How Ductwork Affects You
The warm and cool air distributed through your homes is released through its ducting system. The ducts are usually made from sheet metal and are mainly found in the basement where they hang from the floor joists. The return air trunk is the larger rectangular duct along the basement ceiling that enters from the bottom of your furnace. The warm air ducting usually exits from the top of your furnace and starts with a trunk duct on the basement ceiling. Each supply duct is usually a round or small rectangular sheet metal pieces that branch off the trunk duct and go into each room of your home. The air is then is blowing out of your floor or wall register. However, over time, dust and debris will collect in each duct, mainly in the return air ducts.
So, is it important to clean these ducts and why? As a homeowner, it isn’t a bad idea to make sure your ducts are clean for many reasons. Having clean air ducts can provide you with better indoor air quality, it reduces the presence of house molds and allergens, it gets rid of house dust, reduces energy costs, and also results in more airflow and better delivery of warm air.
Cleaning your air ducts is up to you. Duct cleaning may very well improve the air quality within your home and in some cases where serious moisture and blockage problems exist in the ducting. A thorough cleaning of all heating and cooling system components may also help the air movement within your house. These components include your furnace fan, blower, furnace heat exchange, air conditioning coil, humidifier, and etc. If you choose to clean the ducts in your home, ensure that any duct cleaning that takes place in your home does not include broadcast spraying of biocides within your duct system.
