You have to keep an eye on a lot when you own a home—and that includes your ductwork. This might not be something you think much about, but Orlando duct cleaning is an essential part of managing your air conditioning and will, therefore, keep your home cool and your energy bills lower. The real question is how often you need to clean your ducts and when you should start cleaning it.
How Often Does Ductwork Need to be Cleaned?
Realistically, you don’t need to clean your air ducts all that often—every 3 to 5 years will be enough. You might notice sooner than that if your air conditioning isn’t working well, though.
Other Factors
You’ll only need to clean your ductwork every three years at a minimum, but other factors can influence the condition of your ductwork. For example, if you live in an area with a lot of pollution or have a lot of people living in your home. More people will mean more dust in the air.
Those who live in a household with someone who smokes will also notice that you might need to clean your ductwork more quickly. Especially if you or someone in your home has allergies, preemptive cleaning is a great idea.
When You Should Clean Immediately
There are situations where you should clean your vents immediately, even if it’s been less than three years. This includes when you notice any dark stains or fuzzy particles around your vents. Those dark stains could be mold and can quickly form in places that have high humidity.
If there is mold, you may notice your allergies flaring up, or that many members in the household are coming down with a cold at the same time. In this case, it might be a good idea to clean your ducts earlier than three years.
Signs to Look Out For
If you’ve hit the three-year mark, you might be wondering if you can wait for five years instead. In that case, look for these signs to give you a good indication of when you should clean.
Visible Mold or Other Problems
As mentioned, if you see mold anywhere around your air ducts, that’s a sign that you need to clean your ductwork immediately. This can be dangerous to your family and manifest itself in allergies, colds, and other health issues.
The same goes for if you notice things like rodent droppings or hear movement through your vents. Any indication that you have vermin living in your vents means that you need to get that handled immediately since this can lead to illness.
A Warm House
You might notice that you need to set your air conditioning unit at a lower temperature to feel cooler. This is something you might not think about often, but it can indicate that you need to clean your ductwork. All you’re doing is losing energy with inefficient ducts at this point.
Rising Energy Bills
Take a look at your most recent energy bill. Is it higher than you expect? In that case, you might want to consider cleaning your ductwork, which will improve the air circulation in your home and therefore lower your energy bills at the same time.
Dust in the Air
It’s normal for there to be dust in the air, but you shouldn’t be living in a home with excessive amounts of dust in the air. If you notice many particles in the sunlight, this is an obvious and simple sign that you need some ductwork cleaning.
Conclusion
It’s not always obvious that your ductwork needs to be cleaned. There’s not always mold or rodents that you can see or hear, but there are signs that you need to be aware of if you want to improve your energy bills, health, and overall home. If you don’t notice many of these signs, try a routine cleaning every three to five years to keep everything reasonably clean.
We also offer:
Daytona Beach Air Duct Cleaning
Tampa Air Duct Cleaning