Find Contractors
What's Your Project?
Where?
Heating & Cooling Heating & Cooling Articles & Advice
Articles & Advice > All Heating & Cooling Articles > Improving Air Quality by Cleaning Ducts

Improving Air Quality by Cleaning Ducts

Print    Email   Save  
Text Size   Shrink Text Grow Text

Related Content
Related Articles and Checklists
All Heating & Cooling Articles
Related Topics
Heating & Cooling Tools

Find Prescreened Professionals
Having your air ducts cleaned by a professional does many more things than just saving you money on energy bills and cleaning up the dust bunnies on your wood floors. The quality of the air in your home is directly related to the cleanliness of your air ducts. If you have young children in the house, dirty air ducts can lead to many health problems that can be avoided by a simple, quick process.

Changing Air Filters
Before you do anything, you need to change your filters. There are too many different brands and models of HVAC systems to address the filter change on each one, but you do not have to be a heating and cooling professional to change most filters. If you can pull out the filter, then you can put it back in. Take the old filter to a hardware store or a home improvement store, and have the employees give you a new one just like it. This really can't be done too often. More than once a month might be a little excessive, but if you have a dusty house or live in a dusty part of the country this might be just what you need. Definitely change them once a season. Click this link if you want to read more about heating and cooling maintenance.

Air Duct Cleaning
At certain times of the year, this can cost as little as $100, and it does wonders to the air quality in your home. Dust can harbor dust mites, allergens, the recipe for childhood asthma, and numerous other elements that can cause mild to serious respiratory problems on those living in the house. What's more is this is an easy fix. Air duct cleaning professionals have a few different methods with which they can clean your ducts and vents. All of them basically use a vacuum, and sometimes a brush, to drag all of the dust from your ducts. The process does not take very long, and there is really no substitute for good air quality.

Click this link if you would like to use our free service to find a local air duct cleaning professional.

Other Benefits to Air Duct Cleaning
Having your air ducts professionally cleaned carries more benefits with it than just the health considerations. Removing all the debris, dust, mold, allergens and other items from your air ducts will also greatly improve the efficiency of your HVAC system. Click this link if you want to read more about energy efficient air duct cleaning.

House Mold & Indoor Air Pollution
House mold is another big issue that can be resolved by having the ducts cleaned on a regular basis. Any type of house mold or black mold that can live in the ducts and become airborne is a serious health risk to anyone in the house, but especially small children. It is easy to see if there is mold on your walls or in the shower, but you may never know if there is mold in the ducts unless you have a professional clean them. Indoor air pollution is a result of poor air duct maintenance and not having them cleaned often enough. Click this link if you want to read further about preventing indoor air pollution.

Matt Myers is a freelance writer for the home maintenance and remodeling industry. Formerly a contractor specializing in deck building and casework, Matt has written over 500 articles for both homeowners and contractors.

Rate This Article Recommend This Article Articles To Go
OVERALL RATING
YOUR RATING
Very PoorPoorFairGoodVery Good
Log-in to save your ratings!
Digg This Digg
Submit to Reddit Reddit
Bookmark This Del.icio.us
Add to Google
Add to My AOL 0
Top 5
Service Requests
1.  Bathroom Remodeling
2.  Painting & Staining
3.  Kitchen Remodeling
4.  Build an Addition
5.  Roofing & Gutters
 View All Categories
Related Articles
Related Articles
 Heated Driveway
 Radiant Floor Heating
 Programmable Thermostats Will Save Money
Recent Articles
  Changing HVAC Filters | Gutter Maintenance
  Remodeling for Return | Home Improvement ROI
  Heating & Cooling Glossary
Related Videos
Video: Heat Savers Keep Your House Warmer and Your Checkbook Heavier
Some things you can do yourself, but others a professional should do. Watch Now
FOR HOMEOWNERS: Categories | Projects | Contractor Directory | Community | Tell a Friend | Refer-A-Pro | Screen-A-Pro | Service Guarantee | 10-Point Screening
FOR CONTRACTORS: Contractor Advertising | Construction Jobs | Contractor Leads / Join Our Network
SERVICEMAGIC SITE: Home Improvement | Log In | About Us | Contact | Help | Careers | Site Map | Articles | Galleries | Videos | Project Tools | RSS Feed | Affiliates
LEGAL: Privacy (Updated) | Terms & Conditions
© Copyright 1999-2009, ServiceMagic, Inc. All Rights Reserved.