Air ducts, like any other air conditioning system, require regular cleaning to ensure maximum efficiency. The National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA) recommends cleaning air ducts every three to five years. However, in some environments, the need to clean commercial air ducts is more immediate. In homes where occupants suffer from allergies or asthma, more frequent cleaning of the air ducts may be necessary.
Dust, pollen, and other contaminants that accumulate in air ducts can aggravate these conditions. Therefore, experts recommend cleaning air ducts every two to three years in these cases for optimal allergy prevention. Pets provide joy and companionship, but they also contribute to more frequent air duct cleaning needs. Pet dander and hair can accumulate in air ducts over time, contributing to poorer air quality and potential allergies.
If you have pets, consider cleaning their air ducts every two to three years. 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. To find companies that offer duct cleaning services, check the Yellow Pages in the Duct Cleaning section or contact the National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA) at the address and phone number listed in the information section at the bottom of this guide. Air duct cleaning service providers can tell you that they need to apply a chemical biocide to the inside of the ducts as a means to kill bacteria (germs) and fungi (mold) and prevent future biological growth. On the other hand, if a service provider doesn't follow proper duct cleaning procedures, duct cleaning can cause problems with indoor air.
If no one in your home has allergies or unexplained symptoms or illnesses and if, after a visual inspection of the inside of the ducts, you don't see any signs that your air ducts are contaminated with large deposits of dust or mold (with no musty smell or visible mold growth), you probably don't need to clean your air ducts. Most organizations that deal with duct cleaning, including the EPA, NADCA, NAIMA, and the National Association of Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors (SMACNA), do not currently recommend the routine use of sealants to encapsulate contaminants in any type of duct. Air duct cleaning service providers can tell you that they need to apply a chemical biocide to the inside of the ducts to kill bacteria (germs) and fungi (mold) and prevent future biological growth. The EPA does not recommend that air ducts be cleaned except when necessary because of continuing uncertainty about the benefits of duct cleaning in most cases.
Professional air duct cleaning generally involves the use of blowers, vacuums, and specialized brushes to clean supply, inlet, and return ducts throughout the home. While it's possible to clean the air ducts yourself, it often doesn't provide as thorough a cleaning as a professional service and can also damage the ducts or the HVAC system. Knowledge about cleaning air ducts is in its early stages, so a general recommendation cannot be offered as to whether you should clean the air ducts in your home. Manufacturers of products marketed to coat and encapsulate duct surfaces claim that these sealants prevent dust and dirt particles from inside air ducts from being released into the air.
In addition, studies on the effects of duct cleaning do not conclusively demonstrate that the presence of dust and dirt in the ducts increases the levels of particles inside the house. .
