Are Your Ducts In A Row?

What is lurking in your ducts? Doo Doo Doo Doo (That's the theme song to Jaws) playing as the question was asked. Ha sounds pretty crazy don't you think? I agree, but I have seen some pretty weird things lurking in the duct systems before like rubber balls, dolls, rubber bands, leftover food, bag fulls of debris, etc. I won't even get into the weirder things. You’re probably going to go looking around to see if you can find any of these things in your own duct system. The best place to find the goodies are usually in the kid’s room. I guess in a kid's mind the ducts are neat mysterious black holes that need to be filled up.

The ventilation system by far can be the biggest hamper to the quality of your indoor air. We can all agree that your ventilation system isn’t on the top of your mind when you have kids to feed, diapers to change, supper to make, and laundry to do and these are just a few of the many things that can keep your mind occupied throughout the day. Is the cleanliness of the duct system that important? I suppose that depends on who you ask. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that the pollutants of your indoor air are generally four times worse than outdoor air. At times they say that they can be twenty five to one hundred times as much. That kind of makes me cringe. Additionally 86% of people have no idea that their indoor air is of poorer quality than that of the outdoors. An average home produces about 40 pounds of dust per year for every 1,500 square feet of space. About 40,000 dust mites can be found in a single ounce of dust, which is a contributing cause to household allergies. Now do you think you should have your ducts cleaned?

Now the question is to clean or not to clean? That's a good question. If I could ask you a few questions first, I in turn will answer my own. Do you suffer from allergies? Do you have unexplained symptoms or illnesses? If you answered "yes" then the first thing you need to do is to visually inspect your ducts. Can you see large deposits of dust, smell a musty odor, see visible mold growth, or can you identify insect or animal droppings? If so those are all good indications that you should probably have your duct system cleaned. If you answered "no" didn’t see anything listed above, then having your air ducts cleaned is probably unnecessary.

Whether or not you decide to have your ducts system cleaned, here are some steps to help keep it clean. Use the highest efficiency air filter possible for your heating and cooling system. Make sure to change filters regularly (If they are black that is probably a good indication that they need changed). If your filters do become clogged, make sure you change them more frequently. Check all your filters and make sure that you do not have any missing and that the air cannot bypass filters through gaps around the filter holder. During any work on your home that produces dust, seal off the supply and return registers in those areas. Vacuum your duct openings regularly. Also, Look into a good air purifier that will cleanse the contaminated air.

Verse of the Day: 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."