The ductwork in your HVAC system helps to circulate warm air and cold air from your heating and AC system in your home. If the air ducts gather dirt or are damaged due to age and accumulated dust, you need to clean them regularly to prevent aeration problems and protect you from potential health issues as well.
When dirt clogs the HVAC system, the heat exchangers may fail to produce warm air efficiently. During the summer, dirt-clogged coils block cooling air from circulating properly. The anomaly increases the system’s runtime, forcing it to utilize more energy to cool and heat your home.
When Should You Clean Your HVAC System?
HVAC experts recommend cleaning every two years, particularly if you have pets and children in your home. You should also lookout for the leading indicators that duct and furnace cleaning require quick cleaning.
These signs include:
- Little wisps of dust wheezing out of an air vent
- Pet hair or dust trapped in the air duct
- Dust coating resting on the HVAC grill
- Excessive groaning and irritation
- Children with respiratory illnesses
- Seasonal allergies
These signs signify that your home’s dirty duct system requires thorough cleaning. In your HVAC system, a lot of dust collects in the vent pipe surfaces and coils. The dirt particles comprising mainly of human hair, dead skin, and pet fur creates a solid wool-like surface where allergens, bacteria, dust mites, and mold thrive.
The Air filters eliminate some of the larger particles from the air duct, leaving out smaller components from entering the HVAC system. Sometimes technicians also find unusual items trapped in some HVAC systems like dead roaches, old bottles, and worst-case scenarios pets stuck in the system! This large debris decomposes and rots over time causing severe health risks to house members.
Always check your duct system periodically if you notice any foul smell emanating from your HVAC system. You can perform simple regular checks such as
- Open the vent covers to inspect any anomalies.
- Check for accumulated dust or debris
- Examine the return air filters for gathered thick coats of dirt. Pull out the air filter to check for clogged dust that may have chocked the airflow.
- Open the furnace box and inspect the fan blower, fan motor and heater controls for accumulated dust. If you find huge mounds of dirt, know that your HVAC system is cleaning is long overdue.
- Check the AC coil, remove a panel for better viewing, if you find accumulated clingy dust, this is a clear indication that the air filter strains to function properly.
Once you find any part of your AC clogged up with dirt, then you know it is time for quick cleaning. If the dust seems overwhelming and you are afraid to do the cleanup individually call the local AC skilled technicians to perform a thorough cleaning and repairing any damaged parts.
For future cleaning purposes as mentioned earlier, perform HVAC inspections every two years, but you can also do the minor dusting and wiping off the exterior vents every once in a while to capture light dust particles. For the larger debris hidden or trapped in your AC compartments, perform regular monthly inspections to remove dead rodents or pets before they begin to rot.
If you’d like to learn more about having your HVAC system cleaned, the experienced team at David Gray HVAC can help. Click here to get started.