More than just adding air purifiers, aromatherapy diffusers, or air cleaner appliances to a home, actually cleaning the air’s path before it releases into a home makes for cleaner indoor air every season.
Every autumn when we finally admit that it’s time to turn on the gas furnace to heat our home, I think about the dust that’s collected within the system and that it’s about to be in my lungs. Even though we change our furnace filters regularly, we can’t control the dust that settles inside the ducts while they aren’t in use.
We’re lucky that our home is filled with windows strategically placed for cross ventilation. Plus, we have a terra cotta block home. It takes longer for outdoor temperatures to radiate to the inside of the house than if it were wood framed. Often during springtime and early summer, I find that the sweater I’m wearing inside our unconditioned home is totally inappropriate when I step outside and it’s an 80-degree day.
Just these two aspects–cross ventilation and block construction–of our home saves a bunch of money on our energy bills.
So how do we clean the air before it enters my home?
Cleaning the air before its arrival inside a home isn’t like cleaning the bathroom or kitchen. It takes access to the source of the air and the ducts in which it travels. This isn’t a typical DIY project, so we’d recommend hiring an air duct cleaning service to take it on.
Air cleaning pros use vacuums and blowers to remove the debris and dust from the ducts. They also clean the motors, registers, and fans, so all of the internal mechanisms and spaces are free of goo.
What are the benefits of cleaner air ducts?
Cleaning the air ducts can improve indoor air quality, reduce allergens, and remove unwanted odors. The pollutants and chemicals that can accumulate in air ducts could cause family members to experience headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. Eye, nose, and throat irritation could also occur. And family members might not realize that they are reacting to that accumulated goo in the air. They also might not know there’s a simple solution to cleaner indoor air quality that will halt those irritating symptoms.
“If you have family members or guests who suffer from allergies or asthma, getting air duct cleaning helps them breathe more easily,” says Speed of Need Cleaning owner Torey Okonta. “It can improve the efficiency of your HVAC unit, reduce energy costs, and save you money.”
But the biggest reason to cleaning your air ducts is that it’s another way of caring for your family and friends who visit. We wouldn’t give our loved ones mostly clean dishes to use, so why would we share sorta-clean air with them?
What contaminates the indoor air quality of a typical home?
While the demand for outdoor living spaces has skyrocketed lately, most Americans still spend about 90 percent of each day indoors and 70 percent inside homes. The air inside our homes has a direct effect on our health, and the typical quality of that air isn’t exactly good news.
Indoor air is usually about 2 to 5 times more polluted than the air outside, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Air and Radiation. Because of this, the EPA includes indoor air is 1 of the top 5 human health risks.
There are so many sources of indoor air pollution. Common sources include pets, cooking, off-gassing from furniture, carpet, and building products, beauty products, mold, cleaning products, and smoking. Some of these are easy to identify and see, like our cat and our sofa. Others, like the formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds in paints, particleboard, and other manufactured wood products are easy to miss.
These products are so prevalent in stores and inside our homes that many homeowners don’t consider the potential impact of the materials. I remember when we didn’t know to care about it. By choosing nontoxic materials, checking with the Environmental Working Group’s handy app for healthier products, and cleaning the air, the potential for having better indoor air quality is possible.
Whenever there is a choice, we choose natural materials to reduce the potential of volatile organic compounds and other indoor toxin emissions. What’s made by Mother Earth is intrinsically better at helping achieve and maintain indoor air quality.
“We spend $40 billion a year on organic food and $20 billion a year on bottled water to stay healthy, and the promise of those things are so much less tangible than maintaining a healthy home, primarily because we ingest 7 times more air than food and water each day,”says Sam Rashkin, chief architect at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office
How much does it cost to hire a pro to clean air ducts?
The costs change depending on where you live. Most homeowners can expect to pay about $250 to $500 for a professional to clean air ducts.
How often do I need to clean my air ducts?
Many professionals would recommend cleaning air ducts every year. But, cleaning them every 3 to 5 years would probably be sufficient for most typical households. If someone in the household has severe allergies, COPD, or immune-compromised, it may be better to clean them more often.
