Most homes in today’s modern era have a heating and cooling system. Air ducts are the pipes that the heated or cooled air move through to different parts of the house. Like other parts of your HVAC system, your air ducts need to be cleaned regularly to maintain efficiency.
Why Should You Clean Your Air Ducts?
Just like anything else, dust, bugs, and other impurities occur in your home throughout the air ducts. Usually, you won’t see when it needs to be cleaned because it is inside the flooring, ceiling, and/or walls. But, you see when the dust settles on your coffee table, right? The same thing is happening in your air ducts! In fact, the air in your home could be dirtier than the air outside – by 2 to 5 times – that is pretty significant.
When Should You Clean Your Air Ducts?
It’s very important to schedule regular air duct cleaning as a normal part of your home maintenance. The main issue for most homes is just regular allergen build up – pet dander, dust, dead skin cells – are all normal allergens that cycle through the air. Over time though these allergens build up in the air vents and can cause yours or your family’s allergies, asthma or other health issues to get worse. Even if you don’t have health issues to be concerned with, the build up in your air ducts also decreases the efficiency of your heating and cooling system.
In addition to regular maintenance air duct cleaning, there may be other times you need to have your air ducts cleaned.
- If you’ve recently moved into a new home, whether it is a new build or simply new to you, you will probably want to have your air ducts cleaned – unless you’re provided with proof that they were cleaned recently. If the former homeowners were smokers or had pets, the air ducts will have more dirt and allergens in them if they weren’t cleaned just before you moved in. New home builds or recent renovations mean that sawdust, drywall dust, and other debris are likely hiding in your air ducts as well.
- No one likes to talk about it, but bugs around the house get into the air ducts and create debris that is circulated throughout your house. Pretty gross, huh? They can cause an unpleasant odor in your home and even cause blockages in the air ducts.
- Have you noticed a musty smell in your home? Then it is likely there is some mold growing in your air ducts. In addition to smelling musty, you may also see mold around your air ducts or even notice physical symptoms such as coughing.
- Speaking of coughing, if you notice that your or your family members seem to be having more allergy symptoms, or worsening asthma or respiratory symptoms, then it is likely time to have your air ducts cleaned. This is especially important when people live in the home that are more susceptible to these types of issues.
So, how often do you need to have your air ducts cleaned? On average, most homes need air duct cleaning every 3 to 8 years depending on the cleaning method used. Some cleaning methods can extend the time between cleaning. Other factors to consider are how many pets are in the home, if there are any smokers in the home, and are there any activities performed in the home that might create more dust than normal. It is certainly worth a conversation with an experienced, reputable cleaning service to determine the frequency your air ducts need to be cleaned.