When should I have my ducts cleaned?

The easiest way to tell if your ducting needs to be cleaned is to check out the blower compartment, the blower motor and blower wheel. If these are physically dirty then your ducting is dirty and should be cleaned.

If your filter is dirty it is because it is doing its job, but if the dirt makes it past your filter, you and your family are breathing dirty air. How dirty is the air? Look at the blower compartment. The dirt, pollen, lint, human skin (yes, much of the dirt in the ducting is dead human skin), mites and hair that is sticking to the blower compartment is only a fraction of what has been going through your filtration and if it’s in your ducts, it’s in your lungs.

Check out your supply registers. Are there black or brown streaks on the walls and ceiling around them? This is simply dirt that is damaging your painted surfaces and a sure sign that your home needs duct cleaning, duct repair or better air filters.

Never buy into the claim that your ducts need to be cleaned every 3 to 5 years. Most of the systems that we install with quality air filtration will never need their ducting cleaned. Duct cleaning is not a normal part of your HVAC maintenance and should only be performed as needed.

In order to access the ducting the furnace will need to partially dissembled. You should not disassemble a brand new furnace if at all possible so have the ducts cleaned when the old furnace has been removed. It is by the least expensive way to perform the cleaning. If you are thinking of having this performed give us a call and mention this web site. When we change out your furnace you'll save money and time because we will perform the cleaning for free just for mentioning this site when we give you your free estimate.

Some of the Cities that we work in are: Aliso Viejo, Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Cypress, Dana Point, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Irvine, La Habra, La Palma, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach, Orange, Placentia, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Stanton, Tustin, Villa Park, Westminster, Yorba Linda, Sunset Beach, Bell Gardens, Bellflower, Carson, Cerritos, Commerce, Diamond Bar, Downey, Gardena, Hawaiian Gardens, Industry, La Habra Heights, Lakewood, La Mirada, Long Beach, Lynwood, Montebello, Norwalk, Palos Verdes, Paramount, Pico Rivera, Rancho Palos Verdes, Santa Fe Springs, Signal Hill, South Gate, Whittier

1.877.247.6426

Your making the right decision. You cannot possibly make a mistake having us help you. Call now and book your free evaluation.

Can a duct run be added to my system?

Yes, in almost every circumstance, but if you have a room that is already equipped with a register and it is simply not heating or cooling enough the problem is probably something we can easily fix and adding another register is usually not needed. Save some money and give us a call now.

What is Green Ducting?

Its a fancy term for ducting that is more efficient. It generally is stiffer, harder to crush and has a higher level, or thicker, amount of insulation.

 

 

 

Duct Cleaning is more than vacuuming....

Are my ducts healthy?

Air duct cleaning by The Empire Family of Services helps to remove airborne contaminates such as bacteria, fungus, mold spores, pet dander & pollen which may help to alleviate allergy & asthma symptoms.
Here are 10 independent reasons why you should consider having their home's air duct system professionally cleaned by The Empire Family of Services.

1. 9 out of 10 system failures are caused by dirt and dust. This was found in a study by the Louisiana Cooperative. (http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/family_home/home/energy_water_environmental_management/)
2. Clean systems restore capacity and lessen running time. This helps to reduce monthly utility overpayments. Cited in the study by the Louisiana Cooperative.
3. A buildup of .042 inches of dirt on heating or cooling coil can result in a decrease in efficiency of 21%. This was shown in a study by the Environmental Protection Agency. (http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=heat_cool.pr_hvac )
4. Most commercially purchased fiberglass filters are only 7% efficient in stopping dirt, dust, pollen, etc. This was noted in a study by ASHRE. The International technical society organized to advance the arts and sciences of heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration.  (http://www.ashrae.org/education/page/1455 )
5. 50% of all illnesses are either caused or aggravated by polluted indoor air as described by the American College of Allergists.
6. Legionnaires disease developed from contamination in air conditioning ducts. It killed 29 people in 1976. From the American Lung Association.
7. An estimated 8,000 to 18,000 people get legionellosis in the United States each year. From the Centers for Disease Control (http://www.cdc.gov/legionella/top10.htm  ). Some people can be infected with the Legionella bacterium and have only mild symptoms or no illness at all. Children are more likely than adults to be affected by polluted indoor-air they breathe faster, inhale more air per unit of body weight and are closer to the ground where concentrations are higher. (Dept. Of consumer affairs)
8. The elderly, asthmatics, and people with breathing problems, allergies, and lung diseases are also likely to be more sensitive to pollutants. (Department Of consumer affairs)
9. Most people spend 60-90% of their time indoors. Air pollution contributes to lung disease, which claims close to 361,000 lives in America every year and is the third-leading cause of death in the United States. Study by the American Lung association.
10. Indoor air is found to be up to 70 times more polluted than outdoor air. From the Environmental Protection Agency (http://www.epa.gov/iaq/ia-intro.html).

What is the best way to clean ducts?

The best way to clean your ducts will be determined by the type of ducting that you have and the depth of the dirt buildup. Sometimes we use mechanical brushes, sometimes air brushes and still other times no brushes at all.

About 1 in 4 duct cleaning estimates that we give we end up informing the homeowners that their ducting cannot be cleaned. This results from a number of reasons including:

1. Asbestos is present.
2. The ducting is falling apart.
3. The ducting is made of raw fiberglass with no inner liner.
Cleaning these types of ducts is paramount to damaging them. Asbestos and fiberglass fibers will become airborne and pollute the air of the home.

Many times we are called out for a duct cleaning estimate and the ducts don’t need to be cleaned. The problem lies elsewhere in the system. Many times we have been called out to verify that duct cleaning was actually performed by another company only to find out that the problem that the homeowner was having had nothing to do with dirt in the ducts. They just wasted their money. If your ducting smells, gives us a call, chances are it has nothing to do with dirty ducts. The problem could be a myriad of other issues that could be very detrimental to your health. Never use an unlicensed company to clean your ducts. A sure sign of an unqualified cleaner is one that cleans carpets and drapes as well. You should have a C20 contractor’s license in order to clean ducting as so many problems are unrelated to the actually ducting dirt buildup.

Do Indoor Air Cleaners really work?

Whole house air cleaners really do work, room air cleaners do not work to clean the air in your entire home. An air filter is not an air cleaner. Most air filters do little to no good in filtering the air your breathe and some can do great harm to your utility bills and your heating and air conditioning system by restricting airflow too much.

How Can I lower my gas bill? How can I lower my electric bill?

Keep you indoor evaporator coil clean, your blower clean, your blower wheel clean and your outside air conditioning coil clean. Couple these with proper size ducting, properly sealed ducting and ample attic insulation and you see a low gas bill and a low electric bill. None of these lowering items is actually duct cleaning. Only cleaning the ducts will have no impact on your utility bills. It is the items that we can uncover and repair when cleaning your ducting that we resolve high heating and high cooling bills. This is a very good reason for only using a C20 licensed contractor, The Empire Family of Services, to clean you ducting. Duct cleaners cannot legally service your heating and air conditioning, nor can they legally replace your ducting. They simply lack the skills, insurance and expertise to perform these tasks correctly.

My ducting is underground. Is this normal?

Yes, but it should be inspected with an induct camera every year. Broken underground ducting can pose a serious health risk from contaminates such as mildew and mold.

Do not have your ducting cleaned if it is underneath your slab without first having it inspected with a camera system. In the two photos detailed here you see the massive corrosion of the metal ducting and subjecting this ducting to mechanical brushes, air brushes or even just a high powered vacuum could lead to under mining the foundation of the year and stirring up stuff no one would like to have in the air in the home.

If you have underground ducting and air having steam or moisture buildup on your windows when you turn the heating system on or you here bubbling and gurgling during heating and air conditioning operation you should give us a call for an evaluation. There are solutions to this problem and we have them.

 

 

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