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Improving Your Indoor Air Quality
By Having Your Ducts Cleaned
People want to know the facts about Indoor Air
Quality (IAQ) and if duct cleaning will improve the
quality of the air we breath. The facts below should help you
understand that while air vent cleaning is not a "cure-all," it is an
important step in improving IAQ. Duct cleaners across the USA agree
that cleaning ducts helps to significantly reduce the source of contaminants and various pollutants which may trigger
reactions in your health.
Heating and air conditioning ducts are dark, damp and rich in
"nutrients" which in turn makes for a breeding ground for mold, fungi and
dust mites. These allergens can spread rapidly since the ducts
are used to spread air around the house. You can also prevent these
allergens from spreading by improving your ventilation and changing
your filters regularly. Mold and fungi can cause
disease, infections and most commonly trigger allergic reactions.
Duct cleaning alone won't solve the problems of Asthma and allergies
in your home of course, but it does play a significant role in the
prevention of these things. By cleaning your HVAC system you will
remove allergens like dust and mold from the duct work as well as
residue from cigarette smoke. There is no EPA-recommended timeline
for how often you should clean your ducts, but most furnace
manufacturers say that the furnace itself should be cleaned once a
year.
If your furnace needs to be cleaned annually, why not get your air
ducts cleaned at the same time?
Here are some interesting facts to consider:
INDOOR AIR QUALITY FACTS
- Indoor air pollution is ranked among the top 5 environmental
dangers to the public. (EPA)
- Studies have shown that two out of three indoor air quality
problems involve the HVAC/Duct System.
- Children and the elderly are especially affected by polluted
indoor air. (Department of Consumer Affairs)
- Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in indoor air can be 2 to 5
times greater than in outdoor air. (EPA)
- 20% of all illnesses are either caused by, or aggravated by,
polluted indoor air. (American College of Allergists)
- The levels of some hazardous pollutants in indoor air has been
found to be up to 70 times greater than in outdoor air.
(USEPA)
- Most people spend 60% to 90% of their time indoors. (American Lung
Association & EPA)
FACTS ABOUT ALLERGIES
- More than 50 million Americans suffer from allergies.
- One out of six people who suffer from allergies do so because of
the direct relationship to fungi and bacteria in air duct systems.
(Total Health and Better Health Magazines)
ASTHMA FACTS
- 10-12 million Americans suffer from Asthma. (American College of
Allergists)
- Over 7.6 million children (5-17 years) and over 12.7 million young
adults (18-44 years) suffer from asthma. (National Center for Health
Statistics)
FACTS ABOUT DUST MITES
- Each person can shed up to 700,000 skin scales per day creating an
abundant food source for dust mites.
- About 40,000 dust mites can "thrive" in only one ounce of dust
- Approximately 10 to 15 percent of the population suffers from an
allergy related to dust mites.
HEATING AND COOLING FACTS
- Airflow problems can reduce your system's efficiency by up to 15
percent. (energystar.gov)
- A buildup of .042 inches of dirt on a heating or cooling coil can
result in a decrease in efficiency of 21%. (EPA)
- Most commercially available fiberglass furnace filters are less
than 7% efficient. (ASHRAE)
- Dirty coils reduce the system's ability to cool your home and
cause the system to run longer, increasing energy costs and reducing
the life of the equipment. (energystar.gov)
- Too much or too little refrigerant will make your system less
efficient increasing energy costs and reducing the life of the
equipment. (energystar.gov)
- 9 out of 10 system failures are caused by dirt and dust.
- In 1998, clothes dryers were associated with 15,600 fires, which
resulted in 20 deaths and 370 injuries. (Consumer Product Safety
Commission)
CLOTHES DRYER SAFETY
- A full load of wet clothes placed in a dryer contains about one
half gallon of water. As water is removed, lint is created from the
clothes. (UL - Underwriters Laboratories)
- Lack of maintenance is a contributing factor of clothes dryer
fires. People aren't cleaning lint traps as often as they should nor
are they checking and cleaning vent systems on a periodic basis.
(UL)
- The U.S. Fire Administration's most recent study reports
residential clothes dryer fires were associated with 12,700 fires
nationally, resulting in 15 deaths and 300 injuries annually.
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