Creating a comfortable indoor climate is impossible without a ventilation system. It is the ventilation that allows you to control the temperature regime, humidity and oxygen supply in the ventilated room. But few users think about the fact that the ventilation system must be periodically cleaned and disinfected. Through dirty air ducts, dust, insects, cobwebs, poplar fluff, germs and bacteria can enter living spaces. The air quality in the apartment directly depends on the cleanliness of the ventilation system, because the consequences of using dirty air ducts can affect your health. We are recommended to hire air duct cleaning professionals, like ozonservices. Because if your ventilation is poorly cleaned, it may affect your health in the future. If you hire a professional, your ventilation will be cleaned quickly and efficiently, and at a very good price.
How often should the ventilation be cleaned?
Standards for maintenance of ventilation systems are set out in the state construction and sanitary requirements. According to them, the ventilation system should be checked, cleaned and disinfected once a year.
And maintenance of the ventilation system should be carried out in accordance with the technical characteristics in the passport of each device. It is necessary to renew the air in the room every hour, for this the patency of the ventilation channels should be high due to their cleanliness. If the air ducts are too dirty, their patency and speed of circulation of air flows decreases.
Why do you need to clean the ventilation?
During the use of ventilation, layers of dirt, grease and dust accumulate on the walls of the ventilation ducts. And this leads to the formation and spread of microorganisms and insects, which is impossible in residential apartments and houses. In mechanical ventilation systems, all pollutants are spread by air flows throughout the premises, which negatively affects people’s health.
It must be remembered that the dustiness of the ventilation system increases the possibility of fire, even when special valves are installed. Often, the problem of ventilation pollution appears after repairs are carried out, when neighbors simply block the ventilation ducts with bricks and plaster. If you notice that the draft in the ducts has disappeared, immediately call specialists who will check the presence of the draft and restore the ducts to the required performance.
In educational and medical and pharmaceutical institutions, cleaning and disinfection of intake and exhaust units is carried out according to clear regulations. Maintenance of ventilation in such institutions should be carried out monthly, once every 4 months or once every 6 months, depending on the degree of contamination of the ventilation system.
Natural ventilation should be cleaned once every two years, and forced devices should be cleaned once every 6 months.
What pollutes the ventilation
Depending on the place of use, ventilation is contaminated with various substances.
The main “pollutants” of ventilation:
- Fungal spores, mold, condensate – appear during ventilation of moist warm air.
- Construction dirt and dust from the street, which settles on filters and air ducts.
- Fat, smoke and soot, which, due to their viscous texture, clog filters and air ducts , while the throughput of the system is greatly reduced. Such pollution is formed in the kitchens of residential apartments, cafes and restaurants, where cleaning of grease traps must be carried out every month.
- Rust – appears due to the movement of moist air through air ducts, which leads to their corrosion, the appearance of holes and openings.
- The layering of chemical suspensions and elements is formed in hoods of laboratories and classrooms. Neutralization of chemical elements in the ventilation of such premises directly affects the health of the people who are in them.
- The ventilation of medical facilities must be serviced and disinfected once every 6 months. The hood of such buildings must constantly work at high power to produce high-quality removal of pathogenic organisms in the air.
- Pollution caused by fire or flooding. As a result of a fire, layers of soot and fire appear in the ventilation system – it is not safe to inhale such air. During a flood, a large volume of water can pass through the air ducts, which will later lead to the appearance of mold, which must be removed and the entire ventilation system disinfected.
Errors in ventilation cleaning and their consequences
- The main mistake is not to carry out systematic cleaning of ventilation systems. It is with the help of ventilation that the main amount of microbes and dust enters the room.
- Independent cleaning without the involvement of professionals. Without additional devices and devices, a person can clean the beginning of the air duct and the fan or hood, and the main dirt that is inside remains in place and enters the rooms.
- Late cleaning or complete replacement of filters. Since the filters collect significant pollution, over time they cannot even pass air, which reduces the productivity of the entire ventilation system. If the air filter breaks, then all the dirt freely penetrates into the room.
- Cleaning ventilation without disinfecting it. With such “cleaning”, all microbes will remain in place and will be able to spread with the air throughout the room, and over time cause harm to the health and well-being of the residents of apartments and houses.
- Calling an inexperienced specialist for cleaning ventilation systems. The desire to save money on scheduled cleaning and disinfection of vent channels can lead not only to their breakdown, but also to the use of cheap chemicals that will not remove the fungus, but will cause allergies in residents. A true professional knows the places of the greatest accumulation of pollution and due to certain skills will be able to see and remove everything.
