The ductwork in your home does its important job out of your sight. It crawls, climbs, and snakes through walls and ceilings, passes through the attic and basement, and hides in the garage. It works without you needing to think about it much. However, because you can’t see it, it is often difficult to tell when the ductwork has started to collect a layer of dust and dirt along its inside. The ducts will eventually become dirty, and without regular professional duct cleaning, they will soon accumulate enough dust and debris, even microbes, to impair your HVAC system’s operation and lower the indoor air quality of your home.
Cowboys Air Conditioning & Heating recommends you schedule an annual duct cleaning.
Here are some ways to detect dirty ducts.
Signs of dirty ductwork
An increase in allergies/allergy-like symptoms: The EPA has determined that poor indoor air quality poses one of the major threats to people’s health in the U.S. Lowered air quality from contaminants blown about in your air can cause people with allergies to experience an increase in their symptoms. People without allergies can suffer from headaches, dried sinuses, common cold-like symptoms, and coughing. If your household starts to encounter these health issues consistently, then your indoor air quality may be suffering from contamination blowing through the ducts.
Your home is constantly dusty: If your vents continually waft dust into the air of your house, it will settle across your furnishings and gather in corners. If you find that no matter how much cleaning you do, the dust comes right back, you might need to have the ductwork cleaned.
Unusual smells from the vents: A layer of dirt along the ducts will give your air a dusty smell. Mold and bacteria will cause moldy or more unpleasant scents. If enough dust gets into the cabinet of your HVAC system, you may start to smell a burning odor.
Contact professional duct cleaners
You cannot effectively clean the ducts on your own: they are difficult to access, and standard cleaning tools like vacuums and sprays will not remove ground-in contamination. You need to bring in duct cleaning specialists, who use powered vacuums, rotary brushes, and sanitizers designed specifically for ductwork, to take care of this job. They can also install UV germicidal lights to take care of micro bacterial growths.
Cowboys Air Conditioning & Heating has over 25 years of history performing duct cleaning in San Antonio, TX. Schedule cleaning with us annually—and there’s no time like the present to get started.
