SmartVent maintenance tips.

Spring cleaning is almost over but there's one more place in your home that you might've forgotten to dust off. Your home ventilation system. 

Your system does a great job throughout the year of keeping you air fresh and filtered but every so often it needs some attention of its own. Maintaining your system will keep it running effectively all year round, so you can breathe easily in a fresh and healthy home.

Check your filters. 

If you have a fresh air ventilation system in your home, it’s worth checking the filter. Not changing your filter frequently enough can cause poor system performance due to resistance build up. It's kind of like driving your car with a flat tyre - drive it to far and you could cause damage. Put the wrong tyre on and the performance and longevity are affected. 

Standard filters are best changed every 12 months, and your ventilation system probably has a reminder set for you to do this. In some parts of the country or city you may find you need to change a filter more often (particularly if you're on a busy street or near an industrial area).  

There are specialist filter options as well that need changing more frequently. In homes where occupants have specific or severe allergies a HEPA filter might be used. Because these filters are finer they get full faster, needing to be replaced every 6 months or so. In a similar vein, carbon filters use activated carbon to remove odours from the air, which typically runs out after about 6 months of use. 

Filters are typically located in your roof space. You can change it DIY, but if you aren't comfortable getting up there yourself a SmartVent Accredited Installer will be happy to help. 

For more information, check out our blog post on filters here. 

Give your diffusers a dust. 

But it's not just filters that can benefit from maintenance. Sometimes a dark ring can gather round a diffuser. This is simply dust which is stuck to your roof by static electricity from the airflow of your system. 

All you need to do when this happens is give the diffuser and ring a light dust. Just remember to not use anything damp or wet to clean these as it can cause staining. The soft crevice head on your vacuum cleaner or a feather duster will do the trick. 

If you notice dust gathering quite frequently, you can open the diffuser a couple millimetres more. This may resolve it as the wider diffuser reduces the air velocity, and the amount of static electricity generated.  

Just be careful with this fix, as your system has been deliberately balanced to help ensure air moves throughout all of your home. Opening (or closing) the vents too far can affect how much air goes to each room, and you may need to hire someone to rebalance your system. 

Check your outdoor intake. 

Lastly, if you have a system that can draw on outdoor air, it's also beneficial to check your air intake as this can occasionally get slowly clogged over time. Next time you're looking round outside your home take a peek at you air intake.  

If you air intake is clogged, your system won’t be able to bring as much air indoors, and won’t be able to effectively ventilate your home. Don't just inspect your SmartVent air intake too! Any fans (like your kitchen and bathroom extraction fans) with clogged ducting won't operate as effectively!

Need some help with system maintenance?

If you need any extra help maintaining your system, or need a hand with a filter change, our team can help. Please get in touch with us here.