Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is Essential for a Lot of Factors

Indoor air quality is a vitally important element of creating and maintaining healthy facilities.  IAQ and how your heating and air conditioning equipment impacts it, ought to be a common concern considering that the typical American usually spends a lot of their time inside their home, workplace, or other indoor structure.

Ventilation:  The process of furnishing and extracting air by natural or mechanical means both to and from any area. Ventilation Rate – The rate at which outside air penetrates a home displacing interior air. Venting offers an efficient method for diluting the concentration of all indoor air contaminants.

Environmental advantages: Cleaning products consist of numerous ingredients which generate damaging ecological consequences. Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS), or contact with second hand smoke, is believed to result in an additional 53,000 fatalities in the USA, mainly as a result of cancer of the lung and heart related problems. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) holds its IAQ TfS (Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools) National Symposium in Wash, DC each year, as a means of pulling together previous, current and upcoming leaders in safeguarding and bettering IAQ within our country’s educational institutions.

Pollutants within our homes, which used to escape through cracks around doors and windows, have become trapped inside creating an indoor atmosphere that may be from Two to five times more contaminated than outdoor air. Unfortunately, this is an adverse effect of better insulated homes and buildings which inhibit airflow. Therefore, the air you breathe at home is oftentimes full of pollutants like plant pollen, airborne debris, pet dander and hair, dust mites, cigarette smoke, along with other toxic irritants. A third to one half of all building structures have damp conditions which may promote growth of pollutants such as molds and bacteria, which may result in allergic reactions including asthma and may also spread transmittable diseases.

Mildew, also known as mold or fungi, is an organic material which comes in a range of species and colors and is generally identified by its musty scent. Mold is usually a normal part of our environment and we can’t avoid it entirely. Mold spores travel with wind current and so are deposited on all outdoor and indoor surface types. Mildew and mold also give rise to an inadequate quality of air, and so they too can be managed by improved venting. Mold-related allergies, as well as asthma and upper the respiratory system ailments frequently occur when too many of the lifeless (non-viable) mold spores are suspended in the indoor air.

Indoor air quality can be administered via passive monitors. Indoor air quality for fine air particulate pollution was tested for 10 locations inside 5 casinos in the Kansas City area from June 10 and October 3, 2010 and the data will be available soon. Methods to improve IAQ should be taken including replacement of heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) filters and routine duct cleaning. If you live in the Bloomington, Burnsville, Apple Valley or Eagan area of the twin cities, you may want to give us Duct Cleaning Twin Cities a call at 612-412-1867. Duct Cleaning Twin cities serves the entire Minneapolis, MN are providing the afore mentioned services as well as dryer vent cleaning, furnace cleaning and more.

Importance of cleaning your air ducts after home improvement

Have you ever thought…”I’m tired from all the improvement i just made to my house, why waste precious time and energy cleaning something like air ducts…?”
Ok, that thought may seem slightly exaggerated, but sadly enough, most homeowners either do not understand the importance of clean air ducts or they simply forget to have it done, which can be especially hazardous after a home improvement project.

Having dust particles float around in your air ducts can cause damage to your system, while keeping your air ducts clean can help extend the life of your system for years. When the ducts are covered with built up dust and debris the system needs to use more power in order to force the air through. This can result in needing to prematurely replace your system due to poor maintenance, which is not something that homeowners want to hear! . Also The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that removing as little as 0.4 inches of dust from cooling system coils will reduce your energy consumption up to 21 percent,putting more money in your pocket.

Along with the money you will save on your energy bill, cleaning  your air ducts after home improvement  also helps keep you and your family healthier. This is because if any moisture gets into your system, it could easily lead to the build up of mold. Even if there is no mold, your ducts could contain dirt, dust, pollen, animal dander, or really nasty things like insect remains or rodent droppings. Also,  If people in your home have breathing problems such as asthma or allergies, all those things hanging out in your air ducts  will only worsen things, and may increase the likely hood of you contracting an air-born illness.

This is just one of those unavoidable situations  you will have to deal with as a homeowner. You could take the ‘purist’ route and cut back on your home improvements, get rid of sparky or any other animals, stop smoking (at least inside the house), and purchase the high-end air filters to improve the quality of air in your home. Although, Home Improvement & Duct Cleaningsimply making sure your air ducts are cleaned out every now and then is just one great way to improve the air quality. Also, air filters still allow tiny dust particles through and are not a truly reliable way to keep your air clean.   The good news is that home maintenance is like a car, when taken care of properly it can produce many benefits and last a very, very long time.

To wrap it up, let’s review why regular air duct cleaning really is worth your time and energy

  • It produces a much finer quality of air
  • Extends the life of your system
  • Prevents illness
  • Recommended by most doctors
  • Kills pathogens
  • Great way to truly rid your house of any dust or debris after that great home improvement project,it really isn’t finished until you finish cleaning up right?
  • Makes dusting and cleaning in the future easier since your system can work more efficiently to help you

plus

  • cleaner smell in your house
  • you’ll impress your neighbors with how well you take care of your home
  • best of all, you can keep sparky around!

This post brought to you by our friends at: Maryland home improvement

Will Duct Cleaning Help My Allergies?

People oftentimes ask us if duct cleaning will help their allergy problems. Our answer is always the same, ‘It can’t hurt!’. The truth of the matter is, when done correctly, it shouldn’t irritate your allergies. Will it help? Our customers and leading allergists say ‘yes’, air duct cleaning does help. So why don’t we come out and say, “Duct cleaning will help your allergies.”? Well, because an outdated, 10 year old EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) report says duct cleaning won’t help.

Duct Cleaning Techniques Have Greatly Improved

Way back in 1997 the EPA did a study that down played the importance of duct cleaning. Many feel this was due in large part to the “air duct cleaning scams” that were being reported all across the Minneapolis area as well as the entire US. While the report was very thorough, duct cleaning techniques and equipment has changed. “Duct cleaners” were running around in station wagons and mini-vans with a shopvac, calling themselves “Indoor Air Quality Professionals.

Allergists Agree, Duct Cleaning Helps

Allergy sufferers don’t need to travel very far to learn the benefits of air duct cleaning. A short visit with their local allergy clinic and they discover that duct cleaning ranks high on the list of allergy cleaning or allergy proofing a house. They will also learn the importance of things like; like mattress cleaning, freezing pillows, allergy bedding, etc), Most people who suffer from allergies know there is no cure-all which will relieve all their symptoms. They understand that air duct cleaning is just one part of the allergy cleaning process.

Is Duct Cleaning Right in Your Situation?

According to your furnace manufacturer (yes, Trane, Bryant, Amana, Carrier, Lennox… yes, everyone of them!), your furnace should be cleaned and inspected yearly. If the manufacturers all recommend annual cleaning, it stands to reason that your ductwork, which supplies un-filtered air to the furnace and heated or cooled air to your home, should be cleaned too. Most homeowners understand the benefits of duct cleaning, even if purely from a “heating and air conditioning maintenance” standpoint. For about $200 or less, a qualified Twin Cities air duct cleaning company will thoroughly clean all your air duct work and will inspect your furnace and air conditioner for no additional charge! So, if you are troubled by allergies, what do you have to lose? Schedule to have your air ducts cleaned today. Who knows, your allergy problems just might improve! DuctCleaningTwinCities.com, 40 South 7th Street, Suite 212-144D, Minneapolis, MN 55402 (612) 412-1867