How to Clean Air Ducts Yourself

HVAC Duct Cleaning Tips for Easy DIY

With spring upon us and summer gaining on united states of america, information technology may be a good idea to clean the air vents and ducts that the household air you lot breathe is traveling through. There is an regular army of dust, dander, dirt, hair, and problems fragments that are all as well comfortable hanging out in your air vents and ducts which can pollute the air you breathe.

If you start thinking most all that dust and debris that discover their way into your air ducts, information technology only makes sense y'all should probably clean those vents every at present and so. After all, who wants muddied, dusty air circulating in their domicile?

Truth is, cleaning your air ducts is crucial when information technology comes to improving your dwelling house's air quality. If yous or someone in your household suffers from allergies, so all the more reason to pay attending to this!

Did yous know that the average family generates nearly xl pounds worth of dust annually? This doesn't even accept into business relationship the pet hair, mold, and dust that blows in through your open up windows. Non cleaning your air ducts means that most of this dirt doesn't escape your dwelling and lingers in constant circulation throughout it, proving especially hellish to someone in your family who suffers from allergies.

Moreover, dirt and dust spread quicker in a home with muddy ducts. No matter how diligent you may dust and clean your dwelling house, fine particulate contaminants, including unsafe allergens, flow quickly from room to room to encompass tables, smartphones, and kids' toys.

What's the EPA say? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ranks indoor air pollution inquire 1 of the top five risks to public health and the millions of particles of debris and other allergens living in your air ducts are no assistance.

Are there various duct systems? There are many dissimilar designs of duct systems, such as attic systems and clandestine systems, only the theory of cleaning these systems is the same. Y'all may not be able to access all parts of these systems (for case, hush-hush ducts), but y'all can make a divergence in your air quality by cleaning the parts of the system you lot can reach.

Why exercise information technology yourself?

Most homeowners have never been given any sort of preparation on how to care for their homes and, as such, they spend a lot of time and money learning things the hard way.

Merely home air duct cleaning doesn't need to exist one of those things you pay someone else to do or you spend a lot of time and energy learning how to do it.

You probably don't own a high-powered, truck-mounted vacuum system with 150-foot hoses. Simply we're going to tell you lot how you can make clean the air ducts yourself. No, you won't get as deeply into your duct organization as a commercial company will. That's fine. Nearly of the debris in your ducts gathers toward the registers anyhow and you lot can achieve those spots on your own.

Cleaning Air Ducts with a Vacuum

Things you'll need to clean your air ducts

Here are the air duct cleaning tools that you demand to complete the task:

  • Furnace filter. Y'all'll definitely need a new furnace filter at the end of the job. Make sure you cull the correct filter option for your furnace.
  • Gloves. Heavy-duty gloves and a dust mask or goggles to wear while cleaning.
  • Vacuum. You'll need a vacuum to suck upwards the dust and dirt from your air registers. A standard household vacuum probably isn't powerful enough. Make sure the vacuum you rent has a long hose to reach into the ducts.
  • Brush. Something that resembles a toilet brush will work well, but if y'all don't have one of these handy, a stiff-bristled paintbrush volition do the play tricks.
  • Power drill. Using a power drill to remove screws from the vents tin can be handy, but you can also utilize a screwdriver. Make certain the screwdriver is compatible with the screws on the various types of registers in your home.
  • Cleaning cloth. A microfiber cloth works all-time.
  • Paper towels. You probably don't want to do more than cleaning when you lot're finished. To make the near of your time, brand sure you have an ample supply of newspaper towels handy – they'll exist quite useful.

Which vents are which?

If you're a new homeowner, you might not know or sympathise that your home has diverse types of vents going into the ductwork of your domicile. An easy mode to identify each type is with a tissue test. If you place a tissue on the vent and it sticks, it's a render duct, meaning the vent is there to bring air back to the HVAC organisation from the house. If the tissue doesn't stick to the vent, it's a supply vent, which blows out warm or cool air from the HVAC system, depending whether your furnace or air conditioner is operating.

Don't be dislocated if at that place are vents on the outside of your home. These vents allow air to flow into and out of your attic and are non part of your HVAC system and don't need to be cleaned for air duct purposes.

Step-by-Step duct cleaning

  1. Remove the screws from air duct covers and render-air grill plates.
  2. Cover upward your supply vents (those vents that supply heat or air to the rooms) with paper towels. Cover the vents not being cleaned at the time to keep the dust and dirt from blowing in and out while you're cleaning other areas. Simply elevator the supply vents and place a paper towel between the vent embrace and the wall or floor. The vent should hold in identify without having to put all the screws back in since you'll be returning to remove the paper towels and cleaning each air vent.
  3. Set your thermostat to the "fan on" position. The fan will help motion the dust that yous loosen while cleaning. brand sure the rut and cool mode is off. If you have an older thermostat that doesn't have a "fan-simply" setting, run the estrus.
  4. Loosen grit in ducts. Knock loose whatsoever buildup of dust in the ductwork. A low-cal tapping will loosen clumps of dust sticking to the inside of the ducts. Simply have the handle of your brush and begin tapping on any accessible ductwork you accept in the basement. This will assistance break up whatsoever deposits of dampened dust that may have stuck to the insides of the duct.
  5. Make clean supply registers. Now you can begin sweeping out the dust in your supply register. With the vacuum running and the end of the hose nearly the register, lift the register. Utilize the hose to catch any dust that's being pushed out by the fan and proceed to sweep as far into the register's piping as the hose can attain. Apply your brush to scuff loose any congenital-upward dust in the register. Now, using a damp microfiber cloth, reach down into the duct as far as you can and wipe the interior clean. Y'all'll want to rinse the cloth repeatedly because chances are, you'll find a lot of dust and gunk up there the starting time time you do this. Equally you go through the house sweeping out the supply registers, you tin can remove and dispose of the paper towels yous've put in place.
  6. Make clean the render registers. Sweep out your render air registers. Again, brush and sweep as far back into the annals cavity as possible.
  7. Shut off fan and furnace. Shut the fan off at the thermostat and the power off to the furnace via the service switch or billow console. Do not simply shut off the thermostat because that doesn't turn off the unit'due south power.
  8. Clean out blower compartment and return air kicking. With the power off, you tin can remove the panels on the forepart of the furnace and access the blower compartment and the return air kicking. Employ your vacuum to sweep up the dust built up in the blower compartment and return air kicking. This is where the dandy bulk of you dust will exist. Since you're in here, you should make clean the furnace fan likewise.
  9. Replace the furnace filter. You won't become the complete benefit of clean ducts if you accept HVAC filters clogged with the dust and contaminants they are designed to catch. Purchasing a amend filter volition certainly cut down on the dust in your home but the better the filter, the more frequently you should change it. A dirty filter limits the airflow to the fan resulting in the blower motor running hotter and reducing its lifespan. Savvy homeowners know that to reduce grit in their homes, they should clean or change furnace filters at least once a month.

Replacing Dirty Air Filter

Here's an important piece of information about air filters, second-manus fume and your wellness.

The filters in your ducts function similarly to your lungs. It's common knowledge that breathing in second-hand smoke is harmful to your torso. Well, consider that your lungs never properly lose all of the impurities that get together in them when you smoke, and retrieve that the filters in your air ducts work in much the same mode. Without knowing it, yous could be inhaling 2d-hand tobacco smoke for weeks after the actual offending cigarette has been snuffed out considering the residue smoke that's caught in your air ducts remains there for a long, long time.

What if you lot find mold during your DIY duct cleaning?

If yous think you lot've establish mold, have it tested to verify. Call in a professional if you lot accept a mold problem. HVAC duct cleaning services accept the expertise to remove dangerous mold. They besides have the equipment to get to difficult-to-achieve areas that your house vacuum cannot.

How frequently should you make clean your air ducts?

I to ii times a year, the most common times are the starting time of bound and fall.

Woman breathing clean air after she cleaned her home's air ducts herself.

Preventing duct contagion

Whether or not you make up one's mind to make clean your air ducts, committing to a adept preventive maintenance program is of import in minimizing duct contamination.

To help forestall clay from entering the system:

  • Use the highest efficiency air filter recommended by the manufacturer or your HVAC system.
  • Change filters routinely. If they get clogged, change them even more than frequently.
  • When having your HVAC system maintained or checked for other reasons, be certain to ask the service provider to clean cooling coils and drain pains.
  • seal off supply and return registers and don't operate the heating and cooling organisation until afterwards cleaning up any grit.
  • Vacuum your habitation regularly. If possible, use a high efficiency (HEPA) cleaner or the highest efficiency filter bags your vacuum cleaner tin can take.
  • If your system includes in-duct humidification equipment, make sure to operate and maintain the humidifier strictly as recommended past the manufacturer.
  • Make sure air ducts are properly sealed and insulated in all not-air-conditioned spaces (attics and crawl spaces). This will assistance forestall moisture due to condensation from entering the system.
  • Fix any water leaks and remove any continuing water.
  • Steam cleaning and other methods involving wet should non exist used on whatsoever kid of duct work.

Nosotros hope we've been helpful in providing these tips for cleaning your air vents.

Should you have whatsoever questions about your HVAC needs, please don't hesitate to contact the HVAC professionals at J&A South Park.