What You Need to Know About Duct Cleaning

If you have an HVAC system in your home or office, when should you clean your ducts? Organizations like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA) and numerous HVAC maintenance companies are still researching the benefits of professional cleanings and the cost of dirty ducts. Here is the information currently known about HVAC duct cleaning and how it may apply to your system:

You can perform duct cleaning inspections by removing vents and taking pictures of shafts with a digital camera.

How Do HVAC Ducts Get Dirty?

When you first buy a home or office space, you need to inspect the heating and air conditioning system to look out for any problems that could later lead to constant cleaning demands. It's wise to have the ducts looked over by a professional heating and cooling contractor before purchase. You want to be wary of the following threats to a clean system:

Airborne Materials
An HVAC system circulates air throughout an indoor location. This means the ducts could become full of dust, chemicals, smoke, pollen, dander, pet hair or mold found in a residential or commercial building. Normally, it is the job of an air filter to protect vents and ducts from these particles and keep the HVAC system clean. When the filter is old, cheaply made or not properly installed, contaminants not only get through, they build up in the system.

When the ducts are dirty, the continuous circulation of air in the building consistently adds dust or other materials to vent and duct buildup and redistributes the material back into the air. This is especially troublesome if dirty ducts create an environment that grows mold or attracts vermin.

Moisture Intrusion
Mold needs moisture to grow. When cooling systems aren't properly maintained, installed or repaired, leaks and pools of water can develop. Normally, a cooling coil keeps moisture contaminants out of an air conditioning system. If it's not functioning properly, cleaning may be warranted after repair.

Improperly sized air conditioner units or hastily installed ducts are other causes for concern. You should make sure there are no seams between ducts or vents that would allow water through.

High-Risk Environments
While a proper filter can prevent the need for constant HVAC system cleaning, certain environments will call for regular maintenance regardless of care. According to the EPA, if you have a fuel burning furnace, stove or fireplace, you need to check for problems with vents and ducts to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. Smoke build-up in HVAC systems could also create less dangerous - but very annoying - problems likes unpleasant odors.

Business buildings may house activities and processes that generate a lot of air pollutants. For example, kennels may need to routinely clean ducts to prevent hair and dander build-up. Laundromats move a lot of materials into the air and even residential spaces that have a dryer should check the vent on the machine.

What Are the Dangers of a Dirty Duct?

As new science comes forward about the dangers of air contaminants like dust and mold, you may want to reexamine your HVAC system to avoid the problems associated with unclean environments:

Energy Efficiency
According to the NADCA, dust build-up and other contaminants in HVAC ducts contribute to the 25 to 40 percent of energy wasted in home heating and cooling every year. While dust and dander in ducts may not directly block the flow of air, dirty coils and motors may cause breakdowns, future problems or inefficient operations.

Excessive dust collecting around a vent or in a duct system is a sure sign that something else is wrong. Keeping HVAC equipment clean allows homeowners and facility managers to spot problems as soon as they occur. Once the issue is fixed, cleaning must take place to help ensure further incidents don't develop.

Health Concerns
This is where the issue gets complicated. While there's no proven link between cleaning air ducts and the health of the occupants in a building, the EPA and NADCA recommend taking steps to remove dust, mold and dander from your HVAC system when the building houses people with allergies, asthma, sinus problems or respiratory infections. 

Molds and bacteria growing in vents and ducts are the primary concern of most organizations. Also, when debris causes a ventilation system or internal HVAC mechanism to stop working, carbon monoxide or other dangerous substances could present themselves.

Clean Environment
Even if dust and dander aren't proven causes of illness, it doesn't mean you want to be breathing them. You may choose to clean your HVAC ducts because you value cleanliness.

You can also prevent unpleasant environmental factors like bugs and odors. Whether you're a homeowner who wants to raise your family in a clean environment or a business that wants to present a professional atmosphere for customers, HVAC cleaning and maintenance should be investigated by anyone placed in charge of maintaining a building.

When Do You Clean Air Vents Yourself?

There are certain strategies you can employ when you want to inspect your HVAC system for problems and perform routine cleaning.

Warning Signs
Problems with an HVAC system may not be subtle. When your energy or cooling bill drastically increases, it's time to inspect the system for trouble.

Other indications may be visual rather than financial. You can check the vent in each room to see if there is a massive amount of dirt or other substances around the grate. It's not uncommon to see particles like cobwebs and hair blowing out of vents when ducts are dirty. You might also be able to spy dead insects or vermin droppings around entrances to your HVAC system.

To perform a more thorough inspection of your heating and cooling ducts, you can remove the grate and take a good look at the interior. This is where you want to look for signs of mold or discoloration caused by bacteria or moisture. If you can't see very well, you can use your cell phone or digital camera to take pictures with the flash enabled down dark ducts.

If you think mold is a potential threat, you can pick up detection kits at your local hardware store.

Cleaning Tasks
When you notice dust built up on a vent, you can measure how bad the problem is by wiping down the surface and monitoring how long it takes for the build-up to return.

You can remove the vent from the duct entrance and take a vacuum to the interior. You should avoid using water, as you don't want moisture to accumulate inside your HVAC system. You can use a dry rag or towel to wipe away dust and stick a vacuum hose into a duct to remove debris deeper in the system. This should prevent negative cosmetic effects and solve simple system problems.

Preventative Measures
The key to preventing HVAC problems is to ask as many questions as possible before purchasing a home or office. You want to inquire with the previous owner about any problems they had with heating and cooling and when they last had the system inspected or cleaned. After that, talk to the realtor or contractor. It might be wise to have the system thoroughly inspected by an HVAC professional early to put your mind at ease so you don't have to worry about contaminants in the air.

After proper installation and inspection, the major task in maintaining clean heating and cooling ducts is consistently replacing filters. Filters help prevent foreign debris like dust from making its way into an HVAC system. If dirt, mold or other substances are ever detected in your ducts, it's time to speed up your replacement cycle or upgrade your filters.

When Do You Need Professional Help?

Should you find yourself constantly cleaning the same vent or losing money to heating and cooling, small cleaning projects likely won't fix the damage. Outside of recurring issues and obvious problems, here are some other events and signs that may call for you to reach out to a professional HVAC system cleaning service:

Major Projects
There are events that call for a thorough inspection of a building's infrastructure. If your home or office experiences a fire - even a small one - you may want to check for smoke damage in your ducts, but you should also give the entire HVAC system a once-over. Even less destructive events, such as remodeling, can kick up a lot of dust and clog systems that worked fine in the past.

It's also smart to perform inspections of heating and cooling systems when you're preparing to sell a property. A clean bill of health can help you get the price you want while providing the information future buyers will likely ask for.

Particular Materials
If you have an older building, modern solutions to dirty ducts may not apply. It's always best to contact a professional when you come across system features or mechanisms you don't recognize from online tutorials or other information sources.

Fiberglass filters are a popular choice for a variety of modern buildings, but per Bob Villa, they are the option least likely to keep air clean. When your system is filled with ineffective cleaning features, you may want a professional to clean your ducts before you install superior versions.

Doctor Suggestions
When family members - or even pets - take ill with respiratory problems, medical professionals will often advise you to do everything in your power to remove air contaminants from your home.

The same is true with businesses that have to go through government inspections or other building evaluations. Many consumer and employee advocates demand commercial buildings pass mold and filtration inspections. Not complying may cause a business to find itself in legal trouble.

When problems with air quality occur, you can turn to a professional service to ensure the health and safety of every individual who passes through your door.

How Do You Find a Professional HVAC Cleaning Service? 

Serious problems call for complete cleaning processes carried out by HVAC professionals. Unfortunately, many companies take advantage of common heating and cooling misconceptions to overcharge consumers. Here's how you can find an honest air duct and vent cleaning business:

Research
You should never hire a company because they send you an air duct system cleaning promotion that sounds too good to be true. According to Today's Homeowner, some cleaning companies will offer a shockingly low price to get inside your home. Once there, they'll suddenly claim to discover a serious problem that will require a substantial amount of additional money to clean. Also, you should avoid businesses that make outrageous claims about the health benefits of duct cleaning.

Should you decide an HVAC cleaning is right for your home or business, you should research a variety of companies in your area. You can start with personal recommendations and then move on to online reviews of cleaning services.

Certifications
During your research, you need to check to see if an HVAC professional cleaning service is certified by the NADCA. You can use the NADCA website to search for members in your area. After that, you can look for further accreditations and service awards. Companies should follow the standards put forth by the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association and Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines for working in confined spaces.

Full-Service
A sure sign of a dishonest duct cleaning service is one that just vacuums the easy to reach parts of your system. A full cleaning should take hours, but some businesses will bring a small vacuum and leave after 30 minutes.

When speaking with a potential HVAC cleaning service, you should ask for a detailed breakdown of activities. Be sure to ask about cleaning internal heating and cooling components and how they verify work was done. You may also inquire about side tasks like cleaning the vent on your dryer or other sources of air contaminants.

Estimates
Depending on the size of your building, the cost of a duct cleaning service will vary. It should cost somewhere between $300 and $500 for most homes. Commercial buildings will vary so it's wise to ask businesses of similar size and operations how much they paid.

Comparative shopping should help you find a reasonable price. Avoid cleaning services that cost too much, but also be wary of surprisingly low offers, as these businesses will probably try to upsell you or perform an incomplete job.

What Tools Are Used in HVAC Cleaning?

Once you hire a cleaning service, you need to know what to expect from the company's efforts. If the business is a quality HVAC system maintenance organization, these are the tools you should see professional using around your property:

Vacuums
When it comes to vacuums, the bigger the better. Preferably, when cleaning your ducts, professionals should make use of external vacuums that blow debris into containment units outside your home. Larger vacuums are also an indication that they'll do a more thorough job.

When cleaning technicians use smaller devices, large amounts of dust or other debris may be released throughout your home or redistributed to internal mechanisms.

Brushes
Vacuum hoses should be fitted with soft-bristle brush attachments. These brushes should clean interior ducts without damaging surfaces. Companies may also use smaller brushes to give special attention to a particular vent, HVAC mechanism or trouble spot. Often, a thorough brushing is enough to remove biological contaminants.

Chemicals and Sealants
You want to be wary of HVAC cleaning services that try to use chemical cleaners or sealants in your ducts. The EPA has yet to determine if chemical biocides do a better job of removing mold and bacteria from ducts than scrubbing and vacuuming. However, as long as the business uses the right products, it shouldn't hurt.

Before chemicals are applied, you should ask for verification that you have mold in your system. It may be better to consult a professional mold inspector to see how far the problem extends and explore the best total solution. If you decide to let duct cleaning professionals use chemical products in your vent, you should check the labels first to ensure they are appropriate for heating and cooling system use and don't contain respiratory irritants.

Documentation
A camera is an essential tool when cleaning HVAC ducts. Professionals should take before and after pictures of each part of your system they service. The photos should correspond to documented work orders and display visual evidence of dust and other contaminants being detected and removed.

Filters
After a big HVAC system cleaning project, you want to ensure the problem doesn't happen again. Talk to HVAC professionals about the best possible filters you could use to keep your system clean. Odds are, a pleated or electrostatic model will be the best choice if you want keep your system operating at full efficiency.

After working with a dependable, honest and effective HVAC cleaning service, you may want to go online to leave a review for the next consumer who needs advice.