Duct Cleaning Services and Maintenance

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Duct Cleaning and Maintenance

What are Ducts or ductings and why do we need to maintain them?

Ducts are conduits or passages used in heating, cooling , ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) to deliver and remove air. The needed airflows include, for example, supply air, return air, and exhaust air. Ducts commonly also deliver ventilation air as part of the supply air. As such, air ducts are one method of ensuring acceptable indoor air quality as well as thermal comfort.

Over time, ducts get dirty with dust, pollens, pets’ dander and other allergens due to high air-flow volume such ducts are designed to do. Over time, as the ducts get dirtier as the pollutants accumulate on the walls of the ducting, specks of dust , allergens and dirt get dislodged and blown out of the vents of the ducts into the very environment the ducts serve. This is also the time to maintain the ducting so such health hazards are minimized or removed.

Where can we find ducts?

If your house or workplace are indoor, you can usually find that ducts are quite prevalent. You find ducts wherever there is a need for a flow. Be it water ducts(pipes) or air ducts in our home or work place. They can be found in MRT tunnels, shopping centers, homes, restaurants, schools and hospitals just to name a few.

What are the signs that the air ducts are dirty?

Visible dirts on the air inlet or exhaust panels. Clean air doesn’t carry dust or other allergens since most HVAC systems do filter the air before air is passed over to be blown into a premise or house.  Visible dirt on air exhaust vanes or panels signals that the air filter needs to be changed/cleaned. However, the existence of dirt, especially thick visible dirt and grime on air inlet vanes and panels signify there could be a lot of dust accumulating in the ductings.

Does your air vane look like this?

An example of an extremely dirty air filter, your air filter should be cleaner than this most of the time. Remember that frequent cleaning and timely filter replacement capture dust and contaminants from the air and prevents excessive dust being introduced into the ductings.

Dirty and clogged air filters can also be a sign that the ductings have accumulated dust as air filters are designed to collect dust and other contaminants before clean air is introduced into the indoor environment. If your filters have to be cleaned or changed too frequently as they are dirty before the scheduled cleaning or replacement date, it could mean that there are just too many dust particles and contaminants in your ducting. It would be wise to clean the ducts to remove the excessive dust than to just increase the frequency of filter change or cleaning.

Unpleasant odor from ducts could be another sign that the duct works are dirty. The telltale sign of the presence of debris in the system and that you should conduct serious ventilation system cleaning is odor. If you experience an unpleasant smell in your home or workplace and can’t find the source, it could be emanating from the air duct system. You should get up close to all the air registers for a good sniff to verify these suspicions. You can also have a technician inspect the air ducts for anything that could be emitting the bad smell. This is a serious issue as the odor may cause severe health issues and thus a thorough check is recommended as quickly as possible.

Can you imagine the smell from all the dirt and pollutants? Yikes, cockroaches and spider webs!

The presence of mold & mildew inside or outside your HVAC system duct. Dust has serious effects on your health, but mold is worse. Mold and mildew not only exacerbate allergies and respiratory conditions but also spread quickly in the workplace or house. Therefore, take quick action if you spot mold around vent covers and air conditioning units. Apart from cleaning out HVAC ducts with mold, our technicians will advise you to invest in a dehumidifier, since mold and mildew grow in wet areas.

Can you imagine breathing in the indoor “fresh” and “filtered” air from this moldy HVAC system?

Unstable or poor airflow in the office or home.

The easiest way to know that your air ducts should be cleaned is inconsistent airflow in your premise. Indoor airflow should be of the same quality since vents deliver consistent airflow. If this isn’t the case, have a technician ensure that all vents have clean ductwork.

How can you expect good airflow with this much dust in the duct? Do note that the duct is still quite new. Dust accumulation does not only occur in old ductings, if a new HVAC system is not well maintained, a lot of dust can accumulate in a short period of time.

Your heating and/or cooling costs are higher than usual.

Regardless of the time in Singapore , your electric bills for aircon should be predictable every month. If you notice your bills are on the rise compared to some months before, your HVAC/aircon systems could be to blame. In situations where the ductwork is blocked so that air cannot flow with ease from the cooling system, the air conditioner will have to use more energy to maintain the set temperatures at the thermostat. This extra energy directly translates to increased bills. In such situations, ductwork cleaning becomes necessary.

Strange and unusual noises in the ductwork

If you have lived or worked in your home or office for a few years, you definitely know how the HVAC system sounds when operational. Whereas it can be difficult to realize, your ductwork shouldn’t make a lot of noise. If you hear anything more than the general motor sound, your ducts could be experiencing some problems. Dirty ducts would have made less airflow  and the flow will be more violent. Therefore creating an increased noise level as air tried to flow past the dirty duct.

No previous duct maintenance record

If you have not done duct cleaning for your aircon system for a long time, it would be good to check that it is cleaned as soon as possible unless you plan to change the whole duct system soon.

What is air duct cleaning?

Air Duct and Vent Cleaning are a means of improving your property’s indoor air quality. Air Duct cleaning refers to the cleaning of cooling system components of forced air systems, including the supply and return air ducts and registers, grilles and diffusers, heat exchangers and cooling coils, condensate drain pans (drip pans), fan motor and fan housing, and the air handling unit housing.

Failure to clean all components of the system can result in the re-contamination of the entire system, thus minimizing the benefits of cleaning.

There are two key components to HVAC cleaning: breaking contaminants loose, and collection of contaminants. Typically, a service provider will use specialized tools to dislodge dirt and other debris in ducts, then vacuum them out with a high-powered vacuum cleaner.

How often should you clean your air duct?

By and large, cleaning of the air duct is dependent on how dirty the duct is. For commercial properties, it is advised to clean the air duct once a year. More so if your property is near a source of air pollution like being proximate to heavy traffic roads.

For residential properties, the duct cleaning depends on how heavy you use the aircon and the time last duct maintenance is done. Usually, it is recommended to clean the duct once a year if the aircon is well used. For an aircon that’s used occasionally, you can check the dust accumulated as a guide but it’s best to clean the duct at least once in 2 years.

Office/Commercial Duct Cleaning:

Office and commercial ducting are usually of a greater size and complexity than residential air ducts. The equipment used will have to be specialized and about to clean a massive volume of ducting in a building or office. However, the results are also apparent since the building’s maintenance team and HVAC duct cleaning team will schedule the scope and cleaning prior to the actual cleaning date.

HVAC Singapore has the professional equipment and expertise to clean aircon ducts and we are highly recommended by buildings owners, statutory boards and tenants.

Marine Duct Cleaning:

Air ducts in a poor and dirty condition onboard marine vessels provide an ideal breeding ground for mold, bacteria and musty odors and can cause great exposure to indoor air pollutants. Yachts and boats undergoing refit and even new constructions are surrounded by painting, varnishing, sanding, carpentry, and metalwork among other activities that create dust, debris and other contaminants that will enter the ductwork.

Duct cleaning on marine vessels and ships is of vital importance to prevent health problems and maintain productivity. These contaminants enter the interior climate via the ductwork of the HVAC system and could pose a serious risk on the crew and passengers’ health, causing symptoms like headaches, listlessness, excessive weariness, irritations of the mucous membranes and running eyes. And these practices are not done regularly, it can create a bigger mold spore spread and can severely damage the air ducts and other parts of the system which would lead to high cost repairs and replacement of parts.

HVAC’s vessel teams have been a recognised icon in the port of Singapore and we will definitely be glad to assist in your vessel’s HVAC maintenance and cleaning.

Do contact us for more information and we look forward to your inquiry.

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