The Importance of Cleaning Your Ducts Regularly

January 27th, 2020

While cleaning your HVAC system’s ductwork isn’t likely on the top of your to-do list, it’s important to schedule regular duct cleaning instead of waiting until something has gone wrong with your heating and cooling system or worse, with the health of your family or colleagues. Regular preventative air duct maintenance can go a long way toward keeping your forced air system running efficiently and preserving the indoor air quality of your home or business.

Ready for the dirt on your air duct dirt?
Warning: this isn’t going to be pretty!

But it’s just dust, isn’t it?

No matter how clean your house is, fine dust will inevitably collect on your air duct surfaces, vents, motors and coils. No big deal, right? Now add in the other things floating around in the air including flakes of dead skin, hair, pet dander, microorganisms from cat litter (toxoplasmosis), pollen, mold spores, fungi, and even rodent feces. These air borne particles all stick to the dust which has innocently collected in your HVAC ducts. Add a dash of humidity and your HVAC ducts become the perfect breeding ground for bacteria, mold, mites and allergens in your dirt coated air ducts.

5 Reasons to Clean Your Air Ducts

If the list of undesirable ingredients building up in your ductwork and affecting your indoor air quality isn’t enough to convince you to book your duct cleaning service this year, consider the fact that debris build-up in your ducts will cause your heating and cooling system to lose efficiency; running up your energy bill and increasing wear and tear on your HVAC unit.

Here are 5 reasons to have your HVAC air ducts cleaned regularly:

• More efficient and reliable heating, cooling and ventilation in your home
  • If you’re noticing dirt and debris around your floor, wall, and ceiling vents, there’s a very good chance that your ducts have developed blockages or have a high amount of contaminants circulating through the system. Blockages could mean that your HVAC system isn’t able to provide heated or cooled air to all spaces in your home effectively and could lead to unhealthy levels of mold-inducing moisture.
• Save on maintenance & maintenance costs
  • A dirty HVAC system works harder than it needs to. By keeping your air ducts clean, you’ll avoid unnecessary stress on your air pumps and extend the life of your furnace and air conditioner.
• Save on energy bills
  • If your electricity and gas bills are climbing even though you haven’t changed the way you’re heating or cooling your house, you may have clogs or leaks in your ducts that are reducing the system’s efficiency. Have your ducts inspected to see if this is the problem and take steps to clean and seal your ducts as needed.
• Increase indoor air quality
  • Air cycles through your home about seven times a day, and if your ducts have high levels of dirt and debris, it can have a big impact on indoor air quality. If sneezing and wheezing have become a problem in your home, and if it’s been years since your last duct cleaning, it’s time to act.
• A cleaner house
  • New homes, especially, are tightly sealed for energy efficiency purposes. Cleaning your ducts can help keep dust from constantly recirculating through your home. If your air ducts are full of dirt, pollen, dander, hair, mites and other airborne matter, changing your air filter every 3 months might not be enough to trap these unwanted particles.

In order to keep your HVAC system running at its best, and your family and colleagues running at theirs, the experts at Solution D’Air recommend a visit from a professional air duct cleaning service every 3 to 5 years. If you’re looking for ways to improve your indoor air quality and cut your monthly energy bills, reach out to Solution D’Air to discuss our duct-cleaning services for residential and commercial buildings in the Gatineau region today.