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So you’ve spent good money to have an air duct cleaning service come in and get rid of the buildup. What now? Unless you want to call them back out to your house on a regular basis, you’ll need to adopt some new practices that can keep your airway passages as free from contaminants as possible. Getting on a simple preventative maintenance routine will prevent your system from getting clogged with dirt and will allow you to get the maximum amount of efficiency out of your central heating and cooling system. Here’s how you can get started.

Your filter makes all the difference when it comes to air duct cleaning and keeping dirt from invading your air conditioning system. Shell out a few more dollars and get a really good filter for best results. If you get a disposable variety, make sure you change it at least once every two months. Once every month won’t hurt. If you get the reusable kind, take it out and give it a good cleaning on a regular basis. If you’ve noticed that your filters are getting really clogged in those time intervals, you may wish to move to a tighter schedule. Also, look around and see what kinds of house cleaning practices you can improve upon.

When you install your filters, don’t do it in a haphazard manner. Take your time and make sure there are no gaps on the sides of the filter, possibly allowing air and dirt to get in through the gaps, thus not being filtered. This is particularly important, as not all filters will fit like a glove into your system. Take the extra couple of minutes to make sure that it is fitting well and no air is getting in through the sides. If you’ve purchased the wrong size, measure carefully and go back and get the correct size for your system.

If you are having any kind of construction or remodeling done in your home that will create a great deal of dust, it might be a good idea to shut down your AC system during that time. If it isn’t too much of a hassle, you may even want to consider sealing off the intake so that dust has no way of getting into the system. Obviously this isn’t practical if it is the summer and the construction work is lasting over a period of days, but do everything you can to prevent sawdust and other particles from clogging up your system.