When pet dander, animal fur, mold spores, and pollen enter the home, they can cause allergic symptoms and asthma attacks. Regular cleaning of the air ducts will help prevent allergens from circulating throughout the house, creating healthier living conditions. Cleaner air also makes it easier to breathe. You may consider cleaning the air ducts simply because it seems logical that the air ducts will become dirty over time and need to be cleaned from time to time.
As long as the cleaning is done correctly, there is no evidence to suggest that such cleaning is harmful. The EPA does not recommend that air ducts be cleaned routinely, but only when necessary. However, the EPA recommends that if you have a furnace, stove, or fireplace that burns fuel, it be inspected for proper functioning and maintained before each heating season to protect it against carbon monoxide poisoning. The same goes for the evaporator coils inside your home's cooling system.
Evaporator coils cause condensation and dehumidify air before it circulates through the house. Condensed moisture can cause dust and other particles to adhere and accumulate in the coils. In addition, cleaning the drip tray (and the tray's drain nozzle) underneath the coils ensures that dirt doesn't accumulate or enter the system. It also prevents water from accumulating on and under the coils, which can cause mold problems.
Clean air ducts improve airflow efficiency. Dirty air ducts can cause your HVAC system to work harder to circulate air, which can lead to greater wear and tear on the system. This can shorten the life of your heating, ventilation and air conditioning system and result in costly repairs. Did you know that neglected air ducts can cause house fires? Every year, houses catch fire because air ducts become clogged with dust and dirt.
The risk of a house fire is greatly increased if you have an old HVAC unit in your home. Cleaning air ducts not only improves indoor air quality, but it also helps to significantly reduce the risk of a house fire. A customer recently moved to a home and had allergy symptoms. After cleaning the air ducts, we found a large amount of dog hair in our HEPA vacuum. The customer has a skin allergy and was unaware that the former owners had pets on the premises.
After removing all the pet hair and dust from the air ducts, she was able to breathe much better. In general, cleaning your air ducts and taking steps to prevent duct pollution can help improve your home's indoor air quality. According to the EPA, the average American family spends 90% of their time indoors, where concentrations of some contaminants are typically two to five times higher than outdoor concentrations. This is compounded by energy efficient homes that are hermetically sealed without the fresh air currents that old homes had.
A clean air duct allows your HVAC system to work more efficiently by circulating clean air throughout your home. To reap the benefits of cleaning your home's air ducts as soon as possible, get special prices online or call (800) 699-0955 to clean your air ducts. Duct cleaning methods vary, although industry associations that deal with the cleaning of air ducts have established standards. Rest assured that when it comes to the cleaning process, Lowe's air duct cleaning follows exemplary standards set by the National Association of Air Duct Cleaners. Companies that clean ducts often advertise health benefits or suggest that duct cleaning will reduce their energy bills by improving system efficiency. Duct cleaning usually involves an inspection of the air duct system to determine the best way to clean it.
Although they are not always part of their basic cleaning services, many duct cleaning companies also often clean heating and cooling equipment (heat exchangers, cooling coils, condensate drain vessels, fan motors, blades and fan housings).Duct cleaning is not considered a necessary part of annual maintenance for your heating and cooling system; this consists of periodically cleaning drain trays and heating and cooling coils, regularly changing filters, and annual inspection of heating equipment. You may consider cleaning your home's air ducts simply because it seems logical that they will become dirty over time and need to be cleaned from time to time. Knowledge about cleaning air ducts is in its early stages so a general recommendation cannot be offered as to whether you should clean them in your home or not. If you suspect there's a mold problem either because of visible growth or a musty smell constantly coming from supply vents; cleaning the ducts won't do much good if you don't get rid of the mold. Although it intuitively makes sense to clean them - after all we dust off and clean other parts of our homes - in reality dust usually stays where it is in ventilation systems unless disturbed by external forces such as cleaning activities. Air duct cleaning costs for an air duct cleaning service will vary depending on size of your network and location. The EPA does not recommend that air ducts be cleaned except when necessary because of continuing uncertainty about their benefits in most cases.
