Steps for Air Duct Maintenance

When opting to maintain indoor air quality, home and business owners should look to take steps for maintaining their air ducts. Regular air duct cleaning is an essential part of keeping your air healthy and clean, but there are a number of steps you can take to reduce contaminants and prolong the need for professional cleaning.

Keep Dirt from Your System

This is an excellent way to reduce the build-up of debris and keep your system functioning effectively and efficiently. There are a number of ways to ensure that dirt is minimized including:

• Use manufacturer recommended filters within your system. Generic filters may seem cheaper but they are not optimized for your specific system, which can reduce their effectiveness.
• Change your air duct filter regularly. There is usually a recommended time frame for changing, but if you notice the filter clogging up with debris, then change more frequently.
• Put a filter in all the filter holders. This may seem a little excessive, but your system has been designed to function properly using different stages of filtration.
• Before any renovation works are performed, seal off registers and do not run your system until the work is completed and the dust resulting from it cleaned up.
• Vacuum and dust your home regularly. Use a vacuum cleaner which uses high efficiency bags for filtering dust. This will seal it in the bag and prevent it from recirculating around your home.

Keep Ducts Dry

Warm moist conditions breed bacteria, mold and mildew. You can reduce the occurrence of these things in your system by keeping all ducts dry. This can be accomplished with the following steps;

• Check your system regularly for any cracks or leaks.
• Remedy any air duct repair issues immediately
• Empty drain pans regularly and check the area around the cooling coils for any excessive moisture
• Check that all ducts are properly sealed especially in non-heated or air conditioned areas such as attics or crawl spaces. If you find any ensure you remedy any air duct seal repair issues as quickly as possible.