HVAC Ducts and Vents: Useful DIY Cleaning Tips

While the task of cleaning your vents and ducts is best left to the professionals, you can do it yourself successfully. With a few DIY tips up your sleeves, you can improve the quality of your indoor air and keep your space free of dust, dirt, dander, and bug fragments.

A lot of debris and dirt remains in your air ducts between professional cleaning appointments. If you aren’t proactive, your home may soon be uncomfortable and bad for your health. If you or members of your household have any allergies, regular cleaning will reduce the risk of flare-ups. That and investing in an ozone generator as well. Here are a few helpful DIY cleaning tips to help you.

Know Your Vents

Learning about your vents can make the cleaning process easier. If you are a new homeowner, you may have trouble understanding all the vents in your ductwork. Consider asking a professional to help you know them. Who knows that this company you reach out to helps you dwell in tranquility, making your cleaning process easier? Alternatively, you can conduct a tissue test. Try placing a tissue on the vent. If it sticks, that’s a return duct. That vent is supposed to direct air back to your HVAC system. If it’s a supply vent, the tissue won’t stick.

Supply vents take cool and warm air away from your HVAC system, depending on whether you run a furnace or air conditioner. If you have vents outside your home, they are meant to promote airflow. You don’t need to clean these vents, as they aren’t part of your HVAC system. Start cleaning once you know your different vents.

When cleaning, start by covering the vents that aren’t being cleaned with paper towels. If you leave it uncovered, dirt and dust may blow into the house as you clean.

Useful DIY Cleaning Tips – Use Ozone Generators

Take your hose, attach it to the ozone generator, and run it into your open vent. If you have your AC on, turn it off first. After turning on your ozone generator, ozone will be sprayed through the hose into your ducts. Use this generator a few times for several days to get rid of all mold from the ducts. Even though these generators are great purifiers, you need to be careful.

Useful DIY Cleaning Tips Change Your Furnace Filter

Replace your furnace filter with a newer, more efficient one to reduce the dust in your home. Even if you have a good filter, it needs to be changed regularly. If you are buying filters online, ensure that you have a reputable seller. Dirty filters restrict airflow. They can cause your blower motor to get too hot, hence reducing the lifespan of your unit. The frequency of changing your filter depends on the needs of your home.

Vacuum

Start by wiping down visible dirt and dust with a soft rag or paper towel. Get rid of all the loose dirt before you start vacuuming. You may use a flex duct pipe attached to a power drill to gather up all dirt and dust particles.

Vacuuming your ducts is also a great way to get rid of dirt, dust, and particles. The frequency of vacuuming depends on use. Since it is a cool space, bacteria and mold are likely to grow. If you don’t clean your ducts regularly, you may soon have mold circulating in your air.

Close All But One Vent

As you clean the vents in each room, always close all of them except one. Consider covering the other vents with cardboard. If you leave all the vents open while cleaning, you’ll have dust and dirt moving in and out of your home.

Turn On Your Fan

You want to keep the fan on as you clean. It will help loosen dirt and move it along as you clean. It can make the processes of brushing and banging easy. Shut off the ‘heat/cool’ mode on your thermostat and set it to ‘fan on.’ Only the fan should be running. If there is no fan-only option, it may be okay to run the heat.

Don’t Forget About the Blower Compartment

After turning your power off, remove the panels from the front of your furnace. That way, you can access your return air boot and blower compartment. You can clean the blower compartment by vacuuming it. It is where a lot of your dust is held. While you are there, don’t forget about the furnace fan.

When cleaning your HVAC vents and ducts, you don’t always need to rely on professionals. While professional help is essential, it is great to do it on your own once in a while. It is not only fun but also a way to take charge of your home.