Is It Time For Air Duct Cleaning? How To Know When To Call An Expert

One of the parts of a home that most homeowners forget about is the air ducts. In the majority of cases, air ducts are built with quality parts, professionally installed, and, as a result, are likely to operate reliably for the entire lifespan of a home!

But even if you don’t have to worry about the structural integrity of your ducts, sometimes the state of cleanliness can be issue. Not just for the sake of neatness either, but because there are health risks involved. But why?

Dirty Air Ducts Mean Dirty Air

If you have dirty air ducts and don’t get an air duct cleaning, this means you’re putting every person in a home at risk of a health threat. This is even more likely if there are members of the household with allergies, or respiratory issues, such as asthma. Such conditions are greatly exacerbated by dirty air ducts.

The reason for this is that dirty air ducts now mean that potential allergens or contaminants are being blown into every room of a house, with no chance to escape. For people with respiratory/allergy related conditions, it means that home is more dangerous than outdoors for causing severe spikes of these illnesses.

The Right Time For A Duct Cleaning

Most of the time, you won’t even have to think about your ducts at all. They’ll take care of themselves, and for some added peace of mind, you might have professionals come in for an air duct cleaning every 3-5 years.

It’s something you should also do just before selling your home, or just after you’ve bought one, if an air duct cleaning hasn’t occurred in many years. However, if you have people with conditions in your home that have increased signs of respiratory discomfort or allergic reactions, get an inspection and air duct cleaning immediately.

You should also have this done if you’ve recently renovated your home, and a lot of sawdust and other particles got into the vents, or if you’ve had an extermination of rodents, and it was found they may have housed themselves in the ducts, thus potentially spreading virulent contagions into your ventilation, leaving air quality at one of its lowest points.

Cleaner Ducts Overall

There are a few ways you can take some preventive steps to ensure that you don’t need to clean your air ducts often. These aren’t difficult activities, and in most cases, you’re probably already taking these actions anyway.

The most important maintenance duty you can perform is the regular replacement of your HVAC filter. Every three months minimum is the recommended interval, but monthly is also all right if you want maximum peace of mind.

The other thing you should be doing is taking care of dust and pet dander the old fashioned way, with regular cleaning of your home. Sweeping and vacuuming your home on a regular basis ensures these allergens don’t get into your ducts and anchor themselves there.

Thanks to HVAC systems we now heavily rely on our air ducts throughout the year in Upper Darby, PA. But it’s important to occasionally check out how clean these ventilation systems may be, and undertake an air duct cleaning if necessary to maintain good health in the home.