If you have hardwood floors, you most likely have dust bunnies hopping all over the floor. If you have moved from a wall-to-wall carpeted home, you might think you are in the Dust Bowl. While it is a common occurrence to have several dust bunnies scampering across a wood floor, this doesn't have to be the case. Duct cleaning is an easy and painless process that offers your home quite a bit in return.

Dusty Wood Floors
Carpet grabs most of the dust that escapes daily through your vents, but if you have wood floors there is nothing to effectively make the dust disappear. Duct cleaning will seriously reduce if not altogether remove the dust problem in your home regardless of what type of flooring you have. Air duct cleaning has other benefits as well, but I will explain a little about the process before getting to those.

Cleaning Air Ducts
This process is very easy for the homeowner. All you need is ductwork. An air duct cleaner will arrive and hook his machine to your vents. This machine is basically a super-vacuum, and no matter what is lurking in your vents, whether it is dust, mold, hair, or toys this vacuum will remove it from your air ducts. You should talk with your air duct cleaner about any stories of what he has pulled from vents. It will amaze you.

There is no best time to have the ducts cleaned, but there are definitely times of the year when you are using your heating and air unit more often than others. Winter and summer are the times when your ducts will be blowing the most air, so it might make sense to have your air ducts cleaned right before the heat moves in or the first frost. However, it really makes little difference exactly when you have it done. If it has been a while (or in some cases, has never been done), it needs to be done immediately. If you have been good about having them routinely cleaned, October-November and April-May are typically the times when you can save 10% or so on off-season discounts.

Home Air Quality
Homeowners often think about the quality of their water—buying water filters and bottled water—but they rarely think about the air quality in their homes. Many come home worried about the smog in their home city, but don't consider that there could be even more danger lurking in the air inside their homes.

Dust mites, allergens, mold spores, and any number of child asthma inducing airborne elements are waiting to ride out of your air ducts and into the lungs of anyone in your home. Click this link if you want to read more about home air quality.