How to Clean your Air Conditioning Vents in 6 Easy Steps
Cleaning your home’s air vents is probably something you already do on a regular basis. At the same time, you may not even think about cleaning the ones in your business. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes dust as an occupational hazard, so there are just as many reasons to maintain your commercial air vents as well.
Good indoor air quality can increase productivity and improve morale among your employees. Keeping the air clean might even prolong the life of your commercial equipment and machinery. Air vent cleaning is therefore a small task that will pay huge dividends down the road. Follow these steps to keep your workplace A/C vents neat and tidy.
#1. Let your Fan Run
Turn on your unit’s fan and allow it to run for five to ten minutes. This will loosen any dust that is inside your system, making it easier to eliminate. By helping move air along, your registers will collect more dust, achieving an even deeper clean.
#2. Shut off your Air Conditioner
All register vents; regardless of whether they are located in your walls, floors, or ceilings; serve a similar purposed by delivering heated or cooled air to the correct locations. The grilles in a register also serve as a guide to direct the airflow. Without the vent in place, you may experience a huge cloud of dust while your unit is running.
Since you must shut off your system, schedule this task for a time when there are as few employees as possible in your building. If that isn’t feasible, try to perform it early in the morning rather than the afternoon.
#3. Remove the Cover
Loosen the screws that are holding your register in place. Set the screws aside, then lift the cover gently from its opening. Having an assistant when reaching for those ceiling or top-of-wall vents is always helpful. That way, you can just hand the register down and will not have to keep climbing up and down the ladder.
#4. Wash the Vent
Place the register vent in a bucket of warm, soapy water. Wash thoroughly, ensuring you clean both sides of each grill. Dry thoroughly with an absorbent, lint-free cloth to prevent mold, mildew, and rust from forming. If you’re working alone, you can set the vent aside to air dry while completing the next step.
#5. Vacuum the Opening
Thoroughly vacuum the opening as well as any ductwork that is exposed. However, DO NOT attempt to vacuum deep into your ductwork. By doing so, you run the risk of permanently damaging your ducts. And any additional dust you were able to eliminate would only be minimal at best.
Just because it’s not a DIY project does not mean you should ignore duct cleaning. Instead, contact us for professional duct cleaning services for your South Jersey business.
#6. Replace the Cover and Filters
Re-insert the screws holding the register in place and tighten with a screwdriver. Once you have finished cleaning all the vents, you should change your filters as well. Dirty filters will just cause more dust to be pushed out through your system and into your vents again. Basically this means that all that work you just did was for nothing.
Don’t Forget about Maintenance
Cleaning your air conditioning vents is important; however, it is no substitute for regular maintenance. Here at South Jersey Heating and Cooling, we recommend cleaning your air vents twice a year, and then scheduling a tune-up at approximately the same frequency. Prevent costly repairs and increase the lifespan of your system by scheduling a consultation with one of our technicians today.
