If you want to keep the heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning system in your Rincon, Georgia, home running its best, it’s important to schedule regular maintenance. In addition to having your heating and cooling units serviced, it’s important that you have an HVAC professional regularly cleaning your air ducts. Here are a few of the top signs that your air ducts need cleaning and some of the benefits of calling a professional to inspect and clean your ducts.
1. Vents Are Dirtier Than Normal
Most people don’t give the air vents in their home a second thought, but if you want to know if it’s time to clean your air ducts, inspecting them is a good idea. When dust and dirt build up in your air ducts, they will eventually make their way to your air vents. If you notice that there is a lot of dust or dirt around your air vents, it usually means that there’s a problem with your air ducts.
When debris builds up on your vents very quickly, it can mean that there’s an accumulation somewhere in your ductwork interfering with airflow. Not only can blocked air ducts interfere with your system’s efficiency, but they can also make your family more susceptible to respiratory problems. Clean off your vents, and if the debris returns in a short period of time, make a call to a duct-cleaning professional.
2. Your Energy Bills Have Spiked
Everyone wants their energy bills to be as affordable as possible, so when you notice a spike in your bills, you’ll want to get the problem fixed to keep your costs down. In some cases, your bills can increase because you’re using a system more or because there’s a mechanical issue with your heating or cooling unit. If you’ve checked for these issues and your bills are still high, it may be time to clean your ductwork.
Problems with ductwork can be a big cause of increased energy bills. It’s also possible that your air ducts have sustained cracks that allow air to leak out of your home. An HVAC professional can inspect your duct and fix these problems so that hopefully your energy bills will decrease.
3. You’ve Noticed Signs of a Pest Infestation
One of the biggest warning signs that the ductwork in your system needs to be cleaned is that you’ve noticed signs that insects or rodents have made their way into your home. If you see evidence of an infestation such as droppings or insect husks, or if you smell signs of pests coming from your system, you need to schedule duct cleaning as soon as possible.
If there are cracks in your duct system, pests can easily make their way into your home. If you don’t have your ducts cleaned, it may end up affecting your family’s health. When you schedule a professional cleaning appointment, your technicians will fully clean your ductwork and will check to see where pests are getting into your ducts so that they can fix the problem.
4. Your Family Has Developed Unexplained Respiratory Problems
If your family is frequently dealing with respiratory infections or they’re having allergy problems that they’ve never had before, the culprit can be dirty ductwork. The air in your HVAC system cycles through your home multiple times a day, so if there’s a lot of debris and dirt in your ductwork, it can mean that the air in your home won’t be as clean or fresh as it could be.
Problems such as asthma, wheezing, sneezing, and even frequent sinus infections can indicate the presence of excessive dirt and debris in your system. A tech can clean your ducts and change your air filter to help improve the air quality in your home.
While it can be tempting to try to clean your ducts yourself, hiring a professional is a much better idea. One of our professional technicians will know the right way to clean your ducts and fix any other problems that may pop up. If you need to schedule duct cleaning, call the professionals at McDevitt Air at 877-692-9402. We’ll make sure your ducts are clean and leak-free so that your system runs the right way.
Image provided by iStock
