The quality of the air you breathe inside your home affects the quality of your entire life. Poor indoor air quality is a huge problem, and short-term exposure to poor air quality can lead to symptoms like headaches, extreme fatigue, brain fog, eye irritation, nasal congestion, throat discomfort, and lung and respiratory issues. Moreover, prolonged exposure to air pollutants in the home can lead to respiratory illnesses such as asthma. Long-term exposure to certain pollutants and toxins like asbestos and radon have even been linked to cancer.
Clean, clear air ducts help to facilitate healthy air distribution throughout your home. If you do not regularly engage in duct cleaning services, it is likely that your system will experience significant accumulation of dust, pet dander, outside debris, viruses, bacteria, pollen and other allergens that can easily move through the air we breathe.
Air Duct Cleaning
At Total Comfort Cooling & Heating, our duct cleaning services include a thorough cleaning process of air supply and return ducts connected to your HVAC system, heating and cooling coils, condensation drains, and air handling unit housing. If your ducts are not regularly maintained, they could potentially become clogged by dust particles, pollen, mold, and other debris. This causes such particles and microbes to be released into your home as air travels through your HVAC system’s ductwork, picking up pollutants on its way to you.
Duct cleaning should be done by an HVAC professional, such as our experienced Total Comfort technicians, in order to ensure the cleaning is done properly and thoroughly. Typical cleaning processes involve specialized tools which dislodge dirt and debris clogging your ducts, and a special vacuum which then sucks out all of the loosened gunk. We will take extra care to protect existing ductwork and make repairs to any tears or damage we notice.
How to Know When Your Air Ducts Need Cleaning
It is likely that your HVAC system’s air ducts require a thorough cleaning if any of the following occur:
- There is visible mold growth inside your ducts or other components of your air conditioning unit–hence why you should have routine maintenance inspections conducted as well, as not all parts of the system are visible unless taken apart.
- Ducts are inhabited by rodents or insects.
- Ducts are visibly or audibly clogged with dust, debris, and other particulate matter.
- You can’t remember the last time you had your ducts cleaned.
It is important to note if you have a fuel burning furnace, stove, or fireplace, they should be serviced and inspected before the weather cools off each fall and winter to protect against fire hazards and carbon monoxide poisoning. As a part of duct cleaning services, our professionals clean dirty coils, fans and heat exchangers that these heating methods rely on for optimized efficiency and safety.
Preventative Maintenance
A few things should be done during routine maintenance to mitigate the amount of gunk accumulating in your ducts prior to cleaning. The most important of these is to control moisture in order to reduce the chance of mold overgrowth, and it is done by:
- Correcting any water leaks or standing water
- Removing standing water under cooling coils and in condensation drains
- Properly maintaining humidifiers
- Constructing air handling units for ease of access to heat exchange and drain pans
- Replace wet fiberglass or other insulation materials
Costs of Duct Cleaning
You won’t break the bank with Total Comfort’s duct cleaning services. Service itself is relatively inexpensive, and the prolonged, increased efficiency of your entire HVAC system, as a result, will pay for itself in the long run in the form of lower electricity bills. With clean air ducts, your entire system will work less to cool the air blowing through and disperse it with ease. Get in touch with Total Comfort and let our team get your ductwork cleaned so you can enjoy better health.
