You’ve seen the signs that your air ducts need cleaning, but now you are wondering how air duct cleaning is done. What do you need to be prepared for?
The Steps To How Air Duct Cleaning is Done
Step 1: Inspect The Air Ducts
For two reasons, a simple, visual inspection of the ducts leading to the return and supply registers is important. First, it’s a step that you can take yourself to assess the level of buildup in the ducts beforehand and confirm the difference after they’ve been cleaned.
Second, a professional duct cleaning is an opportunity for Bridge City Duct Cleaning to check the ductwork for leaks or, in the case of flexible ducts, kinks. It is also a good time to repair and replace damaged ductwork.
Step 2: Create Negative Pressure
Bridge City Duct Cleaning uses large, portable or truck-mounted vacuum collection devices to suck dust and debris out of your ductwork. However, before turning on the suction and scrubbing the ducts, the technicians must perform preliminary steps.
- First, they hook the vacuum collection device’s large hose to a duct close to the air handler—the heart of your HVAC system. The technician cuts an access hole in the duct, inserts the vacuum hose, and seals the joint as tightly as possible.
(Note that your HVAC system has a supply and a return side—ducts that send treated air into the house's rooms, and ducts that return air to the air handler. The supply and return sides are separate, and the duct cleaning process is performed on each.)
- Next, the technician will seal each register with an adhesive cover. This is an essential step because even a mighty vacuum collection device will not work if the registers in each house room are uncovered.
- Once the technician finishes these steps, they turn on the vacuum unit. This step creates negative pressure, and particles inside the ductwork will be sucked into the collection device as they are brushed or blown loose.
Step 3: Agitate The Dust
Once the system is under negative pressure, the technician uncovers each register and cleans each duct. Technicians use rotating brushes, compressed air tools, and simple vacuum cleaners to ensure dust is dislodged and sucked into the vacuum collection device.
Step 4: Clean The Rest Of The System
It is recommended that the other components of the HVAC system, including the air handler’s blower motor, evaporator coil, and drain pan, be cleaned as well.
Cleaning these components, along with cleaning or changing the filter, will improve the air quality in your home, extend the life of your HVAC system, and increase its efficiency.