The duct system in your home is the vehicle through which your heated and cooled air is distributed throughout your home. Air passes through your duct system at an average speed of 1000 feet per minute. Air moving at that speed kicks up harmful contamination and sends it back into your living and breathing space. So it stands to reasons that if your duct system is dirty that the air you are breathing will be dirty also.
According to the EPA, the indoor air we are exposed to is 70% more polluted than the outdoor air. Keeping your ducts free of contaminates will help you and your family breath easier. Good preventative maintenance is essential to minimize duct contamination. Below are some preventative maintenance tips.
Prevent dirt from entering your system:
- Use the highest efficiency air filter recommended by the manufacturer of your heating and cooling system.
- Change filters regularly.If your filters become clogged, change them more frequently.
- Be sure you do not have any missing filters and that air cannot bypass filters through gaps around the filter holder.
- When having your heating and cooling system maintained or checked for other reasons, be sure to ask the service provider to clean drain pans.
- During construction or renovation work that produces dust in your home, seal off supply and return registers and do not operate the heating and cooling system until after cleaning up the dust.
- Remove dust and vacuum your home regularly. (Use a high-efficiency vacuum (HEPA) cleaner or the highest efficiency filter bags your vacuum cleaner can take. Vacuuming can increase the amount of dust in the air during and after vacuuming as well as in your ducts).
- If your heating system includes in-duct humidification equipment, be sure to operate and maintain the humidifier strictly as recommended by the manufacturer.
- Whether of not you decide to have the air ducts in your home cleaned, committing to a good preventive maintenance program is essential to minimize duct contamination.
