Air ducts are an often neglected part of your home. This is not surprising since they are hidden and do not have a tendency to need repair so it is easy to overlook them when it comes to maintenance and cleaning your home. The result is that the majority of home owners only clean their air ducts after a problem is discovered. The EPA agrees that air ducts should be cleaned on an as needed basis to prevent environmental and other situations from negatively impacting the quality of air in your home.
Cleaning your air ducts on an as needed basis is a good idea only if the cleaning is cone as a preventative procedure in response to a specific event or circumstance but not as a reactive response to an incident or circumstance. This will not prevent you and your family from being exposed to unhealthy air in your house if it is not brought on by to a specific situation. It is not unusual for mold to grow from ordinary deterioration of your air conditioner, a roof leak and a leaking pipe which can exist for years before being detected. Rodents and insects can be in your air ducts on and off for years without being noticed.
Instances of having your airducts cleaned as a preventative measure on an as needed basis include cleaning them immediately after finding a leaking roof, a leaking pipe, a nearby forest fire or industrial fire, a flood, home remodeling, insect or rodent infestation, moving into a new home.
Unless a member of your family has asthma or allergies, the biggest concern with air ducts is mold. Mold can cause a number of very serious health issues that typically take a long time and numerous expensive doctor visits to diagnose. Mold related illnesses regularly show up well after exposure to mold. Moreover, persons with asthma and allergies may be much more sensitive to mold and the consequences much more serious.
Unless you have your HVAC system inspected and serviced routinely and your air vents cleaned regularly, the most common ways people learn they have mold is:
• A member of their family gets sick
• They can smell it
If a member of your family becomes ill as a result of mold in the air ducts then it's obvious the air ducts should have been cleaned sooner and there is real concern that other loved ones have been affected but the symptoms will not show up for years.
Mold is challenging to detect and apart from a family member getting sick it is most often detected by smell. Relying on smell to detect mold is not a smart idea because not all mold has an odor and secondly, if you can smell mold or mildew, your infestation is very likely serious.Not much mold is required to to cause difficulties, typically considerably less than is required to be able to smell it. By the time you smell mold, family members have very likely been exposed to the mold for an extended period of time which can have permanent health issues, frequently showing up years later.
The sensible way to prevent love ones from mold exposure is to prevent mold from entering your HVAC and ductwork. This is best done with regular professional air duct cleaning or diligent cleaning and inspection by the home owner.
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