It’s getting colder now in Champaign, IL. People are starting to bundle up in sweaters and blankets and settle on the couch with their hot cocoa. Of course, there’s no relaxing at home in the winter months without a functioning furnace.

Now that you’ve started using your furnace more, have you noticed that it isn’t performing in quite the way you need? It’s possible that the problem may have to do with the state of your ducts. If that’s the case, then a duct cleaning can significantly improve the efficiency of your heating system and deliver better air quality.

How Your Ducts Work In the Winter

You may already know that your central air conditioning system pushes cool air through your home’s ducts in order to maintain a comfortable atmosphere during the summer. When winter comes, the same process happens, and your forced air furnace circulates warmth across all of the rooms via ducts and vents.

We suggest getting your ducts cleaned every three years or so. After that much time, the complex parts in the system are bound to gather a layer of dust and other particulates. And whether it’s your AC in the summer or your furnace in the winter, your climate appliance will bring those contaminants into your home as they operate.

Now that you understand why you need duct cleaning, let’s talk about what this service is.

What Happens During a Duct Cleaning Appointment?

When you schedule a duct cleaning, a technician will come to your Champaign property and carefully clean every component of your furnace. This means parts including:

  • Supply and return air ducts and registers
  • Grillers and diffusers
  • Blower motor
  • Heat exchanger
  • Drain and drain pan

With the dust and contaminants gone from your ducts, household members will breathe easier, and hot air will pump more efficiently through your house.

Benefits of Duct Cleaning

Consistent duct cleaning is really good for your household and HVAC units. You’ll find that keeping track of this one quick and simple procedure will go a long way in providing peace of mind. Here are some of the most noteworthy benefits of a regular duct cleaning:

HVAC Improvements

When your furnace’s vents clog up, it means your heating system has to go into overdrive to push through the dust and dirt.

Over enough time, that strain adds up, and you’ll eventually face a breakdown, high energy bills, and other potential complications.

Sure, it’s an investment to schedule duct-cleaning appointments every three years, but maintenance keeps you from having to pay more on a major repair or even a forced full replacement.

General Home Improvements

You want to live in a home that’s warm when it’s cold out. That makes sense! And after all that time and money you put into buying a quality heating system, it would be a shame not to take full advantage of it.

Duct cleaning gets rid of airflow obstacles and makes your furnace more efficient. It could even save you money! How? Well, if a clogged furnace works harder than it needs to and raises your monthly utility bill, then clearing things up can solve the issue and reflect in cheaper monthly payments. Not to mention your newly cleaned ducts will work better.

Enhanced Indoor Air Quality

Do you or someone in your household live with allergies or other respiratory illnesses like asthma? Or do you have elderly family members in your house? Are you a home chock-full of furry creatures? If the answer to those questions is yes, cleaning the ducts of your HVAC appliances will make sure that you have a healthy degree of indoor air quality.

You want to feel comfortable in your home, but that doesn’t just mean you need your HVAC unit to pump out the right temperature. You also need good breathing air.

More on Indoor Air Quality

You may have heard of indoor air quality, or IAQ, on websites specializing in HVAC services. It is a catch-all term to cover the factors that affect the air inside your home. This includes temperature, yes, but also humidity and a wide array of contaminants like:

  • Smoke
  • Odors
  • Mold and bacteria
  • Dust and dander

You can avoid most of these issues manually by dusting, not smoking inside, and cleaning spaces where mold and bacteria are commonly an issue. However, dirty ducts can ruin your efforts, even if you do everything right.

When you prioritize getting your vents and duct network cleaned every few years, you take full control of the air in your own home and protect your household and loved ones from harmful particles and fungal growth.

Signs of Poor IAQ

If your home has poor indoor air quality, it can show in many different ways. If you swipe your finger across a tabletop or some other surface and come up with dust, you likely have poor IAQ.

You may also notice a sort of musty odor in your home and a general feeling of stuffiness. Though when it comes to bad indoor air quality, it’s the people in the space that’ll feel it most significantly.

You or those in your household may complain of headaches or fatigue if your home has poor indoor air quality. If someone in your family has allergies, those characteristic symptoms may worsen when inside the home.

If you have symptoms like a fever, cough, or shortness of breath, it could be a common cold. If your sickness doesn’t go away, it might be your indoor air quality.

Other Ways to Improve Indoor Air Quality

Getting professional duct cleaning every three years is a great way to improve indoor air quality in your Champaign home, but it’s not the only measure you can take.

Remember, your furnace duct isn’t the only part of your home that gathers dust. If you really want to prevent the circulation of particulates, make sure to clean or replace things like your kitchen vent and that on your clothes dryer. Even your vacuum cleaner bag should be regularly changed to keep a good IAQ.

To go even further, you can:

  • Clean your rugs and carpets
  • Maintain a level of humidity
  • Incorporate indoor plants
  • Increase ventilation
  • Brush your pets regularly outdoors

All of this might sound like a lot一because it is! Why not narrow your to-do list down to one concrete action you can take to improve efficiency, increase comfort, and enhance the air quality of your home? Namely, professional duct cleaning.

Duct Cleaning with Castle Home Comfort Heating & Cooling

At Castle Home Comfort Heating & Cooling, we believe in treating our friends and neighbors in Illinois with the level of care and consideration that they deserve. It’s how we felt when we opened 40 years ago, and it drives us to this very day.

We stay available for our customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including holidays and weekends. Why? We believe the path to a comfortable home should be simple and without restriction.

We are well experienced in all things heating and cooling一and yes, that includes indoor air quality. When you come to us, you can know for certain that we’ll inspect and treat your home as if it were our own.

The winters in Illinois can be brutal. Your home should be a safe space where you can cuddle up all warm and cozy and watch the snow from a comfortable distance. So if you’d like to blow the dust off of a beautiful holiday season, call Castle Home Comfort Heating & Cooling and let us help.