Over time, dust can accumulate inside air ducts, leading to serious problems with indoor air quality. Even worse, dirty ducting can affect the boiler's ability to heat the home, making it work harder to do its job. Knowledge about cleaning air ducts is in its early stages, so a general recommendation cannot be offered as to whether you should clean the air ducts in your home. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urges you to read this document in its entirety, as it provides important information on the subject.
Duct cleaning has never been proven to actually prevent health problems. Nor do studies conclusively demonstrate that the particle (p. e.g., dust) levels in homes with dirty air ducts are higher than those with clean air ducts. This is because much of the dirt in the air ducts adheres to the duct surfaces and does not necessarily enter the living space. It's important to note that dirty air ducts are just one of the many possible sources of particulate matter that are present in homes.
Contaminants that enter the home through both outdoor and indoor activities, such as cooking, cleaning, smoking, or simply moving around, can cause greater exposure to contaminants than dirty air ducts. In addition, there is no evidence that a small amount of household dust or other particles in air ducts poses a health risk. If any of the conditions identified above exist, it usually suggests one or more underlying causes. Before ducting is cleaned, modernized, or replaced, the cause or causes must be corrected, or else the problem is likely to recur. Some research suggests that cleaning the components of heating and cooling systems (e.g., cooling coils, fans and heat exchangers) may improve the efficiency of your system if they are contaminated. However, there is little evidence that cleaning only the ducts improves system efficiency. You can consider cleaning the air ducts simply because it seems logical that the air ducts will become dirty over time and need to be cleaned from time to time.
As long as the cleaning is done correctly, there is no evidence to suggest that such cleaning is harmful. The EPA does not recommend that air ducts be cleaned routinely, but only when necessary. However, the EPA recommends that if you have a furnace, stove, or fireplace that burns fuel, it be inspected for proper functioning and maintained before each heating season to protect it against carbon monoxide poisoning. If you decide to clean your air ducts, take the same consumer precautions you would normally take when evaluating the competence and reliability of the service provider. Whether or not you decide to clean your home's air ducts, preventing water and dirt from entering the system is the most effective way to prevent contamination (see How to Prevent Duct Contamination).If you decide to clean your heating and cooling system, it's important to ensure that the service provider is committed to cleaning all components of the system and is qualified to do so. In addition, the service provider can propose the application of chemical biocides, designed to remove microbiological contaminants, to the inside of the ducts and to other components of the system.
Some service providers may also suggest applying chemical treatments (sealants or other encapsulants) to encapsulate or cover the inner surfaces of air ducts and equipment housings because they believe they will control mold growth or prevent the release of dirt particles or fibers from the ducts. These practices have not yet been thoroughly researched and you must be fully informed before deciding to allow the use of biocides or chemical treatments in your air ducts. They should only be applied, if any, after the system has been properly cleaned of all visible dust or dirt. Knowledge about the potential benefits and potential problems of cleaning air ducts is limited. Since the conditions in every home are different, it's impossible to generalize about whether cleaning the air ducts in your home would be beneficial or not. On the other hand, if family members have unusual or unexplained symptoms or illnesses that you think could be related to your home environment, you should discuss the situation with your doctor. The EPA has published several publications as guidance on identifying potential indoor air quality problems and ways to prevent or solve them.
You can consider cleaning the air ducts simply because it seems logical that they will become dirty over time and need to be cleaned from time to time. While debate over regular duct cleaning continues, there is no evidence suggesting such cleaning is harmful when done correctly. On the other hand, if a service provider doesn't follow proper procedures for cleaning air ducts, it can cause problems with indoor air quality. For example, an inadequate vacuum collection system can release more dust and dirt than if it had left them alone. A careless or inadequately trained service provider can damage your ducts or your heating and cooling system which could increase your heating and cooling costs or force you into costly repairs or replacements. This is because much of dirt that accumulates inside air ducts adheres to their surfaces and does not necessarily enter living space.
In addition there is no evidence suggesting a small amount of household dust or other particles in air ducts poses a health risk. The EPA does not recommend routine cleaning of air ducts due continuing uncertainty about benefits in most cases. However they recommend if you have a furnace stove or fireplace burning fuel it should be inspected for proper functioning before each heating season for protection against carbon monoxide poisoning. Some research also suggests cleaning dirty cooling coils fans and heat exchangers can improve efficiency of heating and cooling systems however there is little evidence indicating this improves system efficiency. Whether you decide to clean your home's air ducts or not preventing water and dirt from entering system is most effective way for preventing contamination (see How To Prevent Duct Contamination). If you decide on cleaning your heating and cooling system make sure service provider is committed to cleaning all components of system and qualified for doing so. In addition service provider can propose application of chemical biocides designed for removing microbiological contaminants inside of ducts and other components of system. Some service providers may also suggest applying chemical treatments (sealants/encapsulants) for encapsulating/covering inner surfaces of air ducts/equipment housings believing this will control mold growth/prevent release of dirt particles/fibers from them. These practices have not yet been thoroughly researched so make sure you are fully informed before deciding on allowing use of biocides/chemical treatments in your air ducts.
They should only be applied after system has been properly cleaned from all visible dust/dirt. Knowledge about potential benefits/problems associated with cleaning air ducts is limited so since conditions in every home are different it's impossible generalize whether such cleaning would be beneficial or not. On other hand if family members have unusual/unexplained symptoms/illnesses which could be related with home environment discuss situation with doctor. The EPA has published several publications as guidance on identifying potential indoor air quality problems/ways for preventing/resolving them. Whether you decide on cleaning your home's air ducts or not preventing water/dirt from entering system is most effective way for preventing contamination (see How To Prevent Duct Contamination)..
