If you or someone in your family deals severely with asthma or allergies, you could be possibly thinking about getting your home’s heating and cooling ducts cleaned out. Even if you don’t have any known health concerns, cleaning your ducts out can be a satisfying thing for you to do. You may think that if your ducts are kept clean, all of the air that is flowing out of your vents will come out clean as well, but this is not necessarily the case. Just because duct-cleaning services may push that it is essential for your health, the studies done do not support their claims.
Companies that perform duct cleaning tend to advertise health benefits or say duct cleaning will bring down your electricity bills by improving your system’s performance. Some would agree that duct cleaning can be a process that stirs up so much dust and actually creates a bigger problem than it solves. Duct cleaning has become popular, with commercial cleaning services popping up all over the US. But you may be asking “Is the service worth it, or is it a scam?” Here is some information to help you make your own decision as to whether or not your system might benefit from having the HVAC ducts in your house cleaned. Most professional duct cleaning services use specialized blowers, vacuums, and brushes to clean out the supply, intake, and return ducts throughout your home. Duct cleaning also involves a thorough cleaning of the air unit, registers, vents, fans, motors, housings, and tight parts of the HVAC system.
There does happen to be evidence that dirty heating, cooling coils, motors, and air handling systems can make your HVAC unit not work nearly as efficiently.
If performed properly, duct cleaning does not hurt but is not something to stress over or have at the top of your to-do list. Some reasons, why you may need to get your ducts cleaned, include:
Renovation: If your home has been remodeled at some point- especially if there was paint removal and lots of dust. Your ductwork needs to be cleaned. Ducts should be closed off during home remodeling, and if they aren’t dust and debris can become lodged inside the ductwork.
- Animals: If there are signs of animal nesting in your ducts or HVAC system. After the animals are removed, then clean the ductwork and HVAC unit.
- Mold/Mildew: If there is mold growing inside the ductwork your HVAC system should be cleaned.
- Contaminants: If you can see/smell debris, dog hair, bad odors, or other particles being released into the room by the vents after they have been cleaned out, then the ducts may need to be cleaned out.
- Illness: If anyone in your family deals with various allergy-related problems, and you have tried every other possible step to clean your home, it may be best to think about having your ducts cleaned to see if the HVAC system is the problem.