Did you know that your indoor air quality depends not only on outdoor air quality but also on your air conditioning system? It may sound obvious, but yes it is so. That is why you should spend some time cleaning your air vents. Or hire professionals for this purpose. What is better and how often should you clean it, how to clean it yourself? You’ll find it out in this article.
Why should you clean your air vents?
Air vents are an important part of your air conditioning system. And like any other system, it can get dirty, collect mold and dust, and so on. No need to mention that mold and dust are harmful to your health. And especially if you have animals, elderly people, and children living with you. They are at the highest risk.
If you ignore your air vent cleaning, you also risk getting some nasty and harmful diseases. This includes a wide range of illnesses from flu and allergies to heart attack, lung cancer, and lung obstruction disease. So you should clean them! But how?
Air vents cleaning yourself
It is possible to carry out the procedure yourself. For air vent cleaning, you need a screw, gloves, a soft-bristled brush, high-powered vacuum. Generally, instruction looks like this:
- Turn off the air conditioning system.
- Unscrew and pull out the air conditioner vents grilles. Wash them carefully, using warm and soaped water. Leave them be for now.
- Use your high-powered vacuum (a regular one won’t suffice!) and vacuum inside the ducts, removing any dust and debris you see. Before vacuuming, check out if you see any mold or mildew. Did you find some? Better call professionals to remove it. Most probably you won’t handle it yourself.
- All is done? Put the air vent grilles back and turn on your air conditioning system. Can you hear some strange noise or does it smell like something burning? Turn off the system immediately and call professional cleaning & repair workers for help.
That’s it! It may sound easy, but actually, everything is a bit more complicated. And in case you’re not sure about your capabilities, don’t be shy to call professionals. Unlike you, they won’t break your air conditioning system because of a lack of experience.
A few bits of advice
How frequently do you need to clean your air vents? It mostly depends on your air conditioning system. But professionals say that you should clean them once every 3-4-5 months, or once every season. Again, just ask someone with the necessary knowledge and experience to get a qualified answer.
You also must regularly change your air filters. How often? It depends on the filter type. Usually once 30 to 90 days. You better not ignore it, because filters take the biggest hit while working. So in case you don’t want to breathe dust and mold.
If you don’t want to risk breaking anything or you don’t have the necessary experience, just hire someone to do the job for you. Such professionals will also remove the entire mold and mildew, repair the system if necessary and answer all your questions about the maintenance.