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Seasonal Allergies? Your Air Ducts Could Be Making Them Worse

The ducts in your AC are often overlooked, not because they aren’t essential, but due to the fact that they are tucked away. When cleaning, you are more likely to focus on areas that you can see and push aside the harder tasks for a later date.

Little do we know that when the ducts are clogged with contaminants, the air you breathe inside your home becomes a problem. This article explains the cause of seasonal allergies and why your air ducts are the main cause of the problem.

What Causes Allergy in Your Home

The tiny fragments of particles suspended in the air can cause seasonal allergies. They primarily come from grass, weeds, trees and surrounding vegetation outside your home. Any time you or your pet come inside the house, these tiny irritants tag along clothes, hair or shoes. Wind can also drift them in via open windows and doors.   

Clean Air Ducts Help With Seasonal Allergies

When they do, your air conditioner warms or cools them inside the ducts. It then releases the majority of these allergens along the way. Your air filter is your final line of defense, and a quality one will catch most of them. However, a few of the irritants are bound to get through eventually. They find their way into the dark, often damp areas of your air ducts.

This is where the troubles begin. Your duct system is not a lazy pipe but an environment for their survival. The dust and pollen that collect within the system mix with the moisture, pet dander, and dead skin cells. This results in the formation of dust mites and mold, which can become a major threat in your home. 

How Dirty Ducts Worsen Your Symptoms

Closing your windows to keep out pollen isn’t enough when you don’t know what is lurking within your air conditioning system. Every time the conditioner is turned on, it unleashes tiny microorganisms that often make you sick. This dirty cloud is blown right into your dining area, bedroom, and other spaces in your household. At the same time your climate control system will be working like an allergy machine. You may close your windows to exclude the pollen, but you could be breathing in air that is even more full of irritants. This creates a vicious cycle that is powerful enough to make your symptoms appear relentless even on low-count days outdoors. The result is congestion, sinus headaches, and insomnia that rob your peace of mind. 

Breaking the Endless Cycle

Finding this connection is the path to relief that is way better than masking symptoms. If your indoor air distribution system is also impacted, then finding a solution is key. Make sure you have a good quality air filter with a current Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value rating. An 8 to 13 MERV rating will be adequate to remove most common indoor allergens.

Most importantly, replace your filter as frequently as every 90 days and more during those months when allergy season is at its worst. 

But the filter is only half the solution. It will eliminate the gunk that fouls your HVAC equipment but won’t clean the ducts themselves. Your ducting liner has months or years’ worth of grunge already built up. In order to actually fix the problem, that grunge has to be eliminated.

That’s where expert duct cleaning comes in. This isn’t just dusting but clearing out all of the grime that has accumulated in your entire system. The deep clean employs the right equipment to loosen up the baked-on material on your ducts and then employs a heavy-duty vacuum system to vacuum it out, trapping it so it can’t make it back into your house. The result is a cleaner route that your air has to travel. 

Now that the pollen, dust, and mold that had made a nesting site are gone, you are able to break the redeployment of allergens. You liberate your overburdened immune system and create an actual sanctuary from seasonal allergies.

It could be a tell-tale sign to have a specialist if you have done everything in your power but still endure seasonal allergies in your facility. A clean HVAC system constitutes the foundation of a healthy indoor environment. For the best possible results, you need the assistance of professionals who know their job. At JD Family Vent Cleaning, we can help you ensure the freshest, cleanest air possible so your home can be as comfortable as it should be.

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