Air Duct Maintenance: How to Keep Your Air Healthy Between Services
Your air ducts were just cleaned, and it’s a huge relief to breathe the fresh air. You have high hopes to put your daily antihistamine to rest and see less sickness in your house moving forward.
Your technician likely informed you of the NADCA (National Air Duct Cleaners Association) recommendations for routine air duct cleaning every 3-5 years, but in between cleanings, it’s easy for your air ducts to become “out of sight, out of mind.”
That said, routine maintenance is worth the effort, as it offers many long-term and short-term benefits to your HVAC system. As a bonus, you might even be able to extend the lifespan of your air duct cleanings a bit.
To help you get started, we made a list of our most powerful air duct maintenance tips.
Practical Tips for Maintaining Clean Air Ducts
1. Change your air filters regularly. You may think of your “furnace” filter when you first read this, but the “furnace filter” isn’t just about your furnace. It plays a role in the overall efficiency of your HVAC system by helping trap a percentage of the particles that enter your system. Typically, these filters need to be changed every 30-90 days, but you’ll need to check the manufacturer's instructions to see the recommended cadence for your specific filter. Keep in mind that events out of the ordinary, such as smoke in the air from wildfires, might mean your filter will need to be changed sooner because it will become clogged more quickly.
2. Install an air purifier in your air ducts. An air filter captures a certain percentage of particles that flow through your system, but it won’t fight the bacterial or chemical compounds that enter via everyday life. On the other hand, an air purifier targets these other particles so that you can fight ALL harmful particles. We believe this is so important we created our own air purifier, RestoreTM, to filter out these bacterial and chemical compounds. Don’t be scared away by the upfront cost of an air purifier: this investment piece will last you for many years to come.
3. Maintain proper duct sealing and insulation. Leaks or gaps in your ductwork allow more moisture to enter the system, leading to mold growth. Dust and all other contaminants are also more easily able to enter the system if there’s a leak or a poor seal. To make sure this doesn’t happen to you, have your HVAC system regularly inspected to detect any leaks early.
4. Keep your living space clean. You can also reduce buildup in your ductwork by keeping your living space clean. The more pollen and dust that builds up on the surfaces in your home, the more that gets swept up into the air ducts. Vacuum, mop, and dust regularly to make sure your surfaces don’t collect matter that will contaminate your ductwork. Vacuuming the air vents regularly can also help.
The Importance of Air Duct Maintenance
In one way or another, air duct maintenance prevents harmful substances from growing in your air ducts, and this means your ducts will need to be cleaned less frequently.
This saves you money on electric bills since the system will stay efficient longer, and respiratory symptoms in your family will be reduced, hopefully saving you money on medications that are used to fight symptoms of unhealthy air. In some cases, you may even save on doctor’s visits or time taken off work if your family suffers from fewer illnesses, due to reduced contaminants over time.
That said, location can influence exactly what benefit you’ll get from performing maintenance:
- If you live in areas with low outdoor air quality and high pollen levels, maintenance might be required to avoid necessary duct cleaning more frequently than the 3-5 years NADCA recommends.
- In an area where these problems aren’t as bad, maintenance might let you extend the life of your air duct cleaning to the 5-year mark.
At the end of the day, air duct maintenance is an investment in your air duct system, your bank account, and your health. As much as we love cleaning your air ducts, we also want you to get the most out of any cleaning we do.
When it comes to air ducts, we believe our maintenance tips will do just that.