How to Clean Your Air Ducts—The Right Way
Posted by Melanie Randall on April 20th, 2021
Do you sneeze more in your house than you do outside when the seasonal pollen blows? Do your neighbors think your house is haunted because of the ephemeral mist that arises from your vents every time your HVAC starts up? You could leverage that effect to save some money on the cost of dry ice at Halloween, but since that’s still a few months away, and since your neighbors probably also attribute any excess sneezing to Covid-19 at this point, it’s probably time for an air duct cleaning instead.
Why do you need to have your ducts cleaned?
If the sneezing and apparitions don’t have you convinced, maybe your power bill will. Did you know that congested vents can actually force your HVAC system to work harder? It’s still trying to regulate temperatures, and if it takes longer to warm or cool a room because the dust mites in your air ducts are blocking the more temperate air from getting there, then your system is going to be slugging away for a lot longer than it needs to be—and that means it’s burning a lot more power than it needs to as well—and you’re definitely going to feel that on your utilities bill.
Of course, the extra strain on your HVAC system also means more wear and tear on the system—especially when it is working against the additional resistance of the blocked vents. You HVAC could be burning through parts a lot faster than it should, and that means more frequent—and costly—repair bills.
And then there are the health impacts. Covid or not, dirty vents mean pollen, dust, and other contaminants (including viruses, bacteria, mold, and pest residue) are blowing all through your house all the time instead of being filtered out. If you’ve been battling a persistent case of the sniffles, you should go get a Covid test, and then you should call in an expert in duct cleaning.
Can you clean your own ducts?
You can do a certain level of duct cleaning on your own. For instance, when you do your weekly floor cleaning, you can pop the vacuum down your ducts to keep the dust from clogging right at the vent and to prevent the more accessible dust from getting deeper into the system. Doing this regularly will definitely help keep your overall system cleaner; however, to get a full cleaning, you really need to call in a professional. They have the right equipment to clean all through your vents thoroughly—and they can reach a lot further in than the length of your vacuum cleaner extension.
Further, when they do clean your ducts, they will also clean inside your HVAC system, which means they will be able to see the problems that are building inside your system before they even start to cause you real problems. And when it comes to those sweltering summer days, being able to fix an HVAC problem before your system quits can save you from a lot more than just your average air duct ghost.
Ready to get started?
AirTek Indoor Air Solutions offers residential and commercial air duct cleaning, HVAC cleaning, kitchen hood cleaning, and dryer vent cleaning services in Azusa, Anaheim, San Diego, Simi Valley, Aptos, San Jose, Fairfield, Fresno, Sacramento, Riverside, San Bernardino, Las Vegas, and Phoenix. To know more, visit https://www.air-tek.net/who-we-are/.
