Causes of Air Duct Contamination

Air duct contamination is caused by human activity, pets, and some unavoidable factors.

Effects on Your Health

Have you ever heard of sick building syndrome? It happens when a building’s air ducts have not been cleaned for a long time, causing allergens to build up inside the pipes and spread throughout the building. Breathing this contaminated air may not cause allergies in some people, but in the long run it can cause other severe respiratory illnesses. The consequences of inhaling contaminated air can be as follows.

Constant Fatigue and Drowsiness

Inhaling excess pollen, dust, dander, bacteria, and mold spores can trigger a constant feeling of fatigue, discomfort, and sleepiness, as your body and immune system are in a constant battle with external irritants. Headaches can also be a common sign.

Development of Respiratory Infections

Coughing, sneezing, sore throat, runny nose, nasal congestion, headaches and low-level fevers are all signs of upper respiratory infection as a result of dirty air ducts. If this is the case, you need to get it cleaned up immediately so that the problems don’t develop into lower respiratory tract infections such as bronchitis or pneumonia.

Chronic illnesses

Such illnesses include:

• asthma;
• allergies;
• chronic rhinosinusitis;
• lung failure.

Dirty air vents cause these chronic conditions to progress to a more complex form and manifest on an ongoing basis. Studies show that the health of patients suffering from chronic respiratory diseases improved if the ventilation ducts of their homes were cleaned regularly.

Increased Autoimmune Disorders

It is a well-known fact that polluted outdoor air contributes to the deterioration of health of people suffering from autoimmune disorders, so what about the polluted air in our own homes, which we breathe more often?..

How often should the air ducts be cleaned? The standard recommendation for all homeowners is once every two to three years. However, if your home has recently been renovated, your asthma or allergy symptoms have worsened dramatically, or you have animals in the house, it’s worth cleaning your air ducts more frequently, once a year.

Conclusion

Air duct cleaning is an important part of home ownership and building maintenance. If you suspect that your HVAC system is not working efficiently, we highly recommend having your ducts inspected and cleaned as soon as possible. We recommend contacting professionals rather than doing the cleaning yourself. Safe Air Duct Cleaning has all the necessary skills and tools to clean your duct system in the shortest amount of time and at the lowest possible cost.

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Use an Air Purifier

Especially if you live in a heavily polluted area, consider investing in an air purifier, whether it’s a portable air purifier or a unit in your central air conditioning and ventilation system. Regardless of which option you choose, you will need to clean and replace the filters regularly.

Choose Paints With Zero VOCs

One of the main sources of indoor air pollution is home décor and furnishings that emit waste gases. In fact, interior paints can emit gas for years, slowly releasing VOCs (volatile organic compounds) into the air. Fortunately, more and more paint companies have begun to produce alternatives with low or no VOCs, so we no longer need to turn to air-polluting paints. Look for these safer options at your local hardware store.

Dust, Mold and Other Contaminants

If you suffer from seasonal allergies, dust in your home can exacerbate your symptoms. To keep your home free of dust, simply clean frequently with a vacuum cleaner and be sure to open the windows. Fill the space with houseplants that are noted for their cleansing and refreshing properties.

Use Natural Cleaning Products

To avoid harmful fumes from harsh cleaning products, always use the mildest cleaning solution possible. For daily cleaning, natural detergents and homemade cleaning recipes should do the trick. Only touch powerful cleaners for deep cleaners or when dealing with stubborn stains, and make sure the room is well ventilated.

Check the Quality of the Insulation

To avoid polluting your home’s air with outdoor emissions, check for leaks around window and door frames, baseboards, key holes, and vents around your home. Re-insulating any cracks or crevices is an easy (and very affordable) way to make sure outside pollutants aren’t getting into your home, and to prevent drafts.

Bonus tips:

• Change bedding and towels often (preferably at least once a week).
• Take your carpets and rugs outside and knock them out, and change your vacuum cleaner filters more often.
• Always dry laundry with the window open.

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In well-known brands that produce dryers, the causes of sounds may differ, but the main causes are the same for all. The main manufacturers of drying machines:

• Samsung
• GE
• Whirpool
• Kenmore
• Maytag

How to Fix Squeaking Dryer

You can distinguish between the following types of sounds that the dryer can make during operation:

• high squeaking noise
• squeaking noise
• grinding noise
• screeching noise
• thump noise

High Squeaking Noise

• You may hear a high-frequency squeak during the first drying process. It may be caused by a pump, humidity sensor or felt strip which needs to be slightly wet before use.
• A high squeaking may also be caused by a bad bearing, bushing, winding or motor start.
• The cause may also be in the drive belt. After years of use, it may crack and cause a squeaking noise during the dryer operation. Disconnect the machine from the mains, remove the bottom access panel, check the belt and replace it if it is worn.

Squeaking Noise

The following reasons of dryer squeaking loudly are likely:

Grinding Noise

The drum support bearing wears out during operation, resulting in this noise. To correct this problem, the dryer must be disconnected from the mains, the front panel and belt removed, and then the drum must be turned manually. If this is very difficult to do and the same noise appears, it means that the bearing has to be replaced.

Screeching Noise

This type of noise is caused by worn-out drum rollers and shaft. To eliminate this noise, you should unplug the dryer, remove the front panel and rollers and check their condition. If they look worn, they should be replaced, if not, they should be cleaned and oiled. This will allow the drum to rotate easily.

Thump Noise

A torn seal drum can produce this noise. If you notice tears or black marks on your clothes after drying, it only confirms this option. The reason for the torn seal drum also lies in years of use. To solve this problem, you need to disconnect the dryer from the power supply, open the dryer housing and remove the drum. Install a new sealing strip around the drum. Install the drum after it has dried.

Conclusion

In order not to get into an unpleasant situation, in case of any extraneous noise, please contact the professionals. All works, diagnostics, repairs, replacement of damaged parts are performed in a short period of time at the client’s home. All work is covered by a guarantee. Call Safe Air Duct Cleaning if you have any questions.

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Safe ADC charges a base cost of $250.00, which includes the first ten air vents, whether they supply or return air vents, the price also includes as many “connections” as necessary to perform the work. We do not have hidden extra charges that you will not know about initially.

The cost of cleaning the air duct in Toronto may increase depending on the following factors:

• availability of additional air vents;
• cleaning of additional components;
• the size of your air vent;
• degree of contamination;
• access to the air vents.

Consider each item separately.

Additional Air Vents and Additional Components

The cleaning of each additional vent after the ten that are included in the base price of 250 dollars is an additional $7.00 each.

Air Conditioning Systems Cleaning Cost

To keep the temperature and humidity in the house at a good level, you need to clean the air conditioning systems as well. The average cost of this type of cleaning is shown below.

Furnace Cleaning Cost

To achieve maximum energy efficiency and air quality, it is also necessary to take care of the complete cleaning of the furnace components: heat exchanger, blower, drain pan, plenum.

Evaporator and Condenser Coils Cleaning Cost

This point is critical because the degree of contamination of the coils will depend on the energy efficiency of your home, their excessive contamination will lead to more intensive work of the entire system, so it is better to take care of cleaning in time so that in the future not to face a full replacement, which will cost about $800-1600. The average cost to clean the evaporator and condenser coils in Toronto is between $130 and $540.

Dryer Vent Cleaning Cost

When cleaning the air duct, care must also be taken to clean the dryer vent. The clogged ventilation opening of the dryer can lead to reduced energy efficiency and in special cases can even lead to a fire. The average cost of cleaning the dryer air vent varies between $150 and $175.

Air Vent Size

Costs of cleaning air duct systems in residential and commercial areas in Toronto are different because commercial is often larger and more extensive than the average for the home. Residential ducts can be cleaned immediately and without prior evaluation, while commercial buildings require prior inspection and evaluation to provide accurate pricing. The average cost of residential and commercial air purification is as follows:

Degree of Contamination

If the internal microclimate in the room is all right, timely inspection and cleaning of the air duct system, absence of breakages, then unpleasant surprises are unlikely to make you nervous. However, there are different situations.

The presence of mould, fungus, parasites, a large amount of construction dust and pet hair, as well as dead animals, which gradually began to decompose in your air vent, increases the final cost by $1 per square foot. This is because the elimination of these pathogens requires special equipment, in some cases, special chemicals, as well as additional time to clean up qualitatively and without consequences for the residents of the house. In some severe cases, it is necessary to attract additional specialists.

Access to Air Vents

As a rule, all air duct systems are designed and installed predictably, so specialists have no questions when working with them. But if your air duct system is custom designed and has additional components that are difficult to access, it may take additional time and equipment to clean the air duct so that the cost will increase. To find out the exact cost of cleaning the air vent in your custom-built home, you will need to invite a specialist who will conduct an inspection and be able to estimate the exact amount.

Conclusion

Costs of cleaning ducts and air vents may seem high at first glance. However, inspecting and cleaning the ducts and vents every 2-5 years increases the energy efficiency of your home, improves the microclimate and health of your family, and helps you save money in the future by repairing broken air vents. The frequency of cleaning should be increased if you have pets, small children or family members with allergies.

To keep the air in your home healthy and of good quality, it is important that your ducts are cleaned by a professional company. Safe ADC Company is a company with years of experience and hundreds of satisfied customers, quality service and professionals. Contact us by phone for advice if you have any questions or pricing.

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The air accumulates harmful microorganisms and bacteria, which contribute to the development of serious diseases, moisture and steam coming from the bathroom, cause the formation of fungus and captivity. All this negatively affects the microclimate of the room, contributes to lung diseases, allergies, and other ailments.

When Duct Cleaning is Required

To understand that the air duct needs to be cleaned, you can use the following signs:

• dust, spider webs, and garbage have accumulated near the exhaust opening;
• the ventilation grille is covered with black patina, soot, and fat;
• in summertime the apartment began to warm up very quickly;
• after wet cleaning the dust appears again after a short period of time;
• draughts, appearing in the apartment when opening the front door, became much weaker than before.

To make sure that the duct should be cleaned finally, you can additionally check each duct opening. It is quite easy to do with the help of improvised means. When checking the draught, it is necessary that at least one of the vents in the apartment is open.

Such a grating clearly indicates that the duct in the apartment practically does not work, and the exhaust opening requires urgent cleaning.

Reasons for Inefficient Ventilation

The problems of the exhaust system are familiar to the owners of apartments built in the Soviet era. Residents of new buildings are mostly deprived of the pleasure of being present at their neighbors’ meals since the new houses are equipped with modern forced duct systems.

Algorithm for Duct Cleaning and Maintenance

Work begins with checking the duct system for proper functioning and inspecting the ducts externally and internally.

• Checking the integrity of the surfaces of ducts, the stability of attachment of all system elements. Visually inspected condition, with special attention paid to places of connections and fasteners.
• Checking the condition of electrical equipment. If necessary, the inspection of electric motors, electromechanical drives to control airflow. If there are filters, depending on their technical characteristics, periodic maintenance or complete replacement is carried out.
• Removal of dust and dirt from external surfaces, cleaning of ventilation grilles.
• The units are serviced depending on the peculiarities of the equipment and its purpose. Only trained specialists with tolerances are allowed to work on the units.

For disinfection, specialized companies with equipment and experience are involved. The disinfectant compounds are fed directly into the ducts in a spray condition. During the work, respiratory protection equipment is used. At the finish stage, rooms are actively ventilated.

As a rule, the cleaning of ducts takes 2.5-4 hours. However, the time required to clean the HVAC system depends on the size of the house, the number of ventilation openings, and the degree of contamination.

Cleaning filters are most thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, and the maximum number of microorganisms accumulates in these places. In any case, cleaning is best left for professionals to avoid health problems.

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Pros and Cons of Vertical Placement

• If it is possible to install above the washing, it is better to do so. This method has several significant advantages. First of all, it saves space in the room. This is a significant factor for a standard city apartment with a small area. Usually, the bathrooms are tiny, which does not allow us to place all the equipment near the floor.
• The location above the washing machine saves time. After washing, it is enough just to take things out of the washing machine and immediately load them into the dryer. There is no need to move around the room and carry things in a basket or basin accordingly. In this case, loading things into the dryer takes only a couple of minutes.
• The main disadvantage is the need to use additional fastening structures and parts. Thus, more time is required for the installation, for the installation will have to make some effort. There may be difficulties with the connection of certain models of dryers. For example, a condensation dryer will need to be connected to a hood. The washing machine is not always located under the ventilation grille. Accordingly, additional ventilation ducts will have to be installed to connect the dryer to the extractor hood.
• The difficulty is also in the future replacement or rearrangement of furniture. Due to the dryer’s fixed position, it will not be possible to change the furniture easily. It may be necessary to dismantle and then reinstall the dryer.
• Therefore, it is important to consider all the above factors before buying and installing a dryer. It should be installed in such a way as to ensure a comfortable and safe operation and to avoid future difficulties.

Rules for Stacking Washer and Dryer

Errors or carelessness in the installation will inevitably create difficulties for you in operation. Therefore it is always better to entrust this job to an experienced specialist.

Moments That are Worth Paying Attention to

• Do not use mounts that you have doubts about.
• Never switch on 2 units at a time (even if you are sure of the quality of mounts and reliability of wiring).
• Remember: during operation, the dryer vibrates strongly, so leave a gap of two or three centimeters from the wall.
• If possible, buy home appliances from the same company. In the set, it will look as harmonious as possible, will fit perfectly in any interior, and the fixtures will fit perfectly.
• No possibility to buy units from the same manufacturer? Choose units of the same size (the overall dimensions of the bottom equipment under no circumstances should not be less than the dimensions of the drying room).
• Never place the laundry dryer underneath the washing machine, as the latter is always much heavier and vibrates much more during the washing process.

The most important rule is that the installation must be safe. Do you doubt your abilities? Trust the installation to a professional who knows all the details of this case.

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Why Do You Need a Humidifier?

In modern apartments, especially with the onset of cold weather, the indoor air is deprived of the necessary moisture.

• The dry air affects the skin, mucous membranes of the eyes, and respiratory tract.
• Low humidity causes rapid aging of the skin and may provoke a decrease in immunity, which increases the probability of viral diseases – primarily respiratory ones.
• Irritation of the nasal cavity, acute respiratory diseases, asthma, and allergies are all possible consequences of a prolonged stay in a room with low moisture content.
• Young children are the most susceptible to moisture levels. If the human body consists of 60% water on average, then the child has a higher rate. This means that young children are physiologically more sensitive to dehydration and especially suffer from dried air.

So, by optimizing the humidity in your home, you can noticeably improve the well-being of all inhabitants of the apartment, prevent several serious diseases in children. Thus, high-quality climate equipment for humidification will undoubtedly be suitable for every home. Let’s find out now what types of humidifiers offer us the manufacturers.

Humidifiers Types

Today, in electronics hypermarkets and online stores you can find several types of household humidifiers based on different principles: ultrasound, steam generation, natural humidification. Let us dwell on them in more detail.

At What Humidity Level Should the Humidifier Be Installed?

When studying the efficiency of household humidifiers, it is not superfluous to equip a separate humidity sensor. The fact that the humidity sensors built into the humidifiers themselves may be noticeably wrong in the readings. Also, they can measure only the humidity in the vicinity of the device. Simultaneously, the most indicative would be the data from a sensor located at some distance from the humidifier (e.g., at the other end of the room).

Only after receiving the measurement data from different room points can you be sure that the humidity in the apartment corresponds to the recommended 40%-60% (or even better – 50%-60%).

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