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Air Duct Cleaning: How to Maintain Air Quality Control

Having your air ducts cleaned regularly in your home improves the hygienic conditions of your home. Doing this also improves your system efficiency, which saves you money and reduces your carbon footprint.

It also improves the longevity of your system which means less stress on the components and therefore makes your system last longer. Also with a clean working system you will be saving money on heating and air conditioning costs. Having this service done also insures that any system repairs are located and can be addressed, should further repairs to your system be needed. It is basically a tune up of your HVAC system.

Air Duct Cleaning Suggestions

We recommend having your HVAC system cleaned every 5 years. This of course can vary with location and weather. It is usually helpful for allergy and asthma sufferers to have it done more frequently and of course after any house construction work!

Before you have someone come out to quote or give you an air duct cleaning, you can always check to see if your system needs cleaning by shining a flash light through the vents and check to see if it looks dirty. You could even go so far as to take off the air vent – to get a proper look. You will notice a buildup of dust, random particles and if you have animals, animal hair, in the filters of the ducts.

What we do when we clean out your homes air ducts

First it is important to remove all the vent grilles from the walls, ceiling, or floor. Then bring them outside and wash them till they are perfectly clean again. Then the blower housing needs to be removed from the furnace and the blower wheel is then disassembled from the motor, washed (scrubbed if necessary) till it is clean again, then it is reinstalled. The blower housing is also cleaned thoroughly. Then it is washed (not just blow off) the evaporator (cooling) coils, clean the heat exchanger, and thoroughly brush and vacuum the inside surfaces of the air-handling unit (furnace).

Any fiberglass insulation exposed to the air stream is coated with a special encapsulant, which prevents fibers from coming loose and blowing into occupied spaces.

A large, high-power HEPA-filtered vacuum collector is attached to the central duct system, which puts the whole system under a negative air vacuum. This means that the airflow is now reversed and air is being sucked back in through the vent openings instead of being blown out.

All of the vent openings are covered up so there is no way any air can escape, except for the one through which the cleaning is being done. One by one, the ducts are all cleaned by inserting a rotary power brush attached to a long, flexible cable, through the vent openings. As the brush spins through the inside of the duct, the stirred-up dirt and debris is sucked out of the ventilation system and into the power vacuum collector.

The power vacuum collector and hand vacuums are all fitted with high efficiency, surgery room standard HEPA air filters, so no dust, fibers, or germs are released into the living spaces.

After all the ducts and the air-handling unit have been thoroughly brush-vacuum cleaned, everything is reassembled, vent grilles are carefully replaced, it is now time for the system to be tested for proper function.

We make sure that all surfaces in the home are protected with drop cloths and plastic sheeting, and special care is taken to leave the home in the same condition as found before starting the job. We pride ourselves in being only very efficient but also very clean.

The Benefits of Cleaning Your Air Ducts Regularly

You will notice an amazing difference in the air quality of your home once we have completed your air duct cleaning. You will notice air circulation throughout your house is better as well. Also whatever smell may have been coming from the vents, due to being unclean, will be removed and fresh air will be able to move throughout your house again! The reasons why you should clean your air ducts of course outweigh the reason why you should not have them cleaned! The energy savings over time will actually pay for having done this thorough cleaning!

Feel free to call RWT Design and Construction for any of your air duct cleaning needs. We can usually have them scheduled within 48hrs. RWT Design & Construction is your local and family owned Burbank contractor and Los Angeles remodeling professional. We serve the greater Los Angeles area and have been for over 20 years.