Keeping your home smelling fresh is a priority for many homeowners, and one of the best ways to do this is by cleaning the air ducts. When ventilation grilles are full of dust and allergens, it can cause an unpleasant odor to spread throughout the house. Having a working heating and cooling system is a blessing during the colder and hotter months, but did you know that these same systems can spread bad odors around your home?There are several reasons why bad smells can come from your heating and cooling systems, which we'll discuss below. If you have bad odors in your house, dirty air ducts may be to blame.
If you're the original owner of the home, it may be easier to find out the source of your problem. However, if you live in a second-hand home and your air ducts have never been cleaned, it can be more difficult to locate the problem.Odors that can get trapped in air ducts can be attributed to kitchen scents, tobacco smoke, vermin and rodents, household pets, mold, and bacteria. Pets can contribute to unpleasant odors in the home as pet hair or dander can get into air ducts, causing bad scents to flow throughout the interior of the house. The smell of pet urine can be especially strong and cling to dust in your home's air duct system.Unfortunately, the only way to eliminate this odor is to have the air ducts cleaned by a professional.
Fortunately, thorough cleaning and disinfection of the air duct system is quite effective in fighting bacteria. Professional duct cleaning effectively removes all traces of dust, dirt, mold and any other unpleasant items that have accumulated in the ducts. Even if you've thoroughly cleaned or replaced everything in your house, you'll still notice a smell of smoke in the vents until they've been cleaned by a professional.Ducts leave the oven and go through basements, tight spaces, and walls to reach all rooms, and cleaning them involves vacuuming up dust and debris, as well as removing mold (if present). In certain situations, duct cleaning will reduce harmful contaminants in the air you breathe.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it may not make a noticeable difference in homes that don't have an identifiable duct system problem. If you don't have a mold problem in your ducts and they're not infested, your home's air is probably fine without having to clean them.So how often should you clean the air ducts? Simply put, only as often if there is a serious problem such as mold in the air ducts which can cause mold spores to enter living areas of the house. A legitimate duct cleaning company will use a variety of industrial blowers and agitation tools to lift build-up from air duct walls along with truck-mounted high-power vacuums to remove build-up from the duct system and remove it completely from your home. Untrained technicians or fraudsters who lack proper vacuuming equipment to safely clean ducts can dislodge dust that was previously attached to inside of ducts and release it into your home.
Only qualified HVAC inspection and cleaning technicians can safely clean ductwork and expel air outside your home.Legitimate and reputable duct cleaning services exist in most communities usually offered by professional HVAC contractors. Unfortunately this service also attracts a lot of scammers. If your ducts have never been cleaned it's a good idea to opt for deep duct cleaning at first consultation. Then once all buildup has been removed from system you'll want to schedule maintenance duct cleaning appointments approximately every two years.
