Signs And Benefits Of Duct Cleaning Services | Frisco, TX
The air ducts running through your home are often unseen and unthought about, until there is a problem. Yet, they are critical to keeping your home comfortable and evenly heated and cooled throughout the year. One of the best ways to do this is through duct cleaning services. As a property owner, this is one of the best ways to keep your home safe and in great condition long term.
What Is Duct Cleaning?
Duct cleaning is a professional method of cleaning the interior spaces within the ductwork running through the home. Most often, these ducts are behind walls and in ceilings, which makes accessing them not easy to do. More so, any type of damage to the exterior of the ducts can cause bigger problems related to inefficiencies.
Duct cleaning services provide a method for removing much of the material that builds up within these pathways through the home. The outcome is the removal of dust, dander, bacteria, and all sorts of other contaminants that are lurking in these spaces.
Duct cleaning services have methods for removing this material in a safe way so as not to cause any damage to the ducts themselves and to ensure the most sanitary process possible. The process only takes a few hours but can create a number of excellent benefits for homeowners, especially where the air quality may not be as clean as many think.
During this process, a technician will hook up a system that pulls material out and pushes clean air into the ductwork, removing and collecting all the backed up material. The process does not cause a mess in your home, and you do not have to worry about your indoor air quality during it as long as you are working with a trusted company in the area.
What Are the Signs That You Need These Duct Services?
It is a good idea to invest in duct cleaning services from a provider, at least one time a year. Some people may not need it this often, though. How do you know what is best for your home’s needs? Some of the most common signs you need duct cleaning services include the following:
Noticeable Debris in Vents
The vents in your living spaces push treated air from the furnace or air conditioner into the room or pull air out. This process enables your home to remain the temperature you want and need it to be. If you notice debris like dust on the exterior of the vents in the rooms of your home, that is an indication you likely can benefit from duct cleaning services. It often means that there are particles within the ductwork that are built up so significantly that the air is pushing them out into your home.
Air Filters Are Dirty
Most property owners should routinely change their air filters. These filters are the first line of defense for your home’s HVAC system. Their goal is to collect material from the air that the system is pulling into it to treat. Removing dust and debris from the air helps minimize buildup within the system that could cause it to fail sooner than it should.
If your air filters are heavily clogged with material, that is an indication there’s too much dust, dander, pollen, and other material in the air within your home. That could mean that there’s a lot of that material making it into your ductwork. Duct cleaning services can help to remove that buildup, enabling less debris from making it back into the HVAC system as it circulates air.
Odors and Musty Smells
Take a moment to stand by one of the vents pushing air into your living room as air flows. Do you smell anything strange? If you are in the bedroom doing this and you can smell odors from the meal you cooked in the kitchen on the other side of the home, that’s indicative of material lurking in the ductwork.
Debris like dust not only can hold onto the scents from cooking or other exposures, but it can also create an increased risk of mold and mildew growth even if there is just very minor humidity in your home’s air. Duct cleaning services can help to remove that material, along with the bacteria that could be worsening your air quality. That could improve your home’s scent.
You See Mildew or Mold in Multiple Places in Your Home
Duct cleaning services are a critical way of keeping indoor air quality healthy. Consider a typical risk. Perhaps there is a small drip in the basement laundry room that you do not notice. It causes mold to grow along the walls. Those mold spores in the basement of your home can enter into the air vents and travel through the ductwork to any other area of the home. That is made even worse when mold or mildew spores are located within the ductwork itself.
If you have mold or mildew in more than one area of the home, it could be brought on by this traveling through your ductwork. With duct cleaning services, you can remove this risk and help minimize the onset of concern in your home.
Critters in Your Ducts
Do you hear sounds in your ductwork? Could there be mice or other pests lurking in there? It is very commonly a problem if any type of hole develops in the ductwork. Infestations in these ducts can be problematic for anyone, but it is especially worse for people who have allergies. If there is a lot of dust or material within this area, that creates the ideal, warm nesting space for critters.
By having duct cleaning services, you can remove all of that material. If your team notices that you do have insects or rodents in the system, you can then work with a technician to determine if there are damaged areas that could be allowing these critters to access your home.
Your Home Is Dusty
Do you have a significant amount of dust built up throughout your home? If you dust your home, but it seems to come back within a few days – even with the windows shut – that could indicate you need duct cleaning services. In areas where construction, home renovations, and landscaping are common, there is a higher risk of that material making it into your home and, as a result, into your ducts. With duct cleaning services, you can stop that from getting into your HVAC.
You Have Had Major Renovations Completed
The first year or so after major home renovations is the most likely time for dust and debris to collect within the ductwork quickly. Though it is an ongoing problem, during these types of activities, there is a lot of dust brought up into the air. You may notice a higher level of dust throughout your home, too. Even when contractors do a great job of cleaning up or minimizing the spread of material through the air, it can still create a buildup in the ducts that could continue to be a problem for you for years to come.
Having duct cleaning services done now, after such a home renovation, may help to remove all of that material that’s built up within the ducts, helping your home to become dust-free sooner after major construction work.
What Are the Direct Benefits of Duct Cleaning?
The specific benefits your home seeks from duct cleaning services will range based on the current condition and how frequently it is maintained. Some of the most common benefits include the following.
Improve Indoor Air Quality
By far, one of the most important benefits that comes from duct cleaning is an improvement in air quality. By removing all of that material from within the ducts, less of it gets into the air you and your family breathe in.
Indoor air conditions are a common cause of illness, respiratory distress, and worsening allergies. Because these ducts can allow such a range of material to pass through them, including pesticides, carbon monoxide, dust, and volatile chemicals, all of that ends up in the air you breathe.
If someone in your home has allergies or asthma, it could be critical to have duct cleaning services completed on a routine basis to help remove as much of that material as possible that causes irritation.
Improve Your HVAC’s Efficiency
With the cost of heating and cooling rising, doing everything you can to improve the overall efficiency of your heating and cooling system makes sense. The debris accumulation within duct works pushes that material into your home’s air. Then, your HVAC system sucks it back up to treat the air. The problem is much of that can end up in the actual working components of your heating and cooling system.
Having a filter helps to capture some of that material. However, if that filter is clogged, the system has to work harder – using more energy to do so – to pull in enough air for treatment. That increases the costs of your heating and cooling bills. By keeping the ducts clean and the filters changed, air moves freely, and that means less work and lower utility bills as a result.
Your Home Is Easier to Maintain
Dusting could be your favorite chore, or it could be something you simply hate doing. In all situations, by using duct cleaning services on a routine basis, it is possible to keep at least some of that material from hitting the furniture and caking onto the fan blades in your home. This helps you to maintain a home that is more sanitary and hygienic.
Also notable is that when there is less material in the air ducts to get into your home’s air, your home’s air filters will last longer. That could mean it is saving you a significant amount of money by having your ducts cleaned on a routine basis.
Reduce Irritants from Air
The air within ductwork can easily become polluted with harmful microorganisms, especially if there are pests in there. Animal fur, pet dander, and feces are key concerns. There is also the risk of mold and mildew growth here.
All of those irritants can cause a number of health complications for people. They can lead to increased spread of illness from one person to the other since viruses can travel through ducts. It can also allow for allergens to build up, such as during pollen season, that can create intensified symptoms.
Keep Your Home Safe from Fires
In excessive situations, this dust and debris can increase the risk of fire in your home’s ductwork. Dust and links can be flammable in some situations. When they heat up, such as when you are running the furnace, there is a risk that they can ignite and start a fire. The more material lurking in here, the higher the risk factor for complications can be. This is made worse if you have a fireplace, stove, or furnace that is not maintained.
Duct cleaning services minimize this risk. It helps to remove some of that dangerous material, so your home is less at risk for problems. Remember, too, that removing it helps to ensure your home is safer for those who may be vulnerable, such as those sensitive to smoke or odors.
Let Our Team Offer the Services You Need
One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating of Dallas offers a wide range of services that can help you. That includes providing full duct cleaning services. All it takes is a call to learn more about the process and how it can help your home. You can then set up a time for the duct cleaning to take place. Within a matter of hours, your home will likely have a noticeable improvement in its air quality.
See our previous blog on this topic here.