How Often Should Air Ducts Be Cleaned?
If you use a forced air furnace or central air conditioner to keep your Montgomery area home comfortable throughout the year, the duct system is an important component that makes your comfort possible. All heated and cooled air travel the duct system, and therefore has an opportunity to track contaminants from the ducts into your living areas. Learn how often air ducts should be cleaned so you can improve the indoor air quality in your home.
Indoor Air Quality and Dirty Ducts
With a forced air heating and cooling system, ducts serve as the distribution system that transports conditioned air from the furnace, air conditioner, or heat pump into the living areas throughout the home. Airborne pollutants circulate throughout the entire HVAC system as air flows back to the heating or cooling unit from indoors, then back into the living areas. These contaminants can settle inside the furnace or air handler, as well as inside your ducts.
As air moves from the HVAC unit into your living areas, it is vulnerable to any contaminants sitting inside the ducts it travels through. Deposits of dust, dirt, allergens, and even mold can be picked up and become airborne, moving out of the ducts and into your living room, bedroom, and any other areas of the home served by the heating and cooling system. The more contaminants in your ducts, the more opportunities there are for your home’s indoor air to pick up this matter and bring it into living areas, causing your family to be exposed to these particles in your air.
How Often Should Air Ducts Be Cleaned?
As a maintenance measure, air ducts should be cleaned every three to five years. The National Air Duct Cleaning Association (NADCA) states you should have ducts inspected once each year and cleaned when needed. Having the home’s ducts cleaned on a routine basis should be considered another step in the regular maintenance of the heating and air conditioning system.
The frequency of cleaning air ducts will vary from home to home, as each household has different qualities that can contribute to the volume of contaminants found within the ducts. It is recommended that you have the ducts cleaned whenever you move into a new home, including a newly constructed home, as doing so will eliminate contaminants left behind by the former occupant or the construction process that can circulate back into the living areas and cause problems for you and your loved ones.
Other reasons to schedule duct cleaning right away include:
- Musty odors from ducts
- Visible mold growth in ducts
- Insect or rodent infestation in the duct system
- Excessive dust and debris in living areas
- An increase in cold or allergy symptoms among occupants
Cleaning your air ducts will play an important role in the quality of your indoor air. HVAC systems circulate the home’s air volume through the duct system an average of five to seven times each day, providing multiple chances for debris and contaminants to move from the ducts into your living areas. When ducts are cleaned, your air quality improves, your home and your HVAC equipment stay cleaner, your household experiences fewer physical symptoms of poor indoor air quality, and you can even improve the energy efficiency of your heating and cooling systems to save money on operating costs.
Contact Hans for Duct Cleaning Services in Montgomery, AL
How often should air ducts be cleaned? As needed, when you move, and when you experience certain situations at home. Hans Heating & Air offers air duct cleaning for homeowners across the Montgomery, Alabama area. Contact us today to set an appointment and have your ducts cleaned! Clean air ducts can drastically improve your home’s indoor air quality.