Top 5 Reasons to Clean Your Air Ducts

Like any homeowner, if you saw dirt, dust, mold or any other debris on the surfaces in your home, you’d put in the effort to get rid of those contaminants as soon as possible. But did you know that these potentially harmful substances are lurking where you can’t even see them? 

Your home’s HVAC system is constantly pulling the air in your home through its ducts and airways, with the goal of keeping your indoor air quality high. But in order to do that, air ducts can come in contact with plenty of opportunities for build up. Air ducts are critical parts of your home’s infrastructure, and while it may not be top priority, it is vital to keep them in good working order. Here are our top five reasons to make sure that vent cleaning is a regular part of your home maintenance schedule.

1. Indoor Air Quality

Your home’s HVAC system is there to help cool and heat your home, but its role goes far beyond this. It also helps to dehumidify and filter allergens and other potential irritants and odors from the air inside your home. All these roles combine to freshen and clean the air you breathe day in and out. Since your home is more or less a closed air system, if regular maintenance is neglected, you could be cycling dirty air through your home. And that could negatively affect your and your family’s health and quality of life. Indoor air quality is especially important for anyone with an existing respiratory condition, those who suffer from allergies, or those who are immunocompromised. When indoor air is clean, it can promote better overall health and wellbeing and also contribute to more restful sleep.

Whether we are schooling or working from home or otherwise escaping the season’s worst, it’s a known fact that many of us spend the majority of our time indoors. You can’t control what’s in the air outside or in the buildings you spend time in each day, but you can most definitely control the quality of the air inside your home. And according to the American Lung Association, that air can be drastically more polluted than outdoor air. Vent cleaning is one way to ensure that you and your family are breathing the cleanest air possible.

What are you removing form the air in your home when you regularly clean HVAC air ducts? 

• pet dander

• mold and fungi

• bacteria

• pollen

• dust and dust mites

• allergens

Even if you don’t currently experience breathing issues, long term exposure to irritants can bring them on and allergies can develop over time. Air vent cleaning also contributes to a cleaner home overall and means less accumulating dust and dirt—everyone can get behind that!

2. Odor Reduction

Pets, strong cooking smells, cigarette smoke, or even some cleaners and home improvement projects can leave unpleasant lingering odors in your home. Oftentimes the components that create these odors can accumulate and recirculate. That’s especially true in the case of fungus, mold, and bacteria, which can end up leading to illness or infection. If your home is harboring musty or foul odors and you’ve already done everything you can think of, air vent cleaning can be a game changer. It could even be possible that a mouse or other pest has found a new home in your vents and is polluting your indoor air. Unpleasant mystery odors in your home can be frustrating and embarrassing, but cleaning the ducts throughout your home can quickly and efficiently solve the problem and improve indoor air quality at the same time. Vent cleaning can eliminate the inevitable buildup that comes from circulating and dehumidifying air–learn more today!

3. Mold Removal and Allergen Reduction

We’ve talked a bit about these two already, but how do they get in your home in the first place? Mold spores are all around us, every day. Each time a door or window is opened, mold spores can enter your home. If they encounter a damp spot ideal for growth, they’ll settle down and proliferate. That ideal condition could very well be the inside of your HVAC duct and vent system if humidity is collecting on or around build up, thus compounding an already existing problem. Oftentimes mold can go unseen, because it is in the recesses of your home’s ventilation system. So if you’re smelling odd or off putting odors that you can’t identify or trace, mold may be the culprit. Of course if you can see any mold growth in your home or in your air vents at all, then it is a safe guess that mold is at the heart of the issue. Vent cleaning can do wonders to remove this potentially harmful and unwanted indoor air pollutant from your home. 

UV light treatment is another non-toxic, safe, highly effective way to clean germs, bacteria and fungi from the inside of your home’s ventilation system. The ultraviolet rays in natural sunlight work outside to sanitize, however, in the dark, potentially damp interior of your home’s ventilation system, mold and mildew can easily get out of hand. Our UV light purification services can remedy that.

Since mold and allergens often cause similar symptoms, we’re grouping them together. That said, while mold can be an allergen, there are a host of other substances, like pet dander, seasonal pollen, dust mites, cleaning substances, and more that can trigger indoor or outdoor allergies. When a ventilation system is not regularly cleaned, outdoor allergens that sneak in through open doors or windows may not be adequately removed from indoor air. They can build up and be recirculated, causing worsening allergy symptoms when indoors. If you notice this in yourself or your family members, it’s time to schedule an air duct cleaning as part of your holistic efforts to reduce indoor allergens and mold.

4. HVAC Performance and Lifespan

As is true with any closed system, regular maintenance and cleaning that removes buildup or dirt is always going to have a positive impact on overall performance. Removing potential problems before they get out of hand is another way to ensure that your HVAC system goes the distance and serves your family well for years to come. Any built up dust, dirt, or debris reduces air flow and makes it more difficult for the system to push air where it needs to go. Regular air duct cleaning solves that problem.

Another perk of a clean HVAC system? A naturally cleaner home! Less dust and buildup in your home’s ventilation system means less dust and buildup on your home’s hard and soft surfaces, and that means less work for you. Once ducts and air vents have been cleaned of any lingering dirt and debris, they’ll be able to circulate air more efficiently, reducing drag, wear and tear on the system as a whole. Opting for regular air vent cleaning can help to extend the life of your HVAC system while also preventing costly repairs.

5. Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency is directly tied to a cleaner performance from your HVAC system. Smoother air flow and better functioning mean that the system as a whole needs to draw less power to do the same job. Industry experts estimate that airflow problems can negatively impact efficiency up to 15%. So if you’re seeing inexplicable increases in your typical energy use, you might want to turn attention to your HVAC system and look into vent cleaning. When ventilation is working at its best, your energy use will be more efficient and so more predictable and budgetable.

How Often Should Air Duct Cleaning Be Done? 

Our best general answer is, vent cleaning should be done regularly. What that means will vary by person and situation. For instance, a single non-smoker without respiratory issues and no pets would likely have a home with far less potential air duct buildup than a large family in which some folks have asthma or allergies, there are multiple pets in the home, and a parent smokes indoors. That said, every 3-5 years is a good starting point. And even if your personal lifestyle doesn’t create the opportunity for pollutants or allergens to build up, if you’re a new homeowner then there’s no telling when air vent cleaning was last done. Make it part of your regular home maintenance tasks, and you’ll see a definite improvement in indoor air quality and potentially even a savings on your energy bill.

Air duct cleaning is a job best left to professionals with the necessary equipment and experience. If you’re ready to investigate how a cleaner ventilation system can improve your living environment, get in touch with Clean Air America today for a free estimate or to learn more about the services we offer. Get in front of the situation–call us today!