Why should you clean the air ducts and vents in your home regularly? When the ducts are clean, the air you breathe in your home is cleaner and your heating system automatically lasts a lot longer. Also, if you are prone to allergies, the dust trapped in your duct system can cause health hazards. When the contaminants block the duct system of your home, your energy bills can also rise drastically. Although professional ductcleaning is also a viable option, you can easily clean the duct system in your home yourself as well. In this way, you can save a lot of money.
Before, you go for a in-depth cleaning of your airduct, first do these two steps:
Assess your Ducts: The configuration of your duct system is important to decide the cleaning process. If your duct system is running lengthwise at a stretch, the equipment’s used will be different.
Gather your supplies: DIY duct cleaning can be really messy at times. So, before you actually start cleaning, make sure you have already collected all the equipment’s.
Let us have a quick glance of all the equipment’s you will need for cleaning your ducts:
Furnace filter: At the end of the duct cleaning process, you will have to remove the dirty filter. So, keep a clean, fresh filter with yourself for replacing the old one. Make sure the furnace filter is compatible.
Vacuum: Though professional vacuum can clean much better, a standard home vacuum will also do. Make sure the vacuum has at least a decently powerful hose so that you can reach the corners without much difficulty.
Brush: There will be a lot of sticky contaminants stuck to your air ducts that won’t come off easily. You will need a toilet brush or a stiff paint brush with hard bristles to remove them.
Screwdriver or Hex Wrench: The air duct in your home will be covered with grate. So, in order to access it, you will need a screwdriver. A regular screwdriver will work, but a Philips head on hand will be better.
Paper Towel: After the entire duct cleaning process, you will need some paper towel handy, to clean all the dirt and mess. You will also need the paper towel to cover the supply registers.
Let us start with the cleaning process:
Remove vent covers and wash them: Remove the covers of your vent with the screwdriver and clean those, either within the dishwasher or you can simply cleanse it off with your hands. Put them aside in the sun to try.
Cover the supply registers: Take some paper towels and cover up the supply air registers that you will find on the floor. If you don’t do so, before duct cleaning all the dust blowing out of them will get carried away to your other rooms and the entire home will get dirty.
Turn on the fan: Set your thermostat to “Fan on” and close the “heat/cool” mode so that only the fan runs or simply run the heat. This will easily loosen up all the dirt, without all the brushing and banging.
Check your filter: Once the duct cleaning process has started, make sure the furnace filter has not shifted from its place. Otherwise, all the dirt and dust you have cleaned might end up getting sucked back to your duct system.
Clean the supply registers: Use your vacuum to suck all the dust blown by the fan, and reach out to all the tight corners. Take the handle of your brush and remove any sticky particles on the surface and dispose off with the paper towels. You can use a long broom to swipe deep from the piping system. Clean any kind of dust and debris that have accumulated.
Clean return air registers: Use a screwdriver to unbolt the return air registers and cleanse deep with continuous brush swipes. Use the long handle of a brush to go as deep as you can inside the cavity.
Turn off the power to the system: Now you will need to access the main ducts, so turn of the power for safety.
Unscrew air duct cover: Unscrew the air duct cover and grills, and use a cleaning cloth to wipe the grate. If it has accumulated a lot of dirt, you can use soap lather.
Vacuum clean the air ducts: Use a powerful vacuum cleaner for thorough duct cleaning. Leave no spots! Use a brush to remove all the molds and mildew.
Clean Blower Apartment: There is usually a good buildup of dirt around the furnace which clogs it. Use vacuum cleaner to remove every dirt and debris without damaging the fan.
Replace furnace filter: A poor filter will lead to restricted airflow and your heating or cooling system will get damaged sooner. So, make sure to replace it, after the duct cleaning.
Replace vent cover: Also, the vent covers might have dried by now, so don’t forget to put it back.
Now that you know how should clean your duct system, get your hands dirty and start cleaning! Or you may choose to call the professional near you to get your work done. For more information don’t hesitate to message or call us!
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