Many companies are marketing their air duct cleaning services to be a great benefit to the property owner claiming 1) Cleaner air quality 2) Lower electricity bills; but are they true?
There are many studies carried by organizations such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) that didn’t show any significant advantage to having your property air duct to be of a great benefit, and there isn’t any solid counter study to prove otherwise.
The CMHC conducted a study in the 90s to see if the claim carried by air duct cleaning companies is true, “Duct cleaning makes indoor air healthier; and it reduces energy costs by improving airflow”. The test covered 33 homes in the city of Montreal, Canada; observing changes before and after duct cleaning. The results were that there wasn’t any significant change in both the air quality and the airflow that supposedly helped in lowering energy costs. Their conclusion was similar to EPA:
“Ideally, the inside surface will be shiny and bright after cleaning. Duct cleaning may be justifiable to you personally for that very reason: you may not want to have your house air circulated through a duct passage that is not as clean as the rest of the house. However, duct cleaning will not usually change the quality of the air you breathe, nor will it significantly affect airflows or cooling costs.”
So, we shouldn’t do air duct cleaning at all? No.
Because there are instances that do actually require duct cleaning, such as the ones recommended by EPA below, an inspection is first required by a professional air conditioning team to test if the following occur:
- There is substantial visible mold growth inside hard surface (e.g., sheet metal) ducts or on other components of your heating and cooling system. There are several important points to understand concerning mold detection in heating and cooling systems:
- Many sections of your heating and cooling system may not be accessible for a visible inspection, so the service provider should show you if any mold exists.
- You should be aware that although a substance may look like mold, a positive determination of whether it is mold or not can be made only by an expert and may require laboratory analysis for final confirmation. A microbiology laboratory can tell you whether a sample sent to them on a clear strip of sticky household tape is mold or simply a substance that resembles it.
- If you have insulated air ducts and the insulation gets wet or moldy it cannot be effectively cleaned and should be removed and replaced.
- If the conditions causing the mold growth in the first place are not corrected, mold growth will recur.
- Ducts are infested with vermin, e.g. (rodents or insects).
- Ducts are clogged with excessive amounts of dust and debris and/or particles are actually released into the home from your supply registers.
Source: EPA
The above information can be a bit confusing to many people hence why we are here to better assist you with what you really require today. An expert ear can be a great assistant,
If you got more questions you can always rely on Fix My Property for a free consultation; we are more than happy to assist you on any matter with our certified technical team, you can also learn more about our Air Condition Services HERE, you can reach us by Calling/WhatsApp on +97150 5140476 or email us on info@fix-my-property.ae