If you're worried about the quality of the air in your home because your allergies flare up as soon as you walk in the door, it may be time to have your entire HVAC system, including the ducts, cleaned. Air circulates constantly through the system and deposits dust and allergens that get blown back into the room. Cleaning the ducts could be a step toward stopping the cycle that keeps airborne irritants floating through your house. Here's a look at some irritants that might be present in your ducts and how an air duct cleaning service like Smith-Mathis can clean out your system.
Irritants And Debris That Can Accumulate In Air Ducts
Dust is common in air ducts. You may even notice dust bunnies in the grills of ceiling registers. Keeping the HVAC filter clean and keeping your home free of dust might help, but sometimes dust is a bigger problem. This can happen if you've renovated your home and created dust from building materials. Also, if you open your windows occasionally to let in a breeze, dust and pollen can waft in and get sucked into the ducts when you turn the HVAC back on.
Mold is another possible allergen that can grow in ducts if you have a leak in the attic or if you have water damage in the house that causes mold spores to float through the air. If you have pets, pet hairs and dander can be a potential irritant in the ducts. Pests such as roaches and rats can get inside your ducts and leave behind droppings and nest litter that get blown into your living space and leave a foul odor in your home. Ducts can also hold on to odors from cigarette smoking, and cleaning the ducts might be the only way to rid your home of the smell of old cigarette smoke.
How A Professional Cleans The Ducts
Cleaning out air ducts is a combination of scrubbing the sides of the ducts and removing debris through negative airflow. There are different ways to approach this. The service might use an air whip to scrub the sides of the ducts while pulling the air out of the house to keep from spreading the irritants. The ducts will probably be vacuumed as well with equipment that uses a HEPA filter. It's important not to stir up and spread the debris through your home or it could circulate back into the ducts. The ducts may also be sanitized and deodorized. Deodorization could be necessary to get rid of rodent or cigarette odor. Sanitation might be done to kill germs from pests and to kill mold.
In addition to scrubbing the ducts, your entire HVAC system should be cleaned so it doesn't circulate dust back into the ducts. When your entire HVAC system is cleaned out, you'll be able to tell if it was responsible for your allergy attacks. If so, you may want to have your ducts cleaned on a regular basis if it's needed so you can breathe more freely in your home.
Share15 October 2018
After struggling for months to deal with a personal injury, my home was left in shambles. It seemed like no matter what I did I just couldn't keep things clean enough, so I started looking for a way to get a helping hand. I was able to find an excellent cleaning service that really took their job seriously, and they worked hard to make sure that I had everything I needed. Within a few appointments, my home was like new, and I knew that I owed it all to them. This blog is here to help anyone who might be wondering about cleaning services to take care of what they need to.