When it comes to maintaining the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system of your home, air duct cleaning happens to play a critical role in it.
Poor air quality indoors can negatively affect the health of average Americans, considering 90% of their time is spent indoors including at home, at work, and other types of buildings. Indoor air pollution is caused by allergens, pet dander, chemicals, dust, dirt, and smoke. Maintaining good air quality is important for the health of your family and home.
But how often should you clean your air ducts? What should you do when they get dirty?
Now what causes a real problem today are some of the myths that have been prevailing in the industry. Many companies out there create a theory of their own on duct cleaning services that are just marketing tactics.
This guide is here to clarify and debunk some of the myths you may have heard and need to be aware of.
So without any further ado, let’s get to the truth!
1 | You don’t have to clean your air ducts, as it doesn’t get dirty!
Some people out there believe that air duct cleaning is not necessary at all. According to their claims, they say that the level of dust accumulation happens to be insufficient for immediate cleaning of air ducts but it’s not that simple.
So many things float in the air; most of these things are impossible to see from our naked eyes – these include dust, fiber, hair, dead skin, etc. Over the period, all of these things tend to settle on the surfaces, and soon after that, they make their way into the air duct!
Hence, if you don’t clean it, the dirt will simply continue to accumulate in the duct – which will indeed affect your HVAC system as well.
When the air quality seems like a problem in your home, try doing a search for something like “furnace duct cleaning near me“. Contact a service with excellent ratings and reviews and get some estimates to make sure you don’t have some of these unwanted guests!
2 | Cleaning air ducts improves airflow!
The last thing that you need to believe is that cleaning your air ducts will automatically improve the airflow. These are the whole list of factors that are responsible for determining how air would move within your home.
The most vital factor is the layout of your duct system. While it’s true that cleaning does improve airflow and prevent debris from building up, but it can’t make up for a poorly designed layout.
Any prior damage to your air duct can have an impact on the airflow as well. Crooked ducts, cracked surfaces or damage that could have been caused by previous renovations are some of the many things that you need to look out for.
If you suspect that there is an airflow problem, you should have an HVAC professional inspect the system. Don’t expect air flow problems to be resolved by a duct cleaning.
3 | Cleaning your air ducts improves odor in your house.
On its own, air duct cleaning has nothing to do with improving any bad odors you may be experiencing.
For instance, if you have a mold problem in your house, the unpleasant smell will continue to persist whether you clean your air ducts or not.
A common foul odor problem known as the “Dirty Sock Syndrome” is usually caused by bacteria gathering on air conditioner evaporator coils. You will smell decaying debris throughout your entire home every time your HVAC system kicks on.
There are other possible problems like rodent infestation but have a qualified HVAC pro look into it for you to assess the cause of the odor.
4 | Always hire an expert for cleaning your air ducts.
You don’t always have to hire experts to clean your air ducts.
A little maintenance can go a long way and save yourself some money in the long run. All you need to do is to have a few essential tools like a vacuum cleaner, cloth pieces, a long-handled brush, and a screwdriver.
Remove the vents with a screwdriver and let your vacuum do some work. Also, be sure to change the air filter on a regular basis.
5 | Air ducts cleaning needs to be done every year!
When we talk about the myths that cause people to spend their hard-earned money, this factor here indeed tops the list.
One should know that a couple of factors determine whether your air ducts need cleaning or not. Many unscrupulous cleaning services take advantage of people and scam them for cleaning their ducts every year – but it stops right here!
Air duct cleaning is only needed to be done immediately if you have recently renovated your house, have animal infestation within the system, or you are witnessing signs of mold and rodent droppings. Besides that, there is indeed no need to have duct cleaning for your home every year!
6 | Humidifiers cause mold growth in your air ducts.
One of the common scams is that some air duct cleaners tell people that the mold they have in their house is due to dirty ducts – which isn’t the case.
Mold is an organism that feeds on moisture. Wherever water is present, mold will start to grow independently. While it’s true that humidifiers can contribute to mold growth, it isn’t the only reason for it.
As far as the cleaning of the duct is concerned, it will only prevent the humidity and moisture from going away, but you need mold removal services to eradicate the mold that’s already grown in your home.
7 | Air duct cleaning needs specialized cleaning solutions.
Last but not least, one of the standard practices that unscrupulous air duct cleaning specialists is advertising nonsense about specialized products.
They claim that your air duct is immensely dirty, for which specialized cleaning products would be used to make it as good as new. Most people fall into this scam and then pay the amount these scammers ask them to – but with every myth above, this too stops right here.
Unique cleaning solutions are restricted to be used for particular purposes. Like if your air duct has mold in it, then the experts might have to use unique products to eradicate it. Other than that, regular cleaners are more than enough to provide you with a new air duct.
In Conclusion
Have a trusted air duct cleaning company on your dial list. Don’t be talked into regular duct cleaning services. Even the EPA does not recommend that the air ducts be cleaned routinely.
We hope we have provided some clarity on some of the duct cleaning myths that are out there.
