When summer is near, it can be an excellent idea to check the ducts and vents of the house to see if they are dirty. These are the places where the air is traveling and ensuring that everything is clean will make your home a healthier place to live.
If there’s no maintenance done, there can be an army of dirt, dander, bugs, hair, mold, and pathogens that are hanging inside the vents. They pollute the air in the home and cause various illnesses.
Fortunately, it’s possible to clean these vents every now and then. After all, you wouldn’t want to breathe in dirty air, right? If someone in the family is sensitive and suffering from allergies, then it’s time to have a thorough Air Duct Cleaning in Ft Worth and make sure that every debris is removed. You can clean this yourself or rely on the experts to make the process faster.
Annually, an average family may generate about fifty pounds of dirt and dust. This does not include mold, pet hair, and the dust blown inside from the windows. Not cleaning the vents will mean that this amount of dirt doesn’t have anywhere to go. It will constantly linger and circulate around, and it can be bad for a resident that’s suffering from urticaria.
Aside from health issues, regardless of how diligent you are in cleaning and dusting the surfaces of your home, the contaminants’ particles can still fall on kids’ toys, smartphones, beverages, and tables. In fact, the EPA considers indoor air pollution as one of the top health risks to people’s health, with billions of allergens and debris living in your air ducts if it’s not maintained correctly.
Doing it Yourself
You might not have any training when it comes to cleaning and caring for your home, and some don’t want to go through the inconvenience and hire experts in Fort Worth instead. After all, the pros have powerful truck-mounted vacuums with very long hoses, and they wouldn’t have to spend so much energy and time cleaning inaccessible parts of the duct themselves. Get more info about ducts on this site here.
However, it can still make a difference if you can clean some of the spots that you can reach. For example, the registers are something that could easily be reached by anyone else who decides to do the cleaning. Here are some things that you need to clean everything.
- A New Filter for the Furnace. You need to have the right furnace filter to do the job well at the end of everything. Make sure to choose something that’s compatible with your existing appliance.
- Gloves. If possible, get the heavy-duty varieties to protect your hands. Wear goggles and a mask while you’re doing the task.
- Vacuum. The vacuum will help suck all the dirt and dust from the registers. Rent a vacuum that’s specific for duct cleaning as the standard ones in the home may not be enough.
- A Long Brush. Choose something that’s similar to the brush you’re using to clean the toilet. If you don’t have anything like this in handy, stiff paint brushes may be enough.
- Power Drills. These drills are used to remove the screws from the vents, and they can also act as a screwdriver. Make sure that they are compatible with your registers’ screws to make the process easier.
- Cleaning Cloth. Choose a microfiber cloth if you have one available since this will work best.
- Paper Towels: They can be helpful, so ensure that you have an ample supply of them.
Which Vents are Which?
You may be a new owner of an older home, and you are unsure about the various types of ducts you have. You can do some tests with tissues if this is the case. Place a tissue on your vents. If you notice that it sticks, this means that this is a return variety that will bring all the air inside your home to your AC or furnace. The ones where the tissue doesn’t stick mean that this can be a supply vent. This is where you’re getting cold or hot air from your AC or furnace.
Steps to Do
1. With the use of a power drill, remove the screw from the cover and the grill plates.
2. Cover the entire supply vent with some paper towels. If you’re not cleaning the others yet, cover them as well so the dirt and dust won’t go to them.
3. The thermostat should be set up on “fan” whenever possible. This will loosen up the debris and dust that may be hiding in the pipes. The cool mode should be turned off. The older thermostat may not have any “fan” setting, so turn on the heat.
4. Loosen the dust. You can easily knock off the build-up of dust with a brush. Tap all the areas that you can reach to break up the deposits.
5. Cleaning the supply Registers. Sweep all the dust that you can see from the supply registers. Run the vacuum on the register to catch all the dirt and debris. With the help of a microfiber cloth, wipe all the interior that you can reach. Remove the paper towels that you’ve put on the other vents as you go through them.
6. Wash the return registers. Sweep everything to loosen up the dust. Brush using a microfiber cloth and reach out into the cavity as far as you can.
7. Turn off the furnace and the fan. When you’re finished, turn off the fan and the power. This should be done through the breaker panels or the service switch. Don’t just shut the thermostat as this is not going to power off the entire unit. Another article about a thermostat can be found in this url: https://www.britannica.com/technology/thermostat.
8. Clean out the return air boot and blower compartment. When the power is off, access the blower compartment and use the vacuum to sweep everything. This is where most of the dust is located.
9. Replace the filter. It’s best to replace any clogged filters to remove all the contaminants and dust. This way, you’ll be able to breathe fresh air afterwards.