How To Clean Your Air Registers

An HVAC system needs to be serviced repeatedly over the years. Some homeowners think that this means they need to call in an HVAC professional. While most major repairs should be done by a licensed HVAC professional, there are a few maintenance job that you can do on your own. One great DIY repair is to clean your air registers. This simple task can improve the airflow in your home and result in better air quality in your home. This article will teach you how to remove and clean the air registers in your home.

Flush Your System

Before you start to clean your air registers, you can perform a simple flush of your ducts. This should help blow loose dust out of your ducts. First, go around your house and close the vents on all of your registers. Then, take one register off the wall. Get a large plastic trash bag ready. Turn your AC fan on to the highest level. Hold the bag over the opened register and let it blow for about 2 minutes. All of the loose dust in the ducts should end up your trash bag. This is helpful because you don't want this loose dust to immediately re-clog your registers after you clean them.

Remove and Clean All the Registers

After the flush, you should remove all of the air registers. This just requires the loosening of a few screws. The cleaning process depends on what type of registers you have. If you have plastic, fiberglass, aluminum or vinyl registers, you can clean them easily with hot water and dishwashing soap. However, you don't want to fully submerge wooden registers in water. Instead, wipe them down with a wet rag. Make sure you thoroughly clean out the space between each vent, since this is where most of the dust will form. Also, wipe down the rim of the duct opening while the register is removed from the wall. The gap between the drywall and the duct is a common place for dust to build up.

When all of your registers are clean, you can reattach them to the wall. Make sure all of the vents are open too. This simple project will improve the air quality in your home. It is a great project to do if you think your HVAC system is less productive than it once was.

If your system is still pumping out dusty air, it might be time to contact a company like Burks Service Company for a professional cleaning.


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