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Do Air Ducts Need to be Cleaned?
Although you can’t see the air pollutants around your home circulating, undeniably, you can always feel it. This case is common when your air duct system was left untouched or uninspected for quite some time in a year. You’ll notice that breathing may be as difficult as normal it should be – especially for your elderly and sick family members. Maybe it’s time now to check what air duct cleaning could mean for you.
What air ducts do for your home?
See the difference between duct-cleaned homes from those who haven’t experienced one. Crawling air inside your home is guaranteed to be fresh and clean if you get quality service from a duct cleaning company. Utilizing a high-powered system, your provider will clean the dust and other particles that live inside your ducts. As a result, the air you breathe in would be noticeably safer and fresher than ever. Also, in the long run, it could improve your HVAC system efficiency and extend the longevity of your units.
When do you need to clean your air ducts?
- Growing Molds
They are unwanted things that we would least likely see crawling together with the air we breathe in. One must treat this if we don’t want to spread into our homes quickly. But in this case, only certified professionals can check whether the particles are molds or not. One may easily tell that molds are growing, but laboratory experts can only determine them.
- Bad odor in the air
The odor could be anything that comes from your furnace, cooking, construction materials, or any external factors that could build up and, over time, be trapped in your ducts. So what happens when you turn on your air source, it pushes all of these, and people inside the house would be smelling the unwanted smell, and breathing wouldn’t be as easy as normal.
- Living with family members with a compromised immune system
Your living room, your bedroom, and personal space in your house should be a place where you can relax and wind down. The last thing you want is to make it uncomfortable to stay in. Safer air is a big deal if you’re highly concerned about sickly members of your family and crawling fresh air is a must for them. If you’ve noticed increased allergic reactions like difficulty breathing, it could be possibly because of the surrounding indoor air. Cleaning your duct system cleans your air and brings back the ideal airflow suitable for your loved ones. The cost of treatment and medicines for people allergic to dust might be a little bit higher than the amount you spare for having your ducts cleaned.
- Obvious rodent smells
There are two reasons associated with this. Either rodents live inside your duct air pathways or die inside or near your units. When turned on, this could bring much discomfort as your duct system incorporates the air and other smells inside or around it. Imagine a breakfast with family with this unpleasant smell is one worst scenario.
- Bloating energy consumption
You may observe that if your utility cost increases, it could be because of added energy consumption due to the low efficiency of your heating and cooling system in your home. When air ducts are not regularly checked, particles build-up resulting in high power needs for your HVAC system, adding up cost on your power consumption.
Maintenance is always better than prevention, so cleaning your ducts is a must like any other home equipment.
How often should I clean my ducts?
Most homeowners would agree that having their ducts cleaned is a part of maintaining their heating and cooling system. But for some, it has been left neglected until they have experienced bad results because of skipping the service.
Experts said that your ducts must be cleaned or checked between 3 to 5 years on average. Stil it depends on your home conditions and some factors like the following:
You used to live in an old house.
Air duct cleaning cleans and improves the airflow system inside your home, including repairing and sealing unwanted passage of possible dust and particles from the outside. Thus, an old home could probably not be sealed and allows more dirt from outside, which accumulates and contributes to bad air system flow on your ducts.
There is a smoker inside your home.
Harmful particles from cigarette smoke can remain in the air and directly go to your air ducts. How often you need to check and clean your ducts should be considered.
You have pets around.
Having pets that live inside the home is a must; consider having your ducts clean more than the average suggested frequency. Like our loved ones, they are also sensitive and need the ideal airflow system to live in.
Risks of not cleaning your Air Ducts
Skipping air duct cleaning is easy in the first place, saving up the cost, but the effects might be a disadvantage for your health and pocket in the long run. Here are the risks that you might get into:
Unexplained Fatigue and breathing problems
It’s alarming if you can’t get the quality sleep you need because of the disturbances in the airflow inside your room. You can’t determine why you are always tired and feel like something interferes when you breathe. Maybe these were brought by poor air quality caused by dirty air ducts that were left unnoticed.
Increased Carbon Monoxide
Carbon Monoxide can be produced when there is poor ventilation at home. It can cause dizziness and vomiting for those staying longer inside the home and could be fatal if they consistently breathe into it. Aside from wood-burning furnaces and stoves, overheating of your air conditioner could be a source of elevated Carbon Monoxide in your home. Having your ducts clean not only cleans but improves the airflow by eliminating this bad element dwelling indoors.
Diminished airflow during summer
It’s more difficult to get cooler air during the summer or hot season when your ducts are not regularly clean, just like using dirty electric fans at home. The clogged particles lessen the air source from the ducts, so maximum airflow is weakened. Get your ducts clean before the season comes if you don’t want to be irritated by the inconvenient heat.
Cause damage to limit switch
When your ducts are not clean, your limit switch might suffer as it overheats. This limit switch helps remove heat from the exchanger and shut it down when it gets too hot. Always be aware if ducts were clogged or not in good condition to save the possible repair for this one.
Wrap Up
It’s probably time now to clean your air ducts. Balancing too many risks of not wanting the service from countless good effects air duct cleaning will be worth your time and planning.
You may consult a certified technician who is experienced and knowledgeable with this home service to bring back the ideal ambiance in your sanctuary.