air duct cleaning facts

How do you clean the HVAC system duct work? With Specialty Heating and Cooling our duct cleaning service is top notch.  Once you schedule an appointment for air duct cleaning, we will likely be there 4-6 hours working on the ducts making sure they are thoroughly clean.  We use powered HEPA filtration machines – a 2000 CFM Free Air machine with dual motor and HEPA level filtration, with brushes that will ensure that no damage is done to the duct work. If you have flexible duct work, we will use nylon brushes. If you have steel ductwork, we have steel brushes that will clean the ducts perfectly. How long might duct cleaning service take? The typical duct cleaning service will only take about half a day. However, the time involved may vary depending on the number of registers and return vents needing to be serviced. How much would duct cleaning service cost? The cost depends on how many supply registers (either in your floor and/or your ceiling) and return air registers you have in your home.
You can count these and call our office for a firm quote. Why would I consider duct cleaning service? Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning duct systems have been shown to act as a collection source for a variety of contaminants that have the potential to affect health. Contaminants such as mold, fungi, bacteria, and very small particles of dust and dust mites – just to name a few. best way to clean venetian blinds at homeHaving duct cleaning service will ensure the harmful contaminants are kept out!laptop cooling fan for dell How often should I have the Duct cleaning service?dryer vent cleaning business cards Frequency of duct cleaning service depends on several factors, not the least of which is the preference of the home owner. best cordless vacuum cleaner upright
Some of the things that may lead a home owner to consider more frequent duct cleaning service include: Fact: One out of six people who suffer from allergies do so because of the direct relationship of the fungi and bacteria in the air duct systems. – Total Health & Better Health Magazinebest vacuum cleaner bangalore Fact: Indoor air is found to be 70% more polluted than that of outdoor air. cost of cleaning mold from air ducts– EPA Environmental Protection Agency Fact: People are spending 60-90% more time indoors. – American Lung Association Fact: 9 out of 10 breaths we draw are likely drawn indoors. The average person breathes in 50,000 pollution particles a day, and takes 20,000 breaths a day. – Dirty Facts by Five Seasons, the Air Recycling Company Fact: It is estimated that poor air quality directly results, on an annual basis, to $1 Billion in medical costs and $60 Billion in employee sick leave and lost production.
Fact: Dirty ventilation systems and contaminated duct work combined are a 50.9% contributor to sick building syndrome. – Healthy Buildings International Fact: Children are more susceptible to indoor air pollution as their small bodies and undeveloped immune systems are less able to effectively cope. Also children’s lungs are still developing. They breathe faster than adults and tend to absorb pollutants more readily. Duct cleaning service will help. Consideration should be given to adding a good air filtration system to your existing HVAC system.Improved air quality begins with the lungs of your home. Your air ducts are that hidden room in your house, and the air you breathe may be passing through dirt, dust, and debris. Whether you suffer from sinus and allergy problems, have a new baby in the home, notice a lot of dust, or simply want to breathe cleaner air, calling DuctMedic is a first step to healthier living and a cleaner home. Indoor Air Quality & Duct Cleaning
When we think of pollution, we often think of smoking factories and hazy outdoor air. However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that levels of some hazardous pollutants in indoor air are as high as 70 times greater than in outdoor air. We are discovering that indoor air pollution causes allergies, asthma and even more serious illnesses. An entire industry has developed to address these issues. It’s called the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) industry, and the backbone of the industry is air duct cleaning. The best companies also provide dryer vent cleaning as an added service that keeps homes safe from fire and fumes. As the IAQ industry grows rapidly, DuctMedic continues to lead the pack, providing you with the most innovative and effective techniques available for cleaning your ducts.  In fact, DuctMedic has created its own proprietary 82-Step Cleaning Process, which assures that your ducts aren’t just “less dirty” than before, but “DuctMedic Clean”. 
Schedule your duct cleaning today. Not all Duct Cleanings are created equal Download our free consumer guide: Choosing an Air Duct Cleaner: 21 questions you should ask. Breathe Cleaner Air and Save on Energy Costs The EPA says indoor air can contain 70 times the pollutants of outdoor air, often because of dirty air ducts. We’re the experts in air quality, dedicated to ensuring your family is breathing cleaner air. You’ll save money too with your HVAC systems running at peak efficiency. Keep Your Family Safe More than 15,500 dryer-related fires occur annually, often due to blocked dryer ducts. Are you prepared to protect your home or business? DuctMedic uses state-of-the art products and processes to do just that. Learn how we can help prevent fire in your home.Typical duct systems lose up to 40% of your heating or cooling energy.Leaky ducts make your HVAC work much harder—ducts leaking just 20% of the conditioned air passing through them cause your system to work 50% harder.
Leaks in your duct system = higher utility bills.Duct leakage can result in mold problems and potential health and safety issues.Sealing leaky ducts can save you in excess of $300/year. Duct system—Collection of tubes that distributes heated or cooled air to different rooms in a dwelling.HVAC—Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning.Supply—Delivers conditioned air to a dwelling through individual room registers (i.e., vents).Supply Registers—Vent-like units in walls, floors, or ceilings where conditioned air blows.Return/Return Register or Grille—Picks up inside air for reconditioning, drawing the air through a changeable filter to the air handler of the central system.Air handler—The indoor unit that moves the air through the heating/cooling system.Cooling load—The amount of energy needed to maintain comfort levels in conditioned air.Duct tape—Fabric based tape with a rubber adhesive used in many households for temporary fixes, but has been proven to become brittle and disintegrate over time.
Aluminum/foil tape—Specialty tape with an acrylic-based adhesive that performs consistently under extreme temperatures.Mastic—A thick paste that provides a permanent seal at air-duct joints and connections; sometimes used in conjunction with a fiberglass mesh tape. The duct, or air distribution, system used in cooling and heating your home is a collection of tubes that distributes the heated or cooled air to the different rooms. This branching network of round or rectangular tubes—usually constructed of sheet metal, fiberglass board, or a flexible plastic-and-wire composite—is found within your home. The duct system is designed to supply rooms with air that is “conditioned"—that is, heated or cooled by the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment—and to circulate or return the same volume of air back to the HVAC equipment.Typical air-duct systems lose 25 to 40% of the heating or cooling energy put out by the cooling and heating system. Leaks, one way in which conditioned air is lost in the duct system, make the HVAC system work harder, thus increasing your utility bill.
In addition, duct leakage can lessen comfort and endanger your health and safety.Your duct system has two main air-transfer systems—supply and return. The supply side delivers the conditioned air to the home through individual room registers—what you feel blowing out of the registers. The return side withdraws inside air and delivers it to the air handler of your central system. All of the air drawn into the return duct(s) is conditioned and should be delivered back through the supply registers.Figure 1 shows common areas where there are problems with the ducts and vents. Because most ductwork is located in non-conditioned space such as attics, basements, garages, or crawl spaces, the HVAC system becomes an open system instead of a closed one. Leaking supply ducts can lose large amounts of cooled/heated air to these unconditioned areas. Leaking return ducts suck hot/cold unconditioned air into the conditioned space. Duct leakage significantly increases cooling and heating loads, sometimes beyond what the HVAC system can sustain.
The increased energy cost—because the HVAC system has to work harder—is not the only effect of leaking ducts. Indoor humidity can increase when unconditioned air is introduced, leading to mold and mildew problems. If the air-handler unit is located in the garage and improperly sealed, return or supply leaks can introduce poor-quality outdoor air or hazardous vapors from the garage (from cleaning supplies, pesticides, gasoline, paints, car exhaust, etc.) into the home. Homes are not static systems, and conditions change as homes age. Tape adhesive dries out and caulking erodes. Many systems have supply registers in each room but only one centrally located return register for the whole home. When we close interior doors for privacy, air in that particular room can not flow out to a return register unless there is one located in that same room—but the supply register is still bringing in conditioned air. The delivered air has to go somewhere, so air gets forced out any space available.
Meanwhile, enough air is not entering the return duct, so unconditioned air from the attic, basement, garage, or crawl space gets sucked in through leaking spots, cracks, or crevices. This situation can be avoided by having supply and return ducts in each room, or by providing an air pathway between the room and the main body of the home. Such a pathway can be created by adding vents in doors or walls, or by installing a jumper duct or transfer vent that connects vents in the ceiling of each space. Also, keep furniture clear of air registers and return air vents. Anything that interferes with air circulation will make the system less efficient and potentially lead to problems. Major leaks can be found around joints at ductwork connections, around the air handler unit, and near vents. Look for holes, tears, and loose joints. Every unsealed joint is likely a small leak—even if a gap is not visible. Make sure registers and vents are firmly attached. If your home has a mechanical closet, it should also be properly sealed to prevent negative return-side air leakage.
The return chamber should be kept free of debris. Ductwork should be inspected once a year for leaks. Some utility companies and energy raters offer energy audits or diagnostic tools like blower-door, duct-blaster, and pressure-pan tests to detect leaks the homeowner can not easily see. The relationship between supply and return ducts and air movement in the system is complex, and sometimes a homeowner, in fixing one problem, may inadvertently create another. Professionals can sometimes spot such potential problems before they happen. It is best to have a licensed HVAC contractor repair your system's duct leaks. Return duct leaks are difficult to detect because the larger return ducts operate at a lower air pressure, and air is being drawn into the system. And if you only repair the supply duct leaks, even more unconditioned air may be drawn into the system. Supply-duct leaks are more easily noticed because you can feel air blowing out from the connections or see nearby insulation moving.
Duct leaks can be sealed using mastic or acrylic-adhesive foil tape. Mastic adheres well to most surfaces and provides an effective long-term seal. Mastic alone may be used to seal cracks less than ¼" wide. Foil tape carries a 20-year guarantee if applied properly.Any sealant should carry the Underwriters Laboratories rating (UL-181) specific for that particular type of duct. Most duct manufacturers now list the closure products that they allow to be used with their ducts.If you see the contractor bringing in duct tape, make certain they do not intend to use it on ducts. If they do, then hire someone else. In the past, many systems were sealed with a gray, rubber-adhesive, cloth duct tape. This tape will eventually disintegrate due to its short-lived rubber-based glue. If you see this kind of tape in an existing home, be sure to check all areas where it is attached to the ductwork. If your contractor insists on using duct tape on the ductwork, use a different contractor. In new residential construction, the best option is to locate the duct system within the conditioned space.
Doing so can reduce your heating and cooling costs and improve your indoor air quality. When all the ducts are located within the building envelope, even if return leaks do occur, the air infiltrating the system is already conditioned. Supply leaks can still be a problem in that you won't get even distribution of conditioned air throughout the home. Therefore, proper sealing of ductwork is still very important—even when the duct system is located within the conditioned space. Note that the Florida Building Code, among other things, requires all duct distribution systems be sized and designed in accordance with recognized engineering standards such as ACCA Manual D or other standards. Location is important because ducts placed in unconditioned attics, basements, garages, or crawl spaces waste energy if improperly insulated—another major cause of energy loss. Additionally, most homes have leaks in both the return and supply sides of the duct system. Locating ductwork in conditioned spaces decreases the temperature difference if leaks do occur.