An Ounce Of Prevention Is Great For Your Ductwork
October 15, 2011
Imagine what the inside of your ductwork must look like if you have never cleaned it. If your home is ten or more years old, imagine how it would look today if you had never cleaned it. It's a scary thought, isn't it?
All the dust and allergens that collect in the ductwork are also redistributed all over your home when they break loose. No matter how well you clean your house, all the material that collects in the ductwork spreads back into the air when the equipment is running.
A Continuing Health Risk
An additional problem can be mold, which is known to grow and spread inside the ducts under the right conditions. Moisture that forms during the air-conditioning season around the air handler can attract mold spores. Once mold is in the ductwork, it can spread quickly and wreak havoc in your family's health.
It would be expensive and time consuming to clean ductwork as often as you vacuum your carpets, but once per year will work wonders. Professional ductwork cleaners have small cameras they can run through the ducts and determine where the problem areas are. They follow that up with a motorized, spinning brush that can be pushed through the ducts to knock the accumulations of foreign particles loose.
A hose attached to the arm of the brush is connected to a powerful vacuum, which sucks the loose debris out and leaves the system as clean as the day it was installed. After a final inspection to be sure no areas were missed, a microbial treatment for mold is often sprayed into the system. This contains no harmful VOCs to cause other health problems.
Respiratory problems are often a result of dirty ducts and poor air quality in general. If enough dust and dirt accumulates in your air ducts, it can even restrict the flow of air and be damaging to your expensive equipment. It is well worth the peace of mind it brings to have your ductwork cleaned regularly.