It is important to clean around your home or office to keep a healthy environment.
This is especially true in areas that are difficult to get to, like air ducts, as they are cleaned less often. In fact, the EPA suggests that heating and air conditioning systems serve as possible systems reservoirs or sites of microbial amplification.
But why is this necessary? What problems come from within the air ducts? Keep reading to discover 5 reasons you should consider hiring air duct cleaners.
1. Mold
The number one reason to have your ducts cleaned is due to mold. This is a very serious problem that needs to be addressed in a thorough fashion.
Mold is a health hazard to almost anyone. The CDC suggests that it causes upper respiratory tract symptoms, cough, and wheeze in otherwise healthy people. It also suggests that it is particularly harmful to people with asthma or people with other susceptibilities.
Mold also has a tendency to build up in dark, damp places. Air ducts are dark, maintain a regular temperature, and with condensation from cooling systems, may even be damp. This makes them a perfect environment for mold.
In the case of mold build-up, cleaning the ducts is the only effective solution. This prevents the mold from spreading spores through the ducts and into the building.
2. Pest Infestation
The other big reason to look into air duct cleaning is because of a pest infestation. Pests may see the relatively undisturbed vents as a great place to hide and make their nests. This is another serious problem that will need to be addressed sooner rather than later.
A pest infestation can mean multiple things. It may be an infestation of insects like cockroaches or bugs. However, rodents, like rats, mice, or even squirrels, have the potential to be just as troublesome.
These pests pose a serious risk to both individuals and the building itself. Their droppings have the potential to pose a health hazard. Meanwhile, rodents have a tendency to chew through wires and walls.
Because of this, getting rid of any pests is critical. The best air duct cleaners will clean your ducts while also guiding you through the pest removal process.
3. Dust Build-Up
While not as serious of an issue as the previous two reasons, dust build-up is still another problem that ducts face. Like anywhere else in a home, dust builds up within an air vent. However, unlike other places in a home, the air vents are not regularly dusted, which allows the dust to pile up.
Dust may build up during a period of time when the vents are not in use. Then, when the system turns back on, this dust leaves the events and enters the room. Having loose dust flying around the room is an obvious problem, especially for those who are sensitive to dust.
Cleaning an air duct is a great move when the dust starts to build up. If you haven’t used the vents in a while, check to see if any dust has built up. If it has, consider reaching out to an air duct cleaner before turning the system back on.
4. Inefficient Airflow
Problems within the ducts have the potential to become problems for the house as a whole. Dust, debris, and other materials all have the potential to make their way into the ducts. As these pile-up, they reduce the efficiency of the ducts.
This happens because the ducts need to be clear to allow for the best flow of air. If they are not clear, the air will be slowed down or blocked entirely by whatever is in the ducts.
When this happens, it prevents the system from working as well as it should, which negatively impacts the effectiveness of heating and cooling. This may also lead to additional costs. These take place because the system has to work harder and thus use more energy in order to work at all.
Air conditioning duct cleaners are able to remove anything that would block the flow of air. This brings the system back up to its full potential.
5. Remove Anything Else From the Ducts
While mold, pests, and dust are some of the main culprits that find their way into air ducts, they are not the only ones out there. Any home or business has the potential to have random materials find their way into the ducts.
For example, imagine an office party where pizza and soft drinks are served. During the party, someone spills some of their drink into one of the vents on the floor, and someone else drops some of the cheese off their pizza in the same way. In this situation, those items will simply sit in the duct.
Depending on what is dropped, this may lead to problems in the future. Both the soda and cheese have the potential to go bad and create unpleasant odors. These odors are then pumped into the entire building through the ventilation system.
Luckily, cleaning air ducts regularly will prevent this. Anything in the ducts that present a problem will be removed. This eliminates any chance that unpleasant odors or other problems will arise from within the ducts.
Getting Air Duct Cleaners
There are plenty of reasons to want to clean your ducts. Whether you are dealing with a serious problem or simply want to stay on top of cleanliness, doing so helps.
If you are interested in finding air duct cleaners to tackle this problem for you, make sure to contact the experts at Capitol Duct Cleaning.
