Keeping your air ducts clean is important for a wide variety of reasons, but there aren’t many ways to help keep them clean. Mostly, you just have to watch the vents and vent grills to ensure there isn’t dirt buildup or mold growth, clean them every once in a while, and then call in a professional when it’s time for a full clean. There is one other way to keep them clean, however: regular HVAC maintenance.
In this article, we’ll explain why regular HVAC maintenance is essential for clean air ducts and the consequences of not performing these checks. Read on to begin your journey towards a healthier system and cleaner air ducts.
Increase Lifespan
HVAC units can be quite expensive, and while they will need to be replaced eventually, increasing your current one’s lifespan will save you a lot of money. By performing regular maintenance checks, you can ensure that sensitive parts get cleaned more often, small repairs are addressed quickly, and more. All of this assists in keeping your air ducts clean in a few ways, but the biggest is by simply keeping the current system in place.
When an HVAC system is replaced, the old system must be taken apart piece by piece and removed from the house. Then the new system is brought in and assembled. This process is not only time-consuming, but it will inevitably create a mess. Sometimes, if installed incorrectly, it can even cause major problems.
Any mess or problem that occurs during the replacement process ends up in the ducts, which, when coupled with the fact that the system was having major issues before being replaced, means your system has collected a lot of debris. Once the new system is hooked up, this debris will begin circulating through the ducts, creating new problems. Regular HVAC maintenance can increase the time between these replacements and keep these concerns to a minimum.
Keep Fans Clean
As an HVAC technician examines your system, not only will they keep an eye out for any repairs that need to be done and damage that needs to be addressed, but they’ll also watch to see how dirty the fans are. Once the inspection is complete, they may offer to clean them or they may just do so on their own.
These fans not only assist in cooling down the system and the air that flows through it, but they also push air throughout the system and into the ducts. This means that they catch and collect the debris and allergens that flow through the ducts, and the loose particles will detach and flow through the system, decreasing air quality and causing you to suffer from increased allergy or asthma symptoms.
If a technician cleans them regularly, however, then you’re actively removing some mess from the system and improving your air quality. As important as keeping these fans clean is, don’t try to do so yourself. These parts can be sensitive, and damaging them could cause a larger problem with an expensive repair bill.
Decrease Cost
This point may sound counterintuitive at first: if you’re hiring an HVAC technician to check up on your system regularly, how are you saving money? One way was already covered: it will increase your system’s lifespan. Another way the checkups save money is by noticing and performing small repairs. Small repairs are often cheaper when addressed quickly, but they fester and grow when left unattended. One small problem becomes two and three rapidly, eventually causing a large problem that is expensive to repair.
Another benefit of these checkups is that you maintain the system’s efficiency. Over time, not only will parts need to be repaired, but dust and dirt will also begin to collect in both the air ducts and certain parts of your HVAC system. A technician will notice these and any other little things that are hampering the system’s efficiency and will address them. Once done, your system will run smoother, which makes your bills more affordable as the system works quicker, decreasing energy use.
If the efficiency is poor, not only does the energy use increase, which increases your bill, but it may also struggle to push as much air through the ducts, causing debris to become stagnant and begin growing bacteria, mold, or even fungus. Keeping your system working at top efficiency will keep your system cleaner, increasing the time between each air duct cleaning, which saves you money.
Prevent Emergencies
As mentioned in the previous point, finding small issues and correcting them quickly is essential to preventing larger, more complicated pieces from breaking down. There is another way these checkups prevent emergencies, however. The HVAC technician will closely examine every piece of the system, which obviously leads to them diagnosing and repairing small problems and cleaning dirty parts, but it may also lead to them discovering a major issue that needs to be addressed quickly.
Once found, they’ll present the issue to you, explain what it could mean if unchecked, and may even offer to schedule a repair appointment. Failing to get the repair done will cause the system to fail, forcing you to get it fixed then and there. Correcting it when it isn’t an issue will allow you to relax comfortably and your system to run smoothly.
Stay Safe
Most of the time, when an HVAC system breaks down, there isn’t a lot of danger involved. However, there are some issues that, if left unaddressed, could create a dangerous situation. An experienced technician will notice these signs as soon as they see them, warn you about them and explain the problem, and urge you to get them repaired as soon as possible.
For example, your heat could stop working during extreme cold, causing pipes to freeze, or a part could fail, creating a carbon monoxide leak. These aren’t the only possible issues, however. If vermin begin settling into your air ducts, they could also create a hazard if they or their waste settle near the HVAC system. A technician would notice these signs, inform you there may be an issue, and advise you on how best to handle it. Preventing these issues and removing these vermin will not only lead to a safer system and cleaner ducts.
These are only a few benefits regular HVAC maintenance can have on your duct system and home. The best part is that these checkups don’t need to happen very often—only about once or twice a year during the milder spring or autumn months. Schedule a checkup soon with Panhandle Cleaning & Restoration and allow you and your system to breathe easy.
