to talk to your HVAC technician about how many your ducts should be cleaned to guard against any allergy or asthma inducing triggers.

Other people who may need to devout more time to their duct cleaning include smokers. If you’re an indoor smoker, that cigarette smoke will gather and linger in your air venting system and make your ducts less efficient over time.

If you have had any home remodeling or repairs done you should consider how much drywall dust has ended up in your duct system. Over time all of these small particulars can build up and your system can stop working effectively.

Remember your air goes through several air filters before it is pushed out into the rooms of your home so those air filters can get clogged and allow less and less air through over time creating a home that is not as climatic controlled and comfortable as it should be.It is easy to tell if you need a duct cleaning and it won’t cost you a penny with this simple trick.

Unscrew one of your heating or cooling vents and with a mirror look at the inside of your vents. You can also use a small digital camera and snap an inside shot of your vents. If they look dirty to you, it’s time to clean them professionally.

A HVAC technician can clean your whole system and that means in addition to the duct cleaning, your tech will clean your grills, vents, air filter, coils, drain pan, heat exchange, blower motor, registers, and air plenum.

A clean system will operate more effectively and if you are experiencing any upper respiratory health aliments such as allergies or asthma the clean ducts will likely make an improvement in your overall health.Talk to your HVAC technician and find out what kind of duct cleaning schedule you should maintain to keep your whole system operating at peak efficiency.