Here’s What Can Happen If You Have Dirty Air Ducts
One of the most efficient ways to keep your home at a comfortable temperature all year round is to have a centralized HVAC system. These days that usually means having a furnace located in the basement, with a condenser installed somewhere just outside the home.
Under normal circumstances, it’s the furnace that heats air in the winter, while during the summer, the condenser cools air from outside, then pumps it into the home, where the fan in the furnace then pumps it through the air ducts. This means that your air ducts get a workout all year round.
A lot of people make the mistake of assuming that an air duct, with no moving parts, will work with 100% efficiency forever. The reality, however, is that air ducts can be affected by a surprising factor; dirt.
You Pay More
Underestimating just how harmful dirt in air ducts can be is a common mistake. It’s light, not especially tough, and the only real harm it seems to do is ruin the appearance of things.
Dirt however, in sufficient quantity, can have a serious impact on the efficiency and operation of your air ducts.
Once dirt starts clinging to air ducts, it can gradually move throughout a home, as well as closer to the heart of your HVAC system, your filter, and furnace.
Once dirt starts to build up in air ducts, your filter, or your furnace itself, this means that your HVAC system now has to work harder and longer to hit the temperature level that you’ve set for your home. This means you’ll end up paying more on your energy bills every single month.
Sinus Trouble
In addition to making you pay more, dirt in the air ducts can also affect your health. Dirt is made up of many different substances, like skin flakes from people, as well as fur, or dander from pets, and even mold spores.
Dirt that gets trapped in the air duct can sometimes settle down and “take root,” and the bacteria on this type of organic dirt can multiply.
If that happens, every time your HVAC system turns on, these contagions are blown into every room in the house. It can cause sinus irritation, similar to pollen season, but all year round, and throughout the entire home.
An Asthma Hazard
For people with an asthmatic condition, dirty air ducts present perhaps the biggest health risk, with so many allergens and respiratory irritants being constantly pumped into the air.
This means a resident runs a serious risk of having a severe asthma attack at home.That is a very problematic situation to have.
No one should have to experience the trouble of impaired health from home. But with dirty air ducts, it’s possible for a home to become a constant health threat.