When inspecting your ducts, there are two things you need to look out for – duct leaks and dirt. Duct leaks can make your HVAC system significantly less efficient and increase energy bills. And dirt can be deposited into the air around your Lewisville home and cause allergy symptoms. Stop both from happening by inspecting your ducts.
Check for an odor
First, you need to turn your HVAC system on. You need it turned on for the entirety of your inspection.
After everything is running, go around your house and check if any weird smells have just appeared. If this is the case, there’s something in your HVAC system causing the odor. Get a Lewisville duct cleaner to deal with whatever the mess is.
Look for debris
After checking for odors, go to the vents and registers and check for any signs of debris. You may find unusually high amounts of dust and other floating debris coming out. If this is the case, your ducts are so full of dirt that they’re emptying it throughout your home, and you may soon experience allergy symptoms. You’re going to need an expert air duct cleaning tech.
Feel for leaks
Next, you should find the parts of your home where the air ducts are visible and feel around them. You may want to wet your hand or use a piece of paper.
Place your hand or paper around where the ducts bend. See if there’s any air blowing out of or into the vent. If this is the case, you need to have your ducts resealed by a Lewisville professional.
Look for tears
Even if you don’t feel any leaks, you should still look for any signs of wear or damage. Tears in the duct can quickly turn into bad leaks, and you might want to reseal or even replace particularly bad air ducts. Like all things, air ducts get old, so you need to be careful.
Unscrew your vent grill
Once you’ve looked around the visible air ducts, you’ll need to go to your vent grill and check the inside. Bring a flashlight, too, to increase visibility. Perform a quick preliminary inspection and see if there’s any unusual debris. You’ll want to look for signs of mold, like spots or moisture. You should also check for signs of infestation, like rat droppings and fur.
Use flash photography
Once you’ve seen as far as you can into the vent, put a camera inside and take some pictures. Something like a selfie stick is helpful here, as it’ll give you a lot of reach while still allowing you to snap some shots.
If you find any signs of infestation or mold, call for duct cleaning in Lewisville to help. You’ll always need [Lewisville vent cleaning services] in the presence of mold.
Check your AC and furnace
Finally, once you’ve finished looking everywhere else, check inside your AC and furnace for signs of mold or other contaminants. These are fantastic places for mold to start to grow, so you must make sure nothing is going on there, or else you’ll need professional air duct cleaning too.