So you have been an avid browser soaking up and reading all write-ups on the importance of air ducts for your HVAC system. You have also understood that air duct cleaning promotes healthier and cleaner indoor air in your homes and offices. There are many advertisements from the best duct cleaning Melbourne service companies that you have come across, yet you are considering a DIY approach. Yes, you are thinking this with an eye to saving a few bucks and also exercising your own enterprising spirit in self-help techniques.
But before you take the trouble to embark on your personal project, here are a few suggestions for you to ponder which commercial duct cleaning Melbourne service providers often suggest to safeguard your machine and your time and money.
Points to ponder before you start duct cleaning yourself
Do you have the necessary tools needed for cleaning? Ensure that you are well equipped with-
- A vacuum cleaner with a long hose
- Dust mask, heavy-duty gloves, protective eyewear like goggles
- A screwdriver with a head that fits in with register screws and returns air grille plates
- A stiff bristle brush with a long handle. Alternatively a toilet brush or rotary dryer vent cleaning brush
- Cloth, paper towels, or rags
Risks you can run into while DIY duct cleaning
Dangers of duct damage: Ductworks are spread all over and inexperience might land you damaging them and tearing them, more so in the case of thin plastic flex ducts that is prone to be damaged. A tiny error from you can make a small hole in your ducts. This is enough to minimize airflow in your home compromising the efficiency of the HVAC unit. This in turn makes it stress more and consume more electricity, thereby raising your energy bills considerably. You should take care that you accidentally do not crush flex ducts or flip off plastic tubes off any supporting brackets.
Dealing with molds in a proper way: A common enough occurrence inside air ducts is mold growth that affects the HVAC performance causing health issues and allergies. If you chance upon mold, reach out to the best duct cleaning Melbourne service providers and have it verified first. For your offices, you need to attend to mold removal as soon as possible. Commercial duct cleaning Melbourne professionals have the technical expertise and equipment to remove these toxic molds even from hard-to-reach areas where your efforts will fail. In case you discover moldy insulation, request HVAC service experts to replace it.
Time-consuming and laborious work: The DIY approach is not as easy as it sounds. Out of sheer inexperience, the entire cleaning process will take longer for you than it would for a professional cleaner. It is also full of scary surprises like finding animal or pest nests, mold, insect or pest droppings including dead bodies of trapped pests or rats. Removing dead animals is not only tricky but harmful. A dead carcass can be infectious and full of germs and gases. It requires immediate removal before the gases get inside your rooms. A professional duct cleaning personnel will be not only good at removal but also disinfecting the area as part of the service. Would you risk all this by trying to do all this yourself?
Inadequate equipment: As a novice or DIY starter you do not possess high-powered equipment like rotary brushes or vacuums available to trained technical experts of service companies. So with less specialized tools, your cleaning too will fall short of the same standard produced by professionals.
Less effective than professional cleaning: While you would contribute to improving indoor air quality with your DIY duct cleaning approach, the extent of effectiveness will be no match to the professionals. Since you would be doing a lot of guesswork, and do not have enough skills, you would be unable to reach out to concealed and hard-to-reach areas which a professional would with high-powered tools and inspection methods. Powerful truck-mounted vacuums, snake cameras, etc of professional experts give a better grip on the state of air ducts and how to clean them. These are not available to homeowners and there is no reason for them to buy. DIY method would at best help remove a small fraction of collected dust, dirt, and debris. So since the effect is short-lived you would have to do it again which a professional would do better giving better results.
DIY duct cleaning in residences
As a residential property owner, it is likely that you would wish to clean ducts yourself. Here the ductwork is smaller, less extensive, and easily accessible. It is possible to clean air ducts by switching on the furnace fan, loosening dust by tapping the air ducts and using a vacuum around supply and return registers to suck out some of the trapped dust and debris from your home system. Many of you are updated on the fact that frequent changing of furnace filters reduces debris buildup in ducts and prolongs the life of your unit. Yet the DIY approach never can do a complete job as it misses many posts from inappropriate tools and skills.
DIY duct cleaning in commercial buildings
For your commercial properties, as a business owner, you might wish to economize expenses and go for air duct cleaning by DIY methods. This might seem a great way to minimize overall company expenditure but in commercial buildings, ductwork is a complex system and can be handled by professionals only. The cost eventually is more economical and with no risks attached at hands of experts. Commercial buildings being larger has a complex air duct system making it more challenging to clean as all areas have to be reached for optimum cleaning. Without industrial cleaning equipment like those used by commercial duct cleaning Melbourne experts, it would be futile to adopt DIY methods. Commercial buildings cannot afford to have improper duct cleaning owing to health risks and also because it involves a larger number of people. Going for commercial duct cleaning is advisable to escape any legal entanglements in the future and hefty health bills for employees or staff.
To conclude while the DIY approach might seem easy and inexpensive but the bottom line is it is risky as effort; time and money go to waste as the overall result is not as good or effective as it should be. When you have a better and tried and tested option of seeking qualified professional help it is wiser to choose that option to safeguard your health and that of your HVAC system.
