Whenever we talk about duct cleaning in Fenton, MI, people start to wonder if this service is necessary. Unfortunately, there are plenty of disreputable “services” that offer duct cleaning at extremely low prices, then deliver almost nothing except a quick vacuum of the inside of some vent openings. That isn’t the type duct cleaning we do: we provide a thorough service that pressurizes the entire duct system to agitate dust and dirt from it, and then we use spot cleaning with rotary brushes to ensure we did a complete job.
And we can assure you that real duct cleaning is important for a house. The best way to describe this is for you to picture the ductwork as like the nostrils of your nose. When the passages are unobstructed, you breathe easy and don’t even have to think about it. When they’re congested, you’ll start wheezing and expend more energy. It’s not pleasant at all, and this is what happens when your ductwork is filled with dust and other debris—it starts to “wheeze” and consume more energy to work.
The Effect of Dirty Ducts on Your Home and HVAC System
There are several negative impacts from ducts that are heavily clogged, which can occur after about three to five years, depending on the home and how often the HVAC system operates:
- Energy drain: As we talked about above, the debris along the walls of the ducts create resistance to airflow. This forces the blower motor to labor harder to do its job and drain more energy. The resistance ends up raising utility bills—often a good warning sign the ducts need to be cleaned.
- Damage to the HVAC system: The pressure placed on the blower can cause damage to it, and amounts of dust and debris can find their way into the HVAC cabinet, contaminating moving parts and possibly leading to motor failures.
- Lowered IAQ: The indoor air quality of a house will suffer from dusty ducts. The ductwork becomes a reservoir of pollutants that you can’t clean out of your home with normal dusting and vacuuming. Each time the blower turns on, this dust and debris will get blown out into the air of the living spaces and circulate back into the ducts. Not only does this affect indoor air quality, it will make your house dustier in general.
Do You Need Your Ducts Cleaned?
We’ve already listed some indications that you’ve got ductwork in need of cleaning. A quick rundown:
- Increased energy bills
- A dustier house
- Lower indoor air quality
- Dusty odors from the vents
You can also visually check the ducts by opening a register and placing your smartphone down into the ductwork and snap a photo of the inside. If it looks like a clogged car air filter, time for cleaning!
We also recommend scheduling duct cleaning as a routine job every five years, even if you aren’t noticing symptoms of clogging. This is enough time for a significant amount of dust to build up in the ductwork.
“If your home had a voice, it would call … First Choice!” At First Choice Heating & Cooling, we make your home HAPPY!