Eight Reasons Why You Should Schedule An Air Duct Cleaning Service For Your Home | Richardson, TX
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The importance of your residential HVAC system goes beyond merely heating and cooling your indoors. It’s a pivotal determinant of the indoor air quality of your residence. Your home’s heating and cooling units transport the treated air produced to the rest of the rooms via air ducts. As time passes, dust, dirt, and unwanted microorganisms and allergens may accumulate inside the ducts. This is often unavoidable, with experts from the US Environmental Protection Agency claiming that the concentration of some air pollutants may be two to five times higher indoors than typical outdoor concentrations.
Given that most Americans spend approximately 93 percent of their time indoors, homeowners in Richardson, TX, and beyond should understand why an air duct cleaning service is beneficial to their indoor comfort. While air ducts may be safely hidden away behind the walls of your home, they’re still susceptible to contamination as well as conventional wear and tear. Due to their inconspicuous positioning, knowing when you need to contact an air duct cleaning expert can be quite tricky.
The EPA claims that even though duct cleaning is yet to be proven effective in preventing health problems, you should consider having the ducts cleaned professionally if there’s visible mold growth inside the unit’s hard surfaces. You should also consider asking your reliable air duct cleaning provider to clean them if they’re infested with insects and rodents as well as when they’ve blocked due to the excessive accumulation of dust and debris.
An air duct cleaning service typically involves the comprehensive cleaning of various HVAC components, including the heating and cooling coils, heat exchanger, air handling unit housing, and drip pans. Other components that your heating and AC service provider may clean include the fan motor and housing, grilles and diffusers, and the supply and return air ducts and registers. Your local air duct cleaning professional can use specialized tools or chemical biocides to get the job done.
Regardless, below are some compelling reasons why you should consider requesting an air duct cleaning professional to visit your home.
Possible Mold Growth Inside the Ducts
As predetermined, it can be hard to know what’s going on inside the ducts since they’re often installed behind your home’s walls, and sometimes, the roof. However, you can look through the vents to identify any problems that may require the attention of your nearest air duct cleaning service professional. One of these issues can be visible mold growth.
Your system’s ducts are dark and small, and when the heating unit is active, they may become warm. The hot and humid Texan summer conditions may lead to the accumulation of moisture inside the unit. When all these factors combine, they create a conducive breeding environment for mold spores.
Once mold begins growing inside your residential heating and AC system, its spores will continually be circulated within your home’s indoors, potentially compromising the safety of the inhabitants of your home.
Although the allergic reactions to mold can be immediate or delayed, some of the typical allergic responses associated with mold exposure include red eyes, runny nose, sneezing, and possible skin rashes.
That said, you should consider scheduling a professional air duct cleaning service if your system’s ducts have visible mold growth inside them.
A Member of Your Family Struggles with Allergies or Respiratory Issues
As your system’s air ducts work to maintain favorable indoor conditions all year round, contaminants such as pet dander, pet fur, and dust may accumulate with time. Gradually, they will move through the unit and eventually into the rooms of your home. In that context, the chances of allergic reactions may increase for anyone within your homestead with a history of allergies. This is among the main reasons it would be a great idea to schedule a routine air duct cleaning service.
Dirty air ducts can also worsen individuals suffering from respiratory problems such as asthma or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. With that in mind, the best way to protect the vulnerable inhabitants in your home is by having the air ducts professionally cleaned at least annually.
Your Home Has Pets
It’s quite hard to dispute the value pets add to your family. Besides being great for companionship, pets are generally adorable. However, as great as they may be, they can wreak havoc on your home’s HVAC system. Most pets, particularly cats and dogs, which are relatively popular in the majority of Richardson, TX, homes, shed their fur occasionally.
The fur and dander they produce may enter your system’s ducts, where they may repeatedly circulate throughout your residence, causing its indoor air quality to be compromised. In turn, the symptoms of members of your household with underlying pet allergies or respiratory issues may worsen if you fail to request a professional air duct cleaning service from a reliable HVAC contractor near you.
Besides that, the consistent accumulation of pet dander may also affect the efficiency of your residential heating and cooling unit. When the buildup of pet dander and debris is extensive, the system’s components may sustain damages that can negatively impact its performance. Without immediate intervention, the unit will work harder to maintain the preferred indoor air quality.
During an air duct cleaning service, your technician can clean the unit to eliminate pet fur or dander traces. This can improve your home’s indoor air quality while ensuring that your residential HVAC system remains functionally efficient all year round.
You Want to Prevent Rodent and Pest Infestations
When the external weather conditions become too high or too low, rodents and insects will try finding safe and comfortable places to lay down their nests. Since your unit’s air ducts are dark and quiet, they can provide a comfortable space for rodents and critters to hide. Although you may not treat this as a problem because the pests are well out of your sight, allowing the critters to live within the duct network only leads to more serious issues down the line.
For starters, once they’ve begun breeding, it’s only a matter of time before you have a full-scale infestation on your hands. Your HVAC system can get damaged under such circumstances, consequently compromising your home’s indoor air quality. Rodents and critters often leave their waste inside the air ducts. When the HVAC system is running, the fumes may get distributed throughout your residence, giving rise to hazardous indoor air conditions.
During an air duct cleaning service, your HVAC professionals will remove any rodents and critters that may have set up their homes inside the ducts in preparation for the adverse summer or winter conditions. After the service, you can rest easy knowing that you aren’t cohabiting with any unwelcome pests in your residence.
You’ve Been Cleaning Your Residence More Often than Usual.
Suppose your home has always been able to remain presentable with dusting and vacuuming after a few days. In that case, you may need to develop a routine air duct cleaning service plan if you suddenly have to coordinate these activities more often.
In most cases, the increased need for these actions often arises due to the extensive accumulation of indoor air pollutants in the air ducts. As dust, pet dander, and dirt continue to build up in the ducts, they may circulate into the air you breathe and then back into the system, repeating this cycle until you ask an HVAC expert to clean the ducts.
During this process, the particles of the contaminants may settle on your home’s floors, furniture, or even near the vents, which is why you may end up needing to clean it more often than usual. Through a professional air duct cleaning service, all the debris that may have built up throughout the year will be removed, ensuring that the indoors remain clean at all times. That said, air duct cleaning can help you avoid spending extra hours cleaning your residence, giving you more time to work on other household needs.
Dust Can Be Seen Coming Out of the Vents
You should consider consulting your local air duct cleaning service professional if you notice visible dust coming from the vents when your residential HVAC system is running. This scenario can often be traced back to two main factors. Firstly, you may encounter this issue if you’ve been living in your home for many years without having the air ducts professionally cleaned. Dust visibly coming out of the vents also implies that there could be an extensive buildup of dirt, dust, and other indoor air pollutants, a problem often linked to neglecting regular HVAC maintenance.
The excessive accumulation of dust in the air ducts can have detrimental consequences on your home’s indoor air quality. Besides that, it can cause blockages within the heating and cooling system, putting a strain on its fan. Consequently, the system may gradually begin to lose its operational efficiency. When the matter is left unresolved for too long, it’ll only be a matter of time before the need for an HVAC replacement service arises.
You Have a Smoker Inside Your Home
Comprising over 7,000 substances, the EPA categorizes secondhand smoke as a Class A carcinogen. The agency describes secondhand smoke as a combination of the smoke produced by the combustion of tobacco products such as cigars, pipes, cigarettes, and the smoke expelled by smokers. Additionally, it acknowledges that exposure to secondhand smoke can be dangerous to non-smoking adults and kids. Specifically, the experts claim that secondhand smoke can lead to severe and frequent asthma attacks as well as cardiovascular diseases, lung cancer, respiratory and ear infections in children and infants, and sudden infant death syndrome.
Although most people think that merely opening their home windows can help avoid secondhand smoke exposure, the EPA believes that this only reduces the level of concentration. If your residence has someone who smokes any tobacco product regularly, an annual air duct cleaning service should be prioritized.
As previously pointed out, secondhand smoke contains many harmful substances, which build up inside the air ducts similar to other contaminants such as dust and pet dander. Every time your residential HVAC system runs, these toxins get distributed throughout your Richardson, TX, leaving your loved ones susceptible to the adverse health effects of secondhand smoke exposure.
An air duct cleaning service can not only help get rid of the stale odor of environmental tobacco smoke but also guarantee the safety of your family healthwise. Besides that, it would also be a great idea to ban smoking indoors outright.
Your Home’s Basement Recently Experienced Extensive Water Damage
Naturally, most homeowners rarely give much thought to the air ducts after the basement has flooded. Instead, they often focus on saving household items that may have been affected by the flooding as well as drying out the standing water to prevent structural damage. However, failing to consult with a reliable air duct cleaning service provider after the basement has flooded is one grave mistake homeowners around Richardson, TX, often commit.
During your residential HVAC unit installation, your technicians may place most of the air ducts in the basement. Once the basement has flooded, mold growth becomes an imminent threat if you fail to act with urgency. Air ducts are typically dark, and when combined with the dampness resulting from the flooding, they provide a conducive environment for mold to thrive.
Therefore, when you’re done getting rid of the standing water and drying the floors of your flooded basement, you should also consider scheduling an air duct cleaning service. Your service provider can inspect the ductwork to ensure that no traces of mold can be found and to clear any visible signs of mold growth. That way, you can rest assured that the indoor air quality of your Richardson, TX, home is safe for breathing.
Choose One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating of Dallas for Your Air Duct Cleaning Service Needs
If you’re a Richardson, TX, homeowner looking for a one-stop shop for all your air duct cleaning service needs, don’t waste time looking for one via Google. Instead, contact the professionals at One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating of Dallas. Since 1988, we’ve been dedicated to satisfying the heating and cooling needs of the local community.
Besides air duct cleaning services, our loyal customers rely on us when they need help with new HVAC installation projects, heating and AC repair, and Energy Star home performance evaluations. Our NATE-Certified air duct cleaning service technicians are available 24/7, so feel free to contact us when in need of emergency HVAC solutions.