Cleaning air ducts can be beneficial for improving circulation and air quality in your home. Dust, pet hair, dander, and even mold can accumulate in the ducts over time and reduce the efficiency of your HVAC system. Cleaning the air ducts can help to remove this build-up and open them for optimal airflow. However, it is important to note that duct cleaning is not a permanent solution and will not change the layout of the duct design, increase airflow in the duct system, or rebalance the duct system.
It also cannot seal any gaps in your duct system. Cleaning air ducts can improve airflow efficiency as dirty air ducts can cause your HVAC system to work harder to circulate air, which can lead to greater wear and tear on the system. This can shorten the life of your heating, ventilation and air conditioning system and result in costly repairs. Knowledge about cleaning air ducts is still in its early stages, so a general recommendation cannot be offered as to whether you should clean the air ducts in your home.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urges you to read this document in its entirety, as it provides important information on the subject. Duct cleaning has never been proven to actually prevent health problems. It is important to note that dirty air ducts are just one of the many possible sources of particulate matter that are present in homes. Contaminants that enter the home through both outdoor and indoor activities, such as cooking, cleaning, smoking, or simply moving around, can cause greater exposure to contaminants than dirty air ducts.
In addition, there is no evidence that a small amount of household dust or other particles in air ducts poses a health risk. If any of the conditions identified above exist, it usually suggests one or more underlying causes. Before ducting is cleaned, modernized, or replaced, the cause or causes must be corrected, or else the problem is likely to recur. You can consider cleaning the air ducts simply because it seems logical that the air ducts will become dirty over time and need to be cleaned from time to time.
As long as the cleaning is done correctly, there is no evidence to suggest that such cleaning is harmful. The EPA does not recommend that air ducts be cleaned routinely, but only when necessary. However, the EPA recommends that if you have a furnace, stove, or fireplace that burns fuel, it be inspected for proper functioning and maintained before each heating season to protect it against carbon monoxide poisoning. If you decide to clean your air ducts, take the same consumer precautions you would normally take when evaluating the competence and reliability of the service provider.
Whether or not you decide to clean your home's air ducts, preventing water and dirt from entering the system is the most effective way to prevent contamination (see How to Prevent Duct Contamination). If you decide to clean your heating and cooling system, it's important to ensure that the service provider is committed to cleaning all components of the system and is qualified to do so. In addition, the service provider can propose the application of chemical biocides, designed to remove microbiological contaminants, to the inside of the ducts and to other components of the system. Some service providers may also suggest applying chemical treatments (sealants or other encapsulants) to encapsulate or cover the inner surfaces of air ducts and equipment housings because they believe they will control mold growth or prevent the release of dirt particles or fibers from the ducts. These practices have not yet been thoroughly researched and you must be fully informed before deciding to allow the use of biocides or chemical treatments in your air ducts.
They should only be applied after the system has been properly cleaned of all visible dust or dirt. Knowledge about the potential benefits and potential problems of cleaning air ducts is limited. Since conditions in every home are different, it's impossible to generalize about whether cleaning the air ducts in your home would be beneficial or not. On the other hand, if family members have unusual or unexplained symptoms or illnesses that you think could be related to your home environment, you should discuss this with your doctor. The EPA has published several publications as guidance on identifying potential indoor air quality problems and ways to prevent or solve them. While there is still debate over regular duct cleaning continues, there is no evidence to suggest that such cleaning is harmful when done correctly.
On the other hand, if a service provider doesn't follow proper procedures for cleaning air ducts it can cause problems with indoor air quality. For example, an inadequate vacuum collection system can release more dust than if it had left them alone. A careless or inadequately trained service provider can damage your heating and cooling system which could increase costs for repairs or replacements.
