Do You Need to Have Air Ducts Cleaned?

It’s not definitively possible to say whether cleaning air ducts prevents health problems, but there’s certainly nothing wrong with regularly maintaining and cleaning your air ducts. Pollutants that enter your workspace via the ducts could potentially lead to a range of health complications and affect the air quality in your office. In this post, we explain everything you need to know about air duct cleaning, so you can decide whether or not to service your ducts. 

What is air duct cleaning?

Air duct cleaning refers to cleaning the collective components of your building’s heating and cooling systems. A comprehensive air duct cleaning service will target the supply and return air ducts alongside the registers, grilles, diffusers, coils, drip pans, fan motors, and fan housing. Cleaning ducts remove dust particles and other debris, ensuring your system can circulate clean air.

How often should you have your air ducts cleaned?

The NADCA (National Air Duct Cleaners Association) suggests air duct cleaning once every three to five years. However, those in commercial or industrial spaces should be cleaned more frequently, such as every year.

How do you choose a professional duct cleaning service provider?

Like choosing any service provider, you have to carefully select a company or individual to clean your air ducts. Avoid cleaners or companies who make sweeping generalisations about the health benefits of ductwork cleaning, as these are unsubstantiated. It’s best also to avoid cleaners who use chemical biocides or chemical treatments without your approval.

What to expect from an air duct cleaning service?

The company that undertakes your office duct cleaning should clean the entire system and components, not just provide a surface level cleaning. After removing the necessary parts for cleaning, they should leave your system fully functioning in a better condition than when they started! You can check by conducting a visual check of all visible components of your ducts to confirm if they’ve done an excellent job before leaving. 

office workplace with ventilation

How to prevent duct contamination?

By taking responsibility for your air ducts, you can improve the quality of the air circulation within your business. You can prevent duct contamination by: 

  • Opting for the highest efficiency air filters. 
  • Cleaning and changing your filters regularly. 
  • Arrange a service of the coils and drain pans. 
  • Regularly remove dust, and vacuum to prevent dust from accumulating. 

Does duct cleaning prevent health problems?

While cleaner air is undoubtedly better for your health than contaminated air, the EPA confirms that there is not yet any way of definitively proving that duct cleaning prevents health problems. However, as these studies are becoming more and more regular, we’re likely to learn more about the health benefits of cleaning air ducts soon.

Final thoughts

Although there’s no guarantee that air duct cleaning will improve your health and stave off adverse health conditions, there’s certainly no harm in regularly cleaning and maintaining your air ducts. After all, improving the quality of air circulation in your home is a plus point, and something that most people would agree is a good thing!  If you want to learn more about Deduct’s air duct cleaning services – get in touch!