How a HVAC Cleaning will improve your Energy Consumption

An Overview of the HVAC Cleaning Process

• Your HVAC Cleaning  system is placed under continuous negative pressure (with a vacuum) to prevent the spread of contaminants.
• Continuous negative pressure allows very fine particles to be removed from the system as they become airborne, ensuring that these particles are not released into the living space when the system is turned on after cleaning.
• This negative pressure also serves to extract the loosened contaminants, which are collected and removed from your home.

Often HVAC system components collect significant amounts of debris and particulate during construction activities within a building. NADCA recommends that newly installed HVAC systems or HVAC systems undergoing renovation be verified clean, and protected before the system is permitted to operate.

Understanding your HVAC Cleaning Unit:

Your HVAC Cleaning system is comprised of a combined indoor and outdoor unit. The indoor unit is known by many names, the most common of them being; air handler, furnace, main unit (and/or HVAC unit).

The Indoor Unit has these components:

• Blower/Fan
• Filter (depends on unit)
• Heater
• Plenum Box
• Evaporating Coil
• Drain Pipe
• Drain Pan
• Air Ducts
• Return Air Ducts

The outside unit includes:

• Fan
• Compressor
• Condenser coil
• Refrigerant
• Tubing (piping) for Refrigerant

Both these units and their individual components work together to provide hot and cold air within your home. It is necessary to have both sections serviced each year to maintain cleanliness and efficiency. Neglected systems will be short lived and rack up high bills for repair and replacement, and most likely be the culprit for those lofty energy bills.

Here, at TakeAir, we believe that knowledge is power and in following this concept, we encourage our customers as well as all residential/ commercial owners to understand their HVAC Cleaning  systems and understand what Indoor Air Quality can mean to you and your family.

When deciding to have an air duct cleaning, many customers fail to grasp the gravity of full system cleaning. As more and more customers become aware of Indoor Air Quality and its correlation with the duct system, they still frequently overlook the HVAC unit. The belief that addressing the duct system only and ignoring the HVAC unit is misguided. Unattended HVAC units are often afflicted with severe mold and mildew contamination, particularly in older homes (and homes in which service has never been received). This needs to be addressed first and foremost,with duct work then following with a remediation and cleaning. Once the entire system, HVAC UNIT and Cleaning HVAC Ductwork, is addressed, then basic duct cleaning can be done every year to three years at lower prices. TakeAir HVAC Cleaning recommends at least an inspection once a year.

Connection Box

The connection box (or the plenum), is a chamber box in which the air comes into as well as out. It channels the air into the duct work to be dispersed into the house /building. The connection box is usually made of metal and contains insulation within or outside itself. Some plenum boxes are actually made of fiberglass.

Cleaning of the connection box is recommended every 3 year at least, anything longer and buildup within can cause air restriction in your home, burdening your system. In cases where the connection box is made of fiberglass material, we recommend an application of foster 40-20*, a fungicidal coating that seals all pores to prevent microbial growth.

*Foster® Continuous Defense 40-20™ Fungicidal Protective Coating is EPA registered and the industry’s leading coating. It is formulated to prevent the spread of mold and bacteria in areas such as walls, ceilings, interior and HVAC ducting. FOSTER Continuous Defense 40-20™ Fungicidal Protective Coating is a poly acrylate copolymer emulsion specifically formulated for long-term fungicidal activity, with no loss of activity on aging. It is formulated to effectively prevent the spread of molds and odor-causing bacteria on its surface. It provides a tough, elastic, decorative finish that allows for movement without splitting,(which can create crevices for bacteria growth).

40-20™ provides a cost effective, decorative finish resistant to many industrial chemicals, together with long-lasting protection. It can be used on walls, ceilings, pipes, interior and exterior surfaces of HVAC duct systems and wherever effective controls are essential.
40-20™ guards against the re-growth and spread of odor-causing bacteria and molds on the surface of the coated HVAC system or its treated components only. As a result, the building occupants may enjoy a work space free of the odor problems often associated with contaminated HVAC duct systems.

TAKEAIR HVAC CLEANING METHOD

Once a HVAC Cleaning  Technician has conducted a full inspection, a full report is given to the customer. TakeAir believes that each customer should be aware of every aspect of the work, as well as the functioning method of the entire system as a whole. Once problem areas are identified, our highly trained technicians thoroughly explain what steps need to be taken to restore the system to tip top shape. TakeAir provides

If the main unit is contaminated with microbial growths, then a mold and mildew remediation is implemented. This is done by applying biodegradable chemicals that attack the mold and mildew corruption, and each component is then brushed and vacuumed to remove debris. After this is completed,the system is sanitized and the duct work cleaning can begin. All of our Full Treatments are backed by 1 to 3 year warranties; length of the warranty is determinant on the level of treatments conducted. TakeAir recommends at least an inspection once a year.