FAQ

Residential air ducts typically contain the materials similar to what you would find in a vacuum cleaner bag: carpet fibers, skin scale, hair, dust mites (and their feces), food crumbs, pet food, cat litter, pet hair and dander, mold and mildew, drywall dust, new construction debris, insect and rodent remains (and their excrement), bacteria, and viruses. TakeAire typically removes two to four grocery bags of this material out of an average home’s air duct system.A standard fiberglass filter prevents less than 7% from eventually breaking down, passing through your filter, and back into the air of your home or office.

Do you have smoker(s) in your house? Pets?
Do you have “Dust trails” or discoloring coming out of your registers?
Are you constantly dusting furniture?
Does anyone in your family suffer from allergies, asthma, headaches, sinus or nasal congestion?
Do you have young or elderly family members that tend to be more susceptible to respiratory illness?
Do you have a furnace that uses a standard disposable filter?
Does it seem like there is not enough airflow coming from your registers?
Has it been two years or longer since your system has been cleaned?

Do you have a new home?
In almost every case, pieces of sheet rock, sheet rock dust, dirt, nails, pop cans, and other debris fall into your registers during the construction of your home.

Did you buy an existing home?
Even if you are the best housekeeper in the world, what about the person that lived there before you?

What you see down each register is just a small portion of what lurks in the main trunk line of your duct work. Your duct work consists of register boots and laterals that all tie into a main trunk line. The next question,“How is My System Cleaned?” provides a complete description of the cleaning process.

Notes:
Beware companies that only vacuum down each register and do not even touch your main trunk line.
Homeowners are advised to not attempt to vacuum their own duct systems, as improper equipment and handling can damage household duct work.

Services vary per coupon and/or condition and age of unit and duct work.

The most effective way to clean air ducts is to use “source removal” techniques. This process is the highest standard in the industry and is the only method endorsed by the National Air Duct Cleaners Association, NADCA.

Using state-of-the-art truck-mounted vacuum, your system is placed under negative pressure. While the vacuum draws air through the system, various tools are inserted into the return and supply register boots to dislodge contaminants and debris. The powerful vacuum pulls the contaminants out of the air ducts, removing them from the system and your home with no mess left behind.

The technician will also brush and vacuum each of your registers as needed. Register washing and sanitizing is also available depending on the condition and age of registers.

Notes:
Beware companies that only vacuum down each register and do not even touch your main trunk line.
Homeowners are advised to not attempt to vacuum their own duct systems, as improper equipment and handling can damage household duct work.

The final steps to a healthy indoor air environment are to clean the plenum, furnace, heat exchanger, evaporator coil, drain pan/pipe, and the blower housing, motor, and wheel. Each part is vacuumed and hand washed with the appropriate chemical treatments to sanitize and clean each unit. Of course, each treatment is based on each unit’s characteristics, including its condition, age, and maintenance history. To ensure the proper treatment, technicians provide in-home inspections, evaluations, and written price quotes.

Depending upon size, a home can take anywhere from one to five man-hours to cleaning. Times vary based on the number of units and their condition, maintenance history, and age, along with the kind of treatment determined by our qualified technicians.

With 9 out of 10 A/C system failures caused by dirt and dust, clean systems are far less likely to breakdown.

A clean system runs more smoothly and efficiently, yielding savings on monthly heating and cooling bills. Research by the U.S. EPA has found that a buildup of just 0.042 inches of dirt on a heating or cooling coil can decrease efficiency by 21%. Clean systems restore capacity and lessen running time, saving you money.

Dust on furniture is reduced. Dust is made up of dirt, pollen, fibers, mold spores, hair and other allergy-causing particles. About 95% of these particles will pass through a standard filter and back into your home.

Maximize airflow from your registers. The dust that stays in your system will accumulate on the fan blades of the blower motor, the grills, and inside your duct work. This buildup in your air ducts can reduce the flow of air up to 40%.

Allergy sufferers may find relief. Now acknowledged as a major allergy and disease-causing problem by medical authorities, poor indoor air quality has prompted doctors and allergists to prescribe furnace and air duct cleaning as one of the ways to reduce allergy problems. The EPA states that indoor air is up to 70 times more polluted than outdoor air, and, according to the American Lung Association, and most people spend 90% of their time indoors.

According to the National Air Duct Cleaners Association, NADCA.

Make sure the company uses “source removal” cleaning methods designed to extract the debris within your duct work. The routine application of encapsulate (also known as “duct sealing”) is not recommended.

See if the company has been in business long enough to have adequate experience.

Verify that the company is certified by the National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA) to perform Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system cleaning. TakeAire is proud to be a member of NADCA and employs certified NADCA Air Systems Cleaning Specialists.

Inquire whether the company is in good standing with your local Better Business Bureau. TakeAire is a proud member of the Better Business Bureau.

Make sure the company is properly licensed and insured.

Make sure the company is a member in good standing with (NADCA). Choosing a NADCA member to perform the work will ensure that your home receives a thorough “source removal” cleaning in accordance with the association’s mandatory performance standard.

An inadequate job can cause more problems than it solves. Make sure you have the scope of work and the total cost before work begins. Be aware of add-on sales. Wise consumers will know what they are getting for their money.

There are several reasons you should choose a National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA) Certified Company to clean your HVAC system:

Every NADCA Certified company must adhere to NADCA’s Standards. NADCA continuously develops and researches the HVAC hygiene industry, resulting in the production of industry-wide standards. Since NADCA Certified companies adhere to NADCA Standards, they are staying abreast of new equipment, technology, and the most cutting-edge cleaning procedures.

Each and every NADCA Certified company has at least one Air Systems Cleaning Specialist (ASCS) on staff who has taken and passed the NADCA Certification Examination. Passing the exam demonstrates extensive knowledge in HVAC design and cleaning methodologies. ASCS’s are also required to further their industry education by attending seminars in order to maintain their NADCA certification status.

Perhaps the most important reason that you should choose a NADCA Certified company to perform your HVAC cleaning is that NADCA members only apply source removal methods. NADCA Certified companies do not perform, suggest, or recommend “encapsulation”, otherwise known as “internal duct sealing”, as an HVAC cleaning method. (This is a process in which a glue-like substance is used to make contaminants adhere to the HVAC system). Source removal is the most effective and thorough HVAC cleaning method.