According to Health Canada, we spend approximately 90 percent of our time indoors. The recent pandemic has certainly influenced the amount of time we remain within closed quarters and it’s all the more reason why clearing out your air ducts and properly maintaining your furnace should be a priority.
The following is a guide to help homeowners navigate through what could appear to be an intimidating process, air duct and furnace maintenance, with ease and peace of mind.
WHAT IS AIR DUCT CLEANING AND FURNACE MAINTENANCE?
Both air duct cleaning and furnace maintenance are activities performed by a professional to ensure that the Heating, Ventilation and Air
conditioning (HVAC) unit in your home is working efficiently, and that clean air is flowing through your house. An expert can perform a variety of tasks to check that the system is free of any dust, mould, mildew or other pollutants. In turn, this can help the HVAC to serve up clean air for the occupants of your home.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD AIR DUCTS BE CLEANED?
Depending on the age of the home, its size and location, it is recommended that homeowners hire professionals to clean out their air ducts every one to five years. This practice can help in the following ways;
Ensure that a home’s Heating and Air conditioning (HVAC) system is running efficiently
Even if you invest in the best HVAC on the market, timely maintenance of the system can help with efficiency. Pollen, dust and other particles can become lodged within the system making it weaker and less effective at distributing clean air throughout the premises. A trained professional is able to use proper tools to clear out these contaminants.
Impact the longevity of your HVAC system
Like any other practice, the more often you maintain your furnace and clean out your air ducts, the longer the HVAC system will last. This is because a well-maintained system is not strained by foreign particles and it can focus on the task it is supposed to perform.
Detect potentially life-threatening issues
In some cases where system maintenance has not been a priority, a professional could detect the presence of mould and mildew. Mould can pose serious health risks, especially for people with allergies, respiratory problems and weak immune systems.
The dust that might normally travel throughout your living space is reduced when your air ducts are professionally cleaned. Regular cleaning of your air ducts and furnace ensures that the air you are breathing remains pure of allergens and pollutants.
If you happen to have pets it would be a good idea to have your systems cleaned more frequently than the recommended amount.
Having your ducts and furnace cleaned regularly will ensure that your HVAC system is running efficiently and is appropriately distributing clean air throughout your home as well as extending its overall lifespan.
Maybe the most important aspect of having a professional clean for ducts and furnaces is that they will be able to detect anything dangerous, like mould, that you are not trained to detect yourself.
Contact our team of experts at Optimal Engineering for any air duct cleaning and maintaining queries.
