Nearly all homes with modern heating and cooling systems have an air duct system as well. Air ducts are small, hollow tubes throughout your home designed to carry cooled or heated air from room to room. Understanding how your air ducts work and how regular maintenance helps is crucial to keeping your ducts clean and free of potentially dangerous substances.

How Air Ducts Work

Your air ducts are almost always connected to your home’s A/C or ventilation system. When that associated system kicks in, energy gets pushed through the ducts. This pressure pushes that heated or cooled air into rooms around the house, allowing you to control the temperature in those rooms. Air ducts can be closed or opened to help you control what rooms receive air. 

Why You Should Get your Air Ducts Cleaned Professionally

While the United States Environmental protection Agency states that dust isn’t a sufficient reason to clean air ducts, it does highlight specific conditions that warrant cleaning. Mold, rodents, insects, and excessive dust or debris can become a permanent fixture in your air ducts if they go too long without maintenance. Routine air duct cleaning helps to curb these issues and their underlying causes before they get out of hand. 

Air ducts should be cleaned every 5 to 8 years, a longer maintenance period than some other things. However, there are instances in which it’s a good idea to push this schedule up. According to the National Air Duct Cleaning Association, you should consider having your ducts cleaned more often if:

• You have animals that shed 
• Your home was remodeled recently
• Your home is prone to leaks 
• You or a family member smokes indoors
• You or a family member has respiratory issues such as asthma or allergies
• You’ve had recent issues with your HVAC system
• You recently had an insect or rodent infestation

If you are due for a cleaning based on this maintenance schedule or have any of the aforementioned circumstances, it may be time to schedule a professional cleaning. 

Benefits of Duct Cleaning

Getting your air ducts cleaned can have several positive benefits for your home. Cleaning ducts can help improve your HVAC’s efficiency, cut costs, reduce allergens and dust, improve asthmatic symptoms, and help create a cleaner environment for you and your loved ones.

If you’re due to have your air ducts cleaned, give us a call at Lifetime! For over 20 years we’ve been a leader in heating, cooling, and electrical servicing in Western Washington. Our trained technicians are standing by and ready to serve.