How Often Should I Clean My Air Ducts?

Cleaning air ducts does not need to go on your spring cleaning chore list. If you are extremely organized, you can put it down on a five-year calendar. This is because the National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA) itself — a group you would think would be strongly biased in favor of frequent cleanings — recommends a schedule of three to five years.

Clean Your Air Ducts Every Three to Five Years

If you are wondering how often to clean air ducts, you probably suspect your home’s air is not in ideal shape; you may even be concerned about your family’s health. We suggest that you have your air ducts cleaned every three to five years in normal conditions.

Why You Should Consider Air Duct Cleaning More Often

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Angie’s List and other authorities point to only three reasons to have your air ducts cleaned more often than every three to five years:

#1 Mold

#2 Vermin

#3 Dust

Ducts Are Not Enough

You may fancy yourself as someone handy with a hammer, so you look up something online like, “How to clean air ducts.” Cleaning your own ducts is generally not a good idea; you lack the equipment, the safety training and the skills to clean all of your household ductwork and the HVAC system that connects to it.

Return- and supply-side air ducts can be in inaccessible places in a home, so cleaning only the areas you see or can easily access accomplishes very little. Professional technicians can use vacuums and automated brush systems to move through rectangular-profile or flexible circular-profile ducts, something you should not attempt.

Since ductwork connects to your furnace and central air conditioner or heat pump, a complete HVAC system cleaning is necessary. Only cleaning the ductwork does not solve the entire problem of dust, allergens, mold and, possibly, vermin.

6 Benefits of Duct Cleaning

While the answer to the question of how often you need air duct cleaning may be less often than you first thought, it doesn’t mean you should forego the service entirely. That’s because there are various benefits you, your family, and your home will receive after having your air ducts cleaned.  

Better Overall Air Quality

Everyone should care about air pollution. Yet, most of our concern is typically oriented towards outside pollution. This is undoubtedly important, but most people spend most of their time indoors, especially those most likely to be affected by airborne pollutants and contaminants. 

If your air ducts aren’t cleaned on a regular basis, these contaminants and pollutants will spread throughout your home. This harms the air quality inside your home and could cause detrimental health effects for you and your family with enough build-up. 

Reduction of Allergens

People are allergic to all kinds of things. Many of these allergens are spread through the air, including pet dander, pollen, and dust mite. If these allergens make their way inside your home —or you live with a common source of allergens like a pet — they can quickly collect in your air ducts, where they will then be blown throughout your home every time your HVAC system switches on. 

When your air ducts are cleaned, the build of allergens will be removed. That doesn’t outright prevent future allergy attacks inside your home, but it does help lower the odds of an allergy attack in the short term. For those who are especially sensitive to allergens, this could be the difference between a day of easy breathing and one spent sniffling, sneezing, and feeling otherwise miserable. 

Odor Reduction

No one likes a smelly home. It can make spending time inside your home uncomfortable while also keeping guests away. The best way to reduce the scent, of course, is to remove the source, but even if just a few odor-causing molecules make your way inside, they can quickly spread throughout the house through air ducts. Sometimes these molecules will collect and settle within the ducts, making each use of your home’s HVAC system an adventure of smells. 

Cleaning your air ducts can help remove these molecules. If your home has a musty smell that you just can’t find the source of, it could be a sign your air ducts need cleaning. 

Less Chance of Needed Repair

It’s probably a cliche at this point to say that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, but it’s a cliche for a reason. Preventative maintenance not only helps extend the life of your HVAC system but also cuts down on the need for extensive repairs or the expensive replacement of the entire system. 

Air duct cleaning should be a part of any preventative maintenance program for your HVAC system. It ensures that things keep running properly. It also allows your HVAC technician to scope out other minor issues that can be repaired easily before the balloon becomes something far more costly. 

Energy Savings

When dust, dirt, and other contaminants build up in your air ducts, they can force your HVAC system to work harder to push conditioned air throughout your home. As your HVAC system uses more energy to keep your home at a comfortable temperature, you may see your energy bill go up substantially.  

However, cleaning your air ducts can help keep costs down. A clean air duct allows your heating and cooling systems to use the minimum amount of energy required to keep your home cool or warm. So, making an appointment for an air duct cleaning doesn’t just make sense; it makes cents (and dollars), too. 

Mold and Mildew Prevention

Air ducts are dark places. So, as condensation from your HVAC system begins to build up inside your air ducts, you’re creating an ideal situation for the growth of mold and mildew. Then, when your system turns on, those spores are shot throughout your home, aiding in their spread and growth. 

Clean air ducts, though, can help minimize the odds of these potentially hazardous materials growing inside your home. This will help keep your home safe. 

How Often Should I Clean Air Ducts?

If you’re wondering how often to clean ducts, fortunately, you don’t need to do it all that often to ensure the safe and proper running of your home’s heating and cooling systems. Scheduling an appointment every three to five years is enough to ensure your ducts aren’t actively damaging the health of those inside your home.

Where to Get Professional Air Duct Cleaning in Phoenix

Please contact Howard Air & Plumbing today at (623) 201-5153 to learn how we use air duct cleaning equipment in combination with a complete system cleaning. We can remove dust, mold, mildew and more from your Phoenix home’s ductwork.

(Updated Feb 25, 2025)