The air ducts in your home, from a structural point of view, aren’t things you really have to worry about. They’re just pipes, they have no moving parts, and all they have to carry is that lightest of things, warm or cool air. Because of this, the lifespan of air ducts in a home is probably as long as that of the home itself, and many families can enjoy them without needing a repair.
But an air duct cleaning is a different matter entirely. While the physical condition of air ducts is unlikely to deteriorate over years, or even decades, the cleanliness does. The simple passage of time means that you’ll inevitably require an air duct cleaning, but other factors, like keeping a dirty home, having smokers indoors, or even just a lot of pets that shed regularly can all have an effect on your ducts. But what?
Clean Ducts Mean Healthy Air
Because your air ducts carry processed air into every corner of a home, this positive from a temperature point of view can turn into a negative from a health perspective if you get dirty air ducts.
It means that any contagion, contaminant or illness that is airborne is efficiently delivered throughout a home. On the low end of the health risk scale, a dirty air duct may just result in a musty smell whenever the HVAC system starts.
Around the middle range, people with allergies, or asthmatic conditions may be at risk to more frequent reactions at home than they would outside, or at other buildings. In the worst case scenario, a mold infestation can make everyone in a home ill with potential sicknesses that can infect the lungs and brain.
It’s Not A Frequent Chore
While getting an air duct cleaning is definitely an extensive and major activity, it’s not something that you’ll need to worry about on a monthly or even yearly basis. If you take good care of your home and your ducts, a precautionary 3-5 years between air duct cleaning is recommended.
On the other hand, certain situations may occur in the home that encourage you to think about getting an air duct cleaning. If you’ve just bought a home and it’s never had the ducts cleaned, think about getting this done to get off to a good start.
If you’ve just renovated, all that dust flying around may have gotten into the ducts. And if you had a pest control team inform you that the rodents they got rid of had been living your ducts, definitely get them cleaned out of possible virulent contagions, such as Hantavirus.
Clean Ducts For Years
Minimizing the amount of dirt that can accumulate in air ducts just requires some responsible housekeeping. The most important factor is your schedule for replacing HVAC filters.
At the absolute latest, don’t wait more than three months to put in a new filter. If you don’t want any dip in efficiency, then you can always resort to a monthly replacement schedule instead. Good house cleaning also helps a lot!
As long as you’re sweeping and/or vacuuming up dirt, dust and pet dander, and getting rid of it promptly, that helps your air ducts. It greatly reduces the chances of dirt getting an anchor somewhere and allowing other contaminants to build upon it. Most homes in Brenham, TX won’t have to worry about getting an air duct cleaning for a very long time. But, when the time does come, always make sure experienced professionals do the job right.