If you think that air duct cleaning is just a “would be nice to do someday” sort of home service, think again. Indoor air quality impacts every single building you step foot into every day. And air quality is something that we all experience differently depending on our age and health status. Think about the air quality at your kids’ daycare or school, or the assisted living facility your parents live in.
In the DC metro area, from Baltimore to Northern Virginia, we have plenty of days each year that have air quality warnings due to heat and pollution in the air. The groups of people who are most at risk are usually the very young and older adults. It only makes sense, then that the air from the outside is the same air that you will be breathing inside. Having Dapper Ducts or another NADCA (National Air Duct Cleaners Association) certified company perform air duct cleaning, so that all of your ducts, vents and the component parts of your HVAC or air handler unit are free from debris and dust is a big step toward improving the air quality of your home, office, and school. Call or email Dapper Ducts today for a quote!
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Most of us aren’t the mechanical type. Hence why it is necessary and appropriate to call a professional when your refrigerator, dryer or HVAC stops working properly.
So without getting too technical, we at Dapper Ducts thought it might be helpful to explain an important component of your HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system – the evaporator coil. A clean coil is essential to the proper functioning of your air conditioner. Why? Who cares? What’s a coil? The coil is in the part of the HVAC system where the refrigerant absorbs heat and produces cold air. The evaporator coil needs to be kept clean in order to function properly and allow your system to work efficiently. Any gunk – dust, dirt or debris – that is building up on the coil will reduce flow and efficiency and cause more strain on your system. Any air duct cleaning company that is certified by NADCA and follows the ACR standard for assessment, cleaning and restoration will include cleaning as part of their service. If the company tries to charge extra or offer this as an ‘a la carte’ service, they are not following the NADCA standard. So there you have it. Not going to go into too many boring technical details that will <yawn> put you to sleep. Dapper Ducts always cleans the coil as part of our standard air duct cleaning service. Call today to schedule your service and receive 10% off. In the Maryland, DC and Northern Virginia area, we are all very thankful for the signs of Spring after a cold winter. With trees, bushes and flowers blooming and pollen counts starting to rise, you may start to feel a tickle in your nose and throat to signal seasonal allergies are on the way.
With all the plants and bushes coming back to life, it’s a good time to have your air ducts cleaned. We often open our windows during the Spring to let in some fresh air after being cooped up all winter. This is healthy in many ways but also allows pollen, dust, dirt and other debris into our homes. These allergens make their way into our air handling systems when we turn on the heat or air condition and are then circulated throughout our homes over and over again. Cleaning or replacing the air filter in your HVAC system monthly is always a good idea. However, this will not remove the contaminants that are throughout your duct work. This is why you need to hire a NADCA certified air duct cleaning company like Dapper Ducts. This is also a reminder that Summer will be here soon when we want our HVAC systems working as efficiently as possible. Call Dapper Ducts to get an air duct cleaning quote so that you can breathe easily. Well, it’s truly the dead of winter for us in the DC, Maryland and Virginia triangle. These are the days where just dragging yourself out of bed each morning in the dark feels like an accomplishment, let alone getting bundled up to go scrape off your car and make your way to the office.
We can commiserate on that for a few hours or we can chat about ways to save money and not make your HVAC system work constantly just to keep your home at a livable temperature. Speaking of, what is a livable temperature? According to the Department of Energy, it’s advisable to set your thermostat at 68 degrees when you are home and 55 degrees when you are gone for the day. In our humble opinion, that’s insane. There was a time in my life where I was pretty broke living with three roommates and to save money we kept the house at 65 degrees. We literally wore hats and gloves while ‘relaxing’ in front of the TV at night (and you know there is nothing relaxing when your teeth are chattering and your body is shivering). More realistic is probably 69-70 degrees while you’re home and maybe 64-66 degrees while you are out for the day. The take away message here is: Get a programmable thermostat so your system isn’t trying to maintain the same temperature all day. That’s just wasteful. According to the Washington Post, many of us don’t even have a programmable thermostat and those of us who do aren’t using them correctly. Other than using your system settings more efficiently, Dapper Ducts would recommend a couple other options for reducing your energy costs and helping your HVAC system work less.
Feel free to call us anytime with your heating, cooling or indoor air quality questions. Our goal is education, not just booking the job. We want you to breather easier. If you have microbial growth in your home, it is probably a result of water or moisture. While this water or moisture can show up anywhere, it is most likely to be seen in attics, crawl spaces, the insides of walls, or in basements. Places that are dark and wet are mold breeding grounds. Sometimes, an excess of humidity or condensation in your home can also grow mold spores and turn into mold. This is very possible in our humid Mid-Atlantic climate in the metro DC area.
If you have a small patch of mold in your shower, that is something that you can take care of on your own, using a mild bathroom cleaning detergent. Keep in mind, however, that according to the EPA, chlorine bleach is not an approved chemical to remove mold from a residence or building. If you identify that mold in your home has spread well beyond your bathtub or a small, isolated area then it is likely that you would need to hire a mold remediation professional. Some air duct cleaning professionals are also trained and certified in mold remediation; Dapper Ducts is certified in mold remediation. Some mold is non toxic while other mold is toxic. This is the main reason why you need a professional cleaner who is licensed in mold remediation. If you try and remove the mold on your own, there is a chance that you could release the mold spores into the air and contaminate the rest of the house. This can cause serious problems for anyone with allergies or respiratory issues as well as those who are in good health. We often get questions from customers who see mold on an air vent asking if they can clean it themselves. For the reasons discussed above, that is not a good idea. Call Dapper Ducts today if you suspect microbial growth in your heating and ventilation system. |
AuthorThe Dapper Ducts team wants you to know all about indoor air quality. Archives
October 2019
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