3 Ways Technology is Used in Air Duct Cleaning Services

Air ducts are a common feature in American homes and businesses. They’re necessary to support efficient central HVAC systems. However, ductwork accumulates dust, dirt, and other contaminants as it gets used. That can cause health issues for building occupants and reduce HVAC efficiency. The solution is regular professional duct cleaning. Here are three ways that technology is used in air duct cleaning services.

1. Video Inspection Equipment

One of the challenges associated with ductwork cleaning is that most ductwork is impossible to inspect. It’s inside finished walls, floors, and ceilings. Cleaners would operate blindly without first checking a ductwork system’s condition. That could lead to them performing unnecessary cleaning work or damaging deteriorated duct sections.

Today, professional duct cleaners use purpose-built video inspection equipment to perform ductwork inspections. The equipment consists of a video camera probe on a lengthy reel and an attached video monitor. The cleaner can feed the camera into ductwork from any convenient opening. That allows them to see every part of the ductwork’s interior and plan a cleaning strategy accordingly.

2. Next-Generation Filtration and Sanitization

There are various ways to clean the inside of an air duct, but most involve a similar process. The duct cleaning company typically seals the ductwork and uses a high-power vacuum to generate negative air pressure. Then, they use manual or rotating brushes in the ducts to knock dust and dirt loose, sending it to the vacuum.

Those methods, however, won’t sanitize the inside of an air duct. For that, duct cleaners now use integrated HEPA filtration to prevent cross-contamination while they vacuum ductwork. That ensures that most particulate matter ends up in a waste bag instead of elsewhere in the building. Plus, some duct cleaners use UV lights to sterilize inside ductwork as they work. Specific UV wavelengths can kill viruses and bacteria or render them incapable of reproducing.

3. Robotic Cleaning Tools

Finally, duct cleaners also turn to robotics to reach and clean ductwork in difficult-to-access areas. In some settings, ductwork may be too high or too remote for human workers to reach effectively. That is especially common in larger commercial buildings, where high ceilings may put some ducts out of easy reach. Also, such settings often have long ductwork runs that make using conventional cleaning tools impossible.

To solve those problems, multiple manufacturers now make remotely-controlled robotic ductwork cleaning tools. Most feature onboard wireless cameras and tracked locomotion systems. Some use conventional vacuum and brush combinations to do their work. Others use even more sophisticated means. For example, at least one duct cleaning robot uses high-velocity dry ice pellets to abrade internal duct surfaces. That makes it easy to use conventional vacuum methods to do the rest, even at a distance.

Duct Cleaning Technology Continues Advancing

The most exciting aspect of duct cleaning technology is its quick evolution. After all, environmental specialists only just recently began recommending regular duct cleaning to the public. Service providers went from slow and difficult cleaning methods to tech-infused advanced methodologies in a short time. It wouldn’t be surprising to see autonomous duct cleaning solutions appear soon at the current developmental speed. At the very least, it guarantees that your next duct cleaning appointment will always be more exciting than your last!