DIY Residential Duct Cleaning

Residential Duct Cleaning

Regardless of where you stay, if your house goes unattended for a day, you’d find dust laden on the surfaces of carpentry. Certain elements do not show dust on them easily like carpets, curtains and glass furniture, but it certainly percolates. Not just dust but dirt, pollen, ash, hair, and allergens. Now when you see dust over a piece of furniture, it calls for cleaning, doesn’t it?

So what about your HVAC system? Ducts, air conditioners, ventilators, furnaces, etc. are the most prone to percolation of debris because of their functionalities. Throw out air all the time – do they need to be cleaned? Well, the answer to that is not that simple. Even to this day, any professional in duct repair and duct cleaning services would recommend cleaning your apartment’s air ducts from once a year to never.

Our duct repair and residential duct cleaning service professionals recommend duct cleaning every year only if you fall under the criteria mentioned below:

  • Family suffering from unidentified allergies
  • Chronic asthma or any other breathing related problems
  • If you have pets (they shed hair and in some cases carry disease inducing carrier and microbes around)
  • If you have kids and want healthier air or probably just quell your anxiety
  • Or there is some solid clogging in your ducts by pests, moulds and other debris.
  • Frequent smoking indoors

DIY Residential Duct Cleaning

They advise this by NADCA (National Air Duct Cleaners Association) and EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) Michael Vinick, NADCA President recommends homeowners to clean their HVAC system every once every three to five years. “If you have any allergies or asthma, you should consider having it done almost annually,” he quotes. On the other end, EPA does not recommend that air ducts be cleaned routinely, but only when there is a sincere blockage.

If you feel that you meet any of the prerequisites mentioned above. Or simply feel that your air is a little too dampened or harsh to your comfort, reach out us at info@tomscleaning.com.au. We’d cater you a complete HVAC restoration and maintenance at your convenience. Yet if you’d want to spend the weekend doing something productive, learning to how to clean air ducts is a skill we recommend you to have.

Things you’ll need

 

  • Screwdriver
  • Insulation – garbage bags or any plastic sheet
  • Paper bags or newspapers
  • Sticking tapes
  • Heavy duty vac or shop vac with a long hose
  • Leaf blower with a long hose
  • Brushes

Things You’ll Have To DoTurn The Main Power Off

Go down to the furnace or the central HVAC system and switch it off-because you do not want it running while residential duct cleaning in process.

Remove the registers

Remove the registers of all the heat vents and furnaces and chimneys. You might want to use a screwdriver for this.

and clean them…

Clean all the registers and their insides with a brush, attach the brush with any sort of extension and clean the niches and crevices that are otherwise difficult for the shop vac to such and leaf blower to blow.

and seal them…

Seal all the empty register cavities with plastic bags or simple paper bags and some weight and sticking tapes to create a perfect outlet free pipe to blow and suck the dirt, dust, and debris.

Unscrew the metal plate at the bottom, furthest end of the duct 

There are two basic connections, heat duct, and the cold air returns.

Unscrew the metal plate that is at the furthest end of the duct, of duct you want to clean first.

Keep in mind you do not have to drill into anything, just unscrew.

Attach the shop vac, insulate the cavity

Put the shop vac nozzle into the cavity of the heat duct, where you just removed the plate. And insulate the cavity so as to not let any air and debris in. You can do this by taping plastic to the shop vac hose to the exterior of the duct. You can also stuff the cavity with towels or plastic bags. Make sure you pack it real tight.

Blow air through the leaf blower from the heating vents

Now go the heating vent that is the furthest away from the shop vac and blow into it with a leaf blower, use a long hose so as to push the dust closest and quickest to the shop vac. Also as you have already dusted off dirt from all the crevices with a brush, you would not have to prod the hose into all directions to get the hidden dirt out.

Keep the leaf blower, and shop vac running, seal all other outlets

So now with both the leaf blower and shop vac on in an insulated duct will create a perfect system to get all the debris and dust get sucked into the shop vac, keep dabbing the ducts from the outside so as not to let any dust stay from being sucked in.

Make sure you’ve positioned your shop vac correctly that it takes in all the incoming dust. Keep this process on for five to ten minutes (the time depends on the condition of your air duct.)

Blow air from the next vent if needed

Switch your leaf blower to the second farthest vent now, if you find it necessary. Repeat the same process with the cold air returns.

After having done all of that remove the insulation, then the shop vac, screw the metal plates and then put the registers back. Switch on the furnace; your ducts are as good as new.

If you don’t want to try this out yourself at home, you can always call in professional help to do this for you. We provide all-inclusive HVAC cleaning and maintenance across Melbourne at the best prices, contact us at info@tomscleaning.com.au

 

Related Article:

Top 3 Must Ask Questions before Hiring an Air Duct Cleaning Company
The ABC’s You Need To Learn About Air Duct Cleaning Process
Is Air Duct Cleaning Worth It?

 

You May Also Like

Inquire Now
close slider
=