A critical aspect of HVAC system maintenance is cleaning the air ducts that circulate clean air and remove stale air from all parts of your house enabling you to maintain a stable clean and controlled environment inside the house.
Unfortunately, nobody seems to agree on when duct cleaning should be done.
Some professionals say that you should do it every year for optimum HVAC performance and home hygiene while others say, once in five years is adequate.
Given the wide difference, you need to know for yourself the right time for cleaning the ducts. Some useful tips on recognizing the signs that the ducts need cleaning:
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Dust
If you see a layer of fine dust on your furniture, mirrors, and other stuff in your home or find a little puff of dust coming out of the air registers when you start the HVAC system, it is a good sign that there is dust buildup in the ducts, which should be cleaned immediately.
Cleaning the air registers may work, however, if the problem persists, you need to have the ducts cleaned.
Odor
If you notice a bad smell coming out of your air ducts, it is a sure sign that there is debris inside that has no business to be there.
Verify that the odor is coming out of the ducts by sniffing some air registers in the rooms where the smell is bad and call in a professional to have a look to identify the reason and clean the mess.
There are quite a few reasons why air coming out of the ducts may be smelly; mold, mildew, or even rodents may be the culprits. For more info visit airqualitytech.com.
Visible Mold or Mildew
Sometimes, you can spot grey/brown or even the deadly black mold or mildew growing around the outside of your air registers.
If by chance, it is found that the mold or mildew is limited to the air registers only then cleaning and sanitizing them professionally will suffice and prevent your home from having to be taken apart to clean out the mold.
Uneven Air Flow
If you notice that the flow of the air and hence the heating or cooling effect is noticeably different in different places of your house, the reason could very well be blocked air registers.
A quick inspection by an HVAC technician will help you to identify the reason and set it right.
Continuous Health Issues
If you notice members of your family coughing, sneezing, wheezing, experiencing lack of focus, battling rashes and allergies, or even experiencing increased asthmatic attacks, the culprit could be the build-up of dust, debris, and toxins in the duct system.
According to https://www.huffpost.com, poorly-maintained HVAC units can cause respiratory problems and also spread some diseases.
Conclusion
It is a good practice to have your HVAC ducts cleaned periodically to keep the system performing optimally.
However, if you are not sure when to call in the professionals to clean and service the system, one or more of the above signs can indicate that there might be a problem with the air ducts.
