Those air ducts in your home have a simple, but very important job: they need to move the air throughout your house using a cooling or heating system. As they do their job, however, they can easily become soiled, contaminated, and full of dirt. As your heating ducts fill up, you might notice more dust being distributed about your home. Cleaning heating ducts is a good spring cleaning project and is a vital part of your maintenance routine for your home

Check for Mold First

Mold can develop anywhere there is moisture. If your heating ducts don’t have adequate ventilation, there might be mold spores developing inside the ducts. While these are harmless for most, people with allergies or asthma may have a difficult time breathing while the mold is present. Check for any mold in your ducts and sanitize them if mold is present.

Look for Clogs or Debris Blockages

Your unit might be energy-efficient, but if you have excessive debris or clogs in your ducts, you’re not going to save a lot of money on heating and cooling. Check the ducts for excessive debris or clogs and quickly remove them. This will keep your unit running efficiently and might even lower your heating/cooling costs.

Get a Cleaning Estimate

Cleaning heating ducts is messy and requires special equipment. If you don’t feel like doing it yourself, get a few estimates from heating and cooling specialists in your area. There’s nothing wrong with getting two or three estimates from different companies so that you can compare the costs and their cleaning methods.

Try Seva Call

Seva Call can put you in touch with a professional in your area skilled in cleaning heating ducts. Using a professional service that is recommended by Seva Call can help save you time on researching and interviewing HVAC specialists in your area too.

Better indoor air quality and airflow and a decrease of allergens in your home are some of the benefits to cleaning heating ducts. Usually, ducts become congested with dust, which is made up of not only outdoor dust but also flakes of human skin, hair, pet dander, insects, fibers, and other matter. Cleaning heating ducts is an effective way to remove all of these unwanted particulates from your home.

Cleaning Heating Ducts Yourself                

With the right tools, cleaning heating ducts can be done on your own. Here’s how to do it:

1. Access the duct system by removing all the air supply, and remove registers from your walls.

2. With the registers removed, start vacuuming the duct as far down as you’re able to reach using your vacuum cleaner. Use the vacuum’s extra hoses to maximize length.

3. Go down to your basement. Check how far from each register the vacuum hose was able to reach. Measure and mark the point. Then, cut the duct using snips to create an access panel so you can continue vacuuming farther down the trunk of the duct.

4. Repeat the steps of vacuuming and then making access panels along the ducts until you’ve cleaned them all the way back to your furnace.

5. Cover the access panels with patches of sheet metal cut to fit over the holes. Use sheet metal screws to attach the patches to the ductwork, and then apply caulk to the seams to prevent leaks when you turn on the HVAC system.

6. Screw back the registers on your walls. Do a final sweep with the vacuum to get rid of any remaining dust or debris.

7. Heating ducts should be cleaned once a year as part of your yearly home maintenance program. With the access panels already in place, cleaning heating ducts should be easier the next time.

Hire a Cleaning Service

Because this task requires using a powerful vacuum, which many homes don’t have, and some handyman skills, many homeowners prefer to hire a home duct cleaning service to take care of cleaning their heating ducts. It’s actually a more practical solution than renting or buying expensive equipment. If you’re planning to hire a professional to get your ducts cleaned, make sure to obtain several quotes before choosing the right one.

TalkLocal is a free service that will connect you quickly with up to three qualified and reputable contractors in your area who can help with cleaning your heating ducts. Send us your request now!