Cleaning your air ducts can greatly improve the air quality in your home. This process can also help make your heating and air conditioning systems more energy efficient and effective. Most experts recommend cleaning your air ducts every three to five years. You may be wondering whether you can clean your air ducts yourself. The answer is unfortunately no, or at least you can’t do it effectively. You can use a vacuum to clean dust out of your vents. However, there is simply no way you could access all of your ductwork through the vents, even if your home is fairly small.
The only way to effectively clean out air ducts is with a powerful, industrial-strength vacuum. It’s also necessary to use special equipment to loosen up all of the dust and debris so that it can be cleaned out more easily. When performing a duct cleaning service, the technician will use a camera to visually inspect the ducts to ensure they are clean. They will also check for issues like air leaks, pest infestations and mold growth.
How Professional Air Duct Cleaning Works
There are two different options that can be used to clean out air ducts, depending on the layout and location of the ducts and air vents. At Beyer Air Conditioning & Heating, we use a vacuum to clear out your vents or can get the job done with a negative air pressure machine.
If the entire length of each duct branch can be accessed through your various vents, our technicians will typically use a powerful vacuum with a rotating brush head. The brush head works to loosen all of the dust and debris so that the technician can insert the vacuum hose through the length of the duct branch and quickly suck everything out.
A negative pressure machine is also an extremely powerful vacuum, but it works slightly differently. After using the brush to loosen up all of the debris, the technician will then seal up all but one vent with plastic. They’ll then connect the machine’s large hose to that vent and turn it on. Closing up all of the other vents allows the machine to create negative air pressure inside the ducts. When the vacuum is turned on and starts sucking, the negative pressure it creates pulls all of the debris out of the ducts and into the vacuum canister.
How Professional Air Duct Cleaning Can Improve Air Quality
Dirty air ducts are one of the biggest contributors to poor indoor air quality. Over time, air ducts collect lots of dust and other allergens like pollen, dust mites and mold spores. If your ducts are dirty, it will also make your home much dustier since your HVAC system will blow everything around as it runs. All of the dust and debris can also attract pests like cockroaches and mice by creating ideal conditions for them to nest and reproduce. This can further worsen air quality since you’ll often end up with cockroach parts, mice droppings or even dead pests inside your ducts. The only way to prevent and overcome these issues is to have your ducts professionally cleaned at least once every few years.
How Duct Cleaning Can Help Make Your Heating and AC More Effective
Studies have also shown that dirty air ducts can significantly impact the effectiveness and energy efficiency of your heating and air conditioning systems. When air ducts are clean, air can flow through them easily since it doesn’t encounter any resistance. As more and more dust and debris start building up in the ducts, it creates more air resistance and increases the static pressure inside the system.
High static pressure means there is a lot more airflow resistance in the ductwork, which makes it far more difficult for the blower to move air through the system effectively. This makes the blower have to work harder, which leads to its energy use increasing. Increased static pressure will also decrease the effectiveness of your heating and AC since it leads to the blower moving less air.
If there isn’t sufficient warm air coming in, your AC will remove less heat and take much longer to fully cool your home. If there isn’t enough cool air coming into your furnace, it will produce less heat. The unit will have to run for a longer period of time to bring your home fully up to the desired temperature. This decreased effectiveness will not only lead to higher heating and cooling costs but also cause increased wear and tear on your furnace and AC. As such, your HVAC system may be more likely to break down, need to be repaired more frequently and have a shortened lifespan.
High static pressure can also lead to issues like your components in your AC freezing or your furnace overheating. It will also often lead to you having cold spots in your home in the winter and hot spots in the summer. When static pressure increases, the majority of the hot or cold air will end up blowing out of the more centrally located vents. You’ll often end up with almost no air coming out of the vents near the end of the duct branches. This means the rooms that those vents supply will stay much colder or hotter, depending on the season.
Signs That You Need to Have Your Air Ducts Cleaned
While we would always recommend going no more than five years in between duct cleanings, there are also other signs that can indicate it’s time to get your ducts cleaned. One obvious sign is that your home is becoming much dustier. You may also notice that there is always a lot of dust, hair and debris clogging the covers of the vents in every room.
Another thing to look for is if your air filter is starting to get dirty and clog up more quickly. You should need to replace the air filter once every two or three months. If you start finding that your air filter is getting coated in a thick layer of dust after only a few weeks, it’s a good indication that there is a lot of dust inside your return air ducts. The return ducts will get dirty much more quickly since this is where the air being drawn into the system travels on its way to the furnace and air handler. As the blower draws in air through the return vents, it will also bring in lots of dust, pet hair and other debris.
Having your furnace and AC serviced annually should always ensure that your heating and cooling costs remain fairly constant from year to year. If your HVAC system is properly maintained and your energy costs keep increasing, it likely means that dirty ducts are making the system less effective and causing it to use more energy.
With over three decades of experience, Beyer Air Conditioning & Heating is the best choice if you need professional air duct cleaning or any other HVAC service in Selma or the San Antonio area. Our technicians can evaluate your HVAC system and determine the best option for cleaning your ducts. We can also perform a full duct inspection to ensure there are no leaks or other issues. We also offer routine maintenance, new product installation and ductless AC systems. For more information or to schedule a duct cleaning service for your home, give us a call today.
