A Step-by-Step Procedure for Cleaning Air Ducts and Vents

Climate control isn’t the sole function of an HVAC system. Your home’s ductwork facilitates airflow to mitigate the concentration of gases, pollutants, dust, pollen, and odors. Over time, dust and other airborne particulates settle in your vents and ducts, so cleaning is occasionally necessary.

If you think your home’s ductwork is due for a cleaning, read on. We’ll review the benefits of a clean HVAC system, and we’ll explain how you can go about cleaning air ducts yourself.

Why Is Cleaning Heater Vents and Air Ducts Important?

You can think of your home’s ductwork as the lungs of your home. Maintaining clean air ducts ensures your home can breathe as it expels stale and intakes fresher air from outside. 

A proper HVAC system uses a filter to prevent pollutants and airborne debris from coming into your home, but there isn’t a mechanism to filter all the dust that gathers in your ducts, vents, or registers. Much of this dust must be removed manually. 

The EPA says that normal levels of dust are safe for the average person, but especially dirty ductwork can have several undesirable effects on your home and health. Dusty ducts and vents will produce a stale or musty odor that will pervade your entire home, particularly whenever you turn on your heat or air conditioning. Very dirty ducts will also hinder the efficiency of your overall HVAC system because dusty air continually circulates through all system components. This will also reduce the lifespan of your expensive HVAC equipment.

A significant accumulation of dust, pollen, and other contaminants can irritate the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs of sensitive people. It can exacerbate asthma and other respiratory conditions, and it can even cause rashes or other allergic reactions. Mold and vermin are more significant problems. Serious mold growth, rodent or insect waste, and dead creatures in your ductwork all pose a real threat to your health.

At best, dirty ductwork makes your home uncomfortable. At worst, it makes you outright sick. The negative effects are insidious because they can creep up month by month and year by year. That’s why it’s important maintain your HVAC system and schedule or perform cleanings when appropriate.

Can You Clean Your Own Air Ducts and Vents? 

A truly thorough HVAC cleaning usually requires a professional team. Professional cleaners use specialized tools that sweep virtually every inch of your home’s ductwork. They can safely disassemble ductwork to eliminate vermin or scrub away mold. If your home’s ductwork is in a true state of disrepair, schedule a consultation with a professional.

The average homeowner is more than capable of removing normal accumulations of dust, though. If you see a fine layer or dust or pollen on your vents or registers, or if you notice a faint musty smell on occasion, you can try to clean your ducts and vents yourself before paying for a professional service. A little personal care and attention could be all that’s required to freshen up your home.

How Often Should You Clean Your Air Ducts and Vents?

Professionals often recommend a thorough ductwork cleaning every three to five years. The EPA suggests this isn’t really required unless your ductwork is afflicted by mold, vermin, toxic contaminants, or unusually high amounts of dust.

For the average home, replacing the HVAC filter and dusting registers and reachable ductwork every six months to a year is usually sufficient. You may want to clean more frequently if you’re sensitive to dust or pollen, or if the air in your area has a higher concentration of particulate matter. 

How to Clean Ducts and Vents in Your Home

Knowing how to clean heater vents in house doesn’t require professional training. With some basic supplies and a little bit of time, most homeowners will manage just fine.

Let’s start with a list of supplies you’ll need:

Vacuum

Spare towels, cloths, or paper towels

Broom handle or other long implement

Screwdriver (flathead or Phillips, depending on the design of your registers)

Dish soap

Sponge or scrub brush

Once you have your supplies at the ready, follow these steps.

1. Remove the registers. Go from room to room in your home and remove all grates or registers. Some models lift right out from the floor. Others are secured to the wall, floor, or ceiling with screws. Use your Phillips or flathead screwdriver as needed.

2. Wash and dry the registers. Add a few drops of dish soap to a sink or large bucket filled with clean, warm water. Use a sponge to wash each register by hand. Resist the temptation to set the wet registers out to dry. Depending on their material, they could develop spots of rust if exposed to moisture for too long a time. Dry each register with a clean towel and set them aside.

3. Cover the vent openings. Set spare towels, cloths, or paper towels over each vent opening. This ensures that dust or debris won’t bloom from one vent while you’re loosening dust or working on cleaning another.

4. Loosen the dust within the ductwork. Dust is liable to cling stubbornly to the inside of your home’s ducts. If you have exposed ductwork that you can safely access in your attic, basement, or other unfinished part of your home, use a broom handle or similar tool to gently tap the sides of the ducts to loosen any dust clinging within.

5. Vacuum each opening. Using a brush attachment, vacuum the dust from each vent opening. Insert the vacuum’s attachment as far as you can reach into the opening. Try to achieve a 360° rotation of the brush attachment to ensure you’re removing dust from every surface. If you see a fine film of dust even after vacuuming, you can reach in with a lightly moistened cloth to wipe it away. Replace the towel, cloth, or paper towel over the opening when you’re done cleaning.

6. Replace the registers. When you’re through cleaning the vent openings, replace the washed and dried registers. Resecure them with a screwdriver as needed.

This method may not achieve as deep a clean as you would get with a professional service, but you’ll still eliminate a significant quantity of dust.

Breathe Easily with a Home Warranty

While regular cleanings will keep your HVAC system in good shape, consider a home warranty for more robust protection. With Liberty Home Guard, you’ll never have to worry about how to pay for leaks or breaks in your ductwork or for replacement registers. Get a free quote through our website or call (866)-448-1427.