Why You Should Get Your Air Ducts Cleaned

Have you ever entered the warmer seasons of the year and wondered why, even when you’re inside, your nose is still all stuffed up and your eyes are watery? Most of us chalk it up to seasonal allergies, of course. It’s a common misconception.
However, in a lot of these situations, those over-the-counter allergy pills just aren’t making the headache, or the stuffy nose goes away. Maybe it’s just a cold, we think to ourselves as we go about our days, trying not to worry about it too much. The real perpetrator, though, may not be what you expect.

As small as they are, dust particles can be particularly nasty. They worm their way into everything, really, no matter how diligent we are with the cleaning. In particular, they tend to accumulate in areas where we can’t really see much. There are even people who are allergic to dust making this even more important to be aware of.

So, when it comes to things like our air ducts, cleaning them can be a pretty big deal. Unfortunately, it's not necessarily something that we can do on our own. If you’d like to learn a bit more about how it works, though, stick around.

Why Air Ducts, anyway?

Admittedly, it might seem a bit strange to write about air ducts of all things, but there’s a method to the madness here. As was implied above, a lot of it comes down to the fact that there are places in our homes or other buildings that we just don’t think to check very often. Even if we don’t realize it, it can have profound impacts on our health.

Those who do end up hiring an air duct cleaning service will probably test the air quality when they first arrive and then before they leave. This gives a demonstration of what we’re talking about in terms of the health impacts. Anyone with asthma or other pre-existing conditions is especially sensitive to dust mites and the like in the air.

The thing about these ducts is that they’re responsible for filtering the air inside buildings – you know, the stuff that we’re breathing each and every day. Even when an HVAC system isn’t running heating or cooling, there’s still that ventilation part. Keeping it clean is a huge concern because of that.

After all, otherwise, there’s always that risk of actually making the air quality worse instead of better each time that the air conditioning, heat, or ventilation systems come on. Obviously, that’s pretty much the opposite of the desired effect. Are you starting to understand why this is so important?

How Does it Work?

While I’m sure most of us wish it was as easy as grabbing a spray bottle and a washcloth and calling it a day, unfortunately, that’s just not the case with a job as big as this one. As you can see here, air duct cleaning service, it’s just sort of a fact of life that dust can be bad for us. So, it’s a good idea to keep as many sources of it as clear as we can.

Naturally, that includes the duct systems. Whether it’s for a residential home or an office type of building (or even a school), it’s most likely going to be too large to handle on your own. Here’s the problem – it’s not just the external vents that need cleaning. The entire internal system needs to be kept clean as well.
Unless you’re keen to start crawling inside of them, that’s probably not a job to be handled at home alone. Additionally, dust is far from the only “threat” so to speak. Depending on the circumstances, there could also be pet hair, dander, pollen, and in some cases, mold. The latter is probably the worst-case scenario depending on the strain, though.

Really, it’s just for the best to let the professionals handle it. For something like mold, especially, it can be really dangerous to breathe in. Now, that probably won’t be the case in your ducts. However, that doesn’t mean that you should attempt such a job on your own. Honestly, it tends to be a lot more trouble than it's worth.

On top of saving you the stress, bringing in a team or a contractor can also help to save you a lot of time. Most of us are really busy, and that includes while we’re at work. Very few businesses can afford to close the building off entirely for a day or longer. That’s why most of these cleaning services (at least, the good ones), try to work around your schedule and will only section off parts of the building when necessary.

Final Thoughts?

Whether or not we want to admit it, cleaning is a big deal. So-called “spring cleaning” exists for a reason, after all. There are a bit more details about what else you should cover in this blog if you’re curious. As we’re approaching that time of year when the weather starts to get warmer again, a lot more of us are going to be turning on our air conditioning systems.
Don’t wait until it’s too late to get your ducts cleaned, though. Ideally, you should have this sort of thing sorted well before the summer months roll around. That way, you can be prepared once the hot weather starts. The first time that you turn on the air conditioner, you won’t have to worry about breathing in anything that might be harmful.

As far as how often you should get them cleaned well, it’s probably safe to say that once a year is a minimum. It’s amazing how fast allergens can build up in these vent systems – amazing in a bad way, of course. If you can afford the time and money to set aside to have yours serviced more often than that, twice a year may be better. Really, it’s better safe than sorry, especially when it comes to air quality.