Everyone depends a lot on their various air conditioning and heating units. Even if you’re not trying to cool down on a hot day, air quality is still important. When any air unit is working as expected, it goes mostly unnoticed. However, the moment it stops working, people have a minor panic attack as the encroaching heat or cold enters the home. This is why different types of air conditioning maintenance are so important, including air duct cleaning.
Seen and Unseen Benefits of Air Duct Cleaning
In terms of keeping your home’s HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) units operating efficiently, most people probably don’t think much about the vents themselves. They merely act as a means to get you and your family the cool air or warmth that you dial up at any given time of year. However, the air ducts are an entirely different story in terms of what they contribute to your home and level of comfort.
What Do The Air Ducts Actually Do?
If you have central air in your home, you probably don’t give a lot of thought to how it works. For the most part, it’s really easy to operate. You just need to set a temperature on the thermostat, and then you’ll hear the familiar humming of the system kicking up as air begins to flow from the vents. The system that actually connects the heating and cooling unit to your home is made up of the various air ducts. This is what transports the air throughout your home, and it can dictate which specific rooms get air flow depending on how advanced your system is. Over time, any of the air ducts can accumulate excess dust, cobwebs, dirt, or other contaminants that aren’t caught by the external air filters. This is when air duct cleaning can make a big impact.
Becoming More Energy Efficient
As dust and dirt gather in air ducts, they’re transported throughout the building. There are a number of checks in place, including additional air filters, that will catch any larger contaminants so they don’t pass freely into your home. That being said, this does impact the efficiency of your system. When filters are clogged, the base unit needs to expend more energy to get air into the home, and this means you’re going to have higher electricity costs than you would if you’re filters were clean. However, if you don’t focus on the source and get air duct cleaning, you’re allowing for more build up and that translates into more frequent filter replacement.
Better Quality Air Is Healthier
The more ‘unseen’ benefit of getting air duct cleaning is the overall health of those in the household. Air filters do a really great job of collecting the majority of contaminants, but they can only do so much. If left unchecked, over time they will begin to allow worse quality air into your home. Air in the home is recycled, so it collects everything from regular dust to cleaning sprays being used. By cleaning out the air ducts, you’re providing a more energy efficient system, and keeping any respiratory health risks down.