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How often should have the air ducts in your home or business cleaned? 

Just like routine maintenance on a vehicle to prevent damage and premature failure, your HVAC system requires routine maintenance as well. Air ducts should be cleaned on a regular basis, but how often should you clean your air ducts? Before we get to how often duct cleaning should be performed, lets cover some basic information covering air duct cleaning.

The importance of air duct cleaning

Air duct cleaning helps in removing debris and dirt from the duct system. There can be a lot of different deposits such as mold, mildew, vermin, dust from renovations or construction, insect droppings, or other items that may get stuck in the air ducts like dog or cat hair. It is important to remove these contaminants so they are not circulated through the HVAC system possibly causing harm or inefficiency to the unit or to the occupants of the home or business.

How often do you need to have your air ducts cleaned?

NADCA suggests that the duct system in residential homes should be inspected once every 2 years and a commercial property should be inspected once annually. From our experience a duct system is cleaned once every 3 to 5 years. We do recommend sanitizing the air duct system once a year, as most sanitizer compounds are only effective for 12 months. The air ducts may need to be cleaned more often if you have pets or smokers in home or business.

 

Knowing when to have the air ducts cleaned

The biggest sign that the air duct system needs cleaning is usually dust on the vents. It may be beneficial to consider duct cleaning when moving into a new home. When remodeling or renovations have been made at a home or business it is recommended to have the ducts cleaned once the construction work is complete. A cleaning should also be considered if there has been any water damage in a home. Commonly in Florida we encounter microbial growth inside of ductwork that needs to be cleaned.

 

What signs tell you it’s time to clean your air ducts?

At times, your ventilation system itself will tell you that it is time to have your vents cleaned. If you see dust coming from your vents it is time for the ducts to be cleaned. A big indicator is a lot of dust collecting on the return filters in a short amount of time. It is highly recommended to change your return air filters at the minimum every 3 months.

There can be noticeable traces of insects living inside the ductwork, if you notice any of these signs it may be a good idea to have the ductwork cleaned and looked over. Having the system looked over to ensure there isn’t an entry point the insects are entering the system. There have been instances where rodents will create holes in the ducts causing lots of issues.

If there is any question that you may need a duct cleaning service, do not hesitate to contact a qualified air duct cleaning company, to look over the system.

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