Clean Your House – Change Your Furnace Filter
Recently I had my heating ducts cleaned in my house after finishing a renovation project. The duct cleaning company used a video camera to inspect my ducts before and during cleaning, what a sight to behold! There were pieces of drywall left over from the original construction and of course lots of dust. I talked to many companies prior to choosing Anderson duct cleaning, and as they explained, the main difference is two fold; one if you don’t use a service that actually contacts all the areas of your ducts you will not remove the dust that is attached to your ducts, and two; using a camera guarantees that all the dust and debris is being removed. Shawn, the owner, also gave me a great tip, when doing any kind of work in your home that can generate dust, close off your cold air returns to stop any dust from entering your duct work.
A typical house contains dust from pollen, spores, pet dander, lint, bacteria, etc. Even regular home activities like cooking or dusting add to the dust in the air inside the house. Such dust particles results in irritation of eyes and on entering the respiratory system, may cause respiratory disorders, damage to the lungs, or in unique cases, even cancer.
I now have two transparent inspection plates in my furnace, one on the cold air return and the other on the supply side duct work. As Shawn explained, after the major duct cleaning, I will now only have to have my cold air ducts cleaned when I can visibly see dust starting to collect in the duct work. Considerably cheaper than having whole system cleaned. The secret to keeping your supply side duct work clean is using a proper air filter. Shawn recommended staying away from cardboard edged filters as they often collapsed inside the cold air return and allowed dust and contaminates to pass.
