With homeownership comes a lot of maintenance.  There are so many things to take care of and remember, it is easy to lose track of things like air ducts and vents.  Many times, home owners cannot even remember the last time they cleaned their air ducts.  But, just because it may be easily forgotten, does not mean it is not important.  Additionally, if you have recently renovated your home, you will have increased incentive to clean your air ducts as the dust and debris can get caught in the air ducts and is then in the air that you breathe in your home.  The air quality that you and your family breathe each day is incredibly important and should be given priority.  You can use your vacuum with hose attachment to clean out your air ducts yourself or you can hire a professional air duct cleaner to handle the job.
Homeadvisor.com offers a good description of how professional air duct cleaning should work, "There are two ways of duct and vent cleaning. One system is connected into the ducting to provide suction. A high-pressure air hose is passed through the ducting to remove the particles from the interior. The other system uses a large specialized vacuum attached to a hose and a brushing system that is run through the ducting. Both systems are effective when operated by properly trained personnel.  A proper cleaning should include the following: cleaning of all registers, inside the ducting, and the interior of the heating and ventilating system.  The furnace fan must be cleaned, and if you have air conditioning or a heat pump, the coils inside the system must also be thoroughly cleaned. Finally, a disinfectant can be fogged through the cleaned system to eliminate any mold, bacteria, and dust mites that might remain.  Proper cleaning of a home should take a minimum of three to five hours, depending on the size of the house. If the home has more than one heating and cooling system, or the system is located on the roof, it can take longer. Most duct cleaning companies base their price upon square footage and/or the number of registers, systems, and levels to be cleaned and charge between $90 and $125 per hour to properly clean a duct system."
Air ducts have a direct effect on respiratory health and allergies as it helps control the quality of air that is circulated in your home.  For your HVAC to run efficiently it is incredibly important that you have a clean system.  Energy efficiency will help save costs on utilities each month.  It is important to maintain your air ducts so that your home's air will be safe and of ideal quality to breathe and to keep your HVAC system running efficiently.