Your home’s HVAC system is one of its most essential components, responsible for maintaining a comfortable indoor environment year-round—cool in the summer and warm in the winter. However, without regular air duct cleaning your HVAC system can become a source of frustration, impacting efficiency and air quality.
A dirty air duct is an open invitation for dust, debris, allergens, and mold to accumulate. This makes the system run inefficiently and risks spreading those irritants through the house. That can affect your family’s health and your energy efficiency.
Exactly how often should regular air duct cleaning be scheduled? We’ll take a look at the overall process, air duct cleaning tools, the effect it has, and finally some suggestions for how frequently to get it done.
What Is Air Duct Cleaning?
Cleaning air ducts begins with a thorough inspection of your HVAC unit — its ducts, ventilation, filtration, and more. Technicians use vacuum trucks, rotating brushes, pneumatic units, HPA filters, and special tools to take out any contaminants. They’ll also sanitize the system to stop future buildups and only allow clean air to circulate.
Benefits of Regular Air Duct Cleaning
Some of the advantages of regular air duct cleaning include the following.
Better Air Quality
Understandably, the biggest effect of cleaning ducts is the improved air quality. This supports more comfortable conditions and healthier air circulation.
Energy Efficiency
Clean air ducts make your HVAC system operate smoothly without extra stress put on its components. Along with a more consistent indoor environment, you’ll likely see your energy bill go down.
Longer Lifespan
Most experts believe the normal lifespan of an HVAC system is around 10 years. However, regular air duct cleaning can extend its working life for a little longer.
Problems From Neglecting Air Duct Cleaning
When air duct cleaning is overlooked or postponed, you may encounter some troublesome problems.
Worse Indoor Quality
Contaminants in your air duct can be circulated throughout your house, which could cause respiratory issues and allergic reactions.
Risk of Failure
Avoiding duct cleaning puts your entire system at risk of shutdown. It may require entirely replacing the system, which could cost infinitely more than routine checkups.
More Energy Consumption
Dirty air ducts make your system work harder just to remain operational. This can lead to more wear and tear, along with higher energy bills.
The Suggested Frequency of Regular Air Duct Cleaning
Most experts in HVAC maintenance suggest that families schedule air duct cleaning every three to five years.
However, some factors might necessitate more frequent visits from an HVAC technician. If your home includes multiple pets, smokers, or residents with severe allergies, you might want to schedule cleanings every year or two. Air duct cleaning is also highly recommended soon after major home renovations.
Air Duct Cleaning in Northern Texas
We know that searching “air duct cleaning near me” brings up many results. Taylormade Heat and Air has professional air duct cleaning equipment and years of experience working on HVAC systems in Dallas, Fort Worth, and all over north Texas. Get in touch with us to schedule routine air duct cleaning and other HVAC service.