Summer is here, and everyone is firing up their air conditioners in order to keep their homes comfortably cool. Many people are getting their air conditioners tuned up, in order to make sure that they can deal with the added strain of daily use. Far too few people, however, are conducting one of the most important services for air conditioners: duct sealing. Let’s take a look at why duct sealing is so important for improving your air conditioner efficiency.
Saddleback Plumbing Heating & Air Blog: Archive for the ‘Indoor Air Quality’ Category
How Duct Sealing can Improve Your Air Conditioner Efficiency
Monday, July 13th, 2015Types of Indoor Air Purifiers That Can Benefit You
Monday, April 20th, 2015Though your indoor air may seem clean, chances are you are inhaling millions of microscopic contaminants with every breath you take. The average home contains many varieties of airborne pollutants, including dust, germs, pollen, and mold spores. These various contaminants are responsible for allergy attacks, as well as illnesses like the cold and flu. Fortunately, there are air purifiers available on the market that combat the contaminants that cause poor indoor air quality. Let’s have a look at a few different types of indoor air purifiers.
Problems That Duct Sealing Will Solve
Thursday, July 31st, 2014Regular duct cleaning is a necessity for modern homes. The ventilation system that circulates air through a house has an airtight seal along it to maintain air pressure, but this also allows dust and debris to start to build up along the walls of the ducts without any escape except back out into the rooms, where it will eventually re-enter the ventilation system through the return air vents. Over a period of two years (and sometimes less than that), the accumulation of debris and other contaminants can become quite heavy inside ducts.
However, breaks in this airtight seal can make the situation far worse; along with duct cleaning, you may occasionally need professional duct sealing for your home. Duct cleaners will usually catch these issues and help you schedule the necessary work. For duct cleaning and duct sealing service in Mission Viejo, CA, you can count on Saddleback Plumbing to take excellent care of you.
Issues That Duct Sealing Will Address
- Additional pollutants and contaminants: Your ductwork already gathers dust and dirt during normal operation. Breaks and leaks along the air channels will make this accumulation worse, since these openings will probably occur in closed-off sections of your home, such as crawlspaces and between walls, that have large amounts of dust, dirt, and construction debris in them. The number of pollutants that enters you ductwork will steeply increase until you have the gaps sealed.
- Mold, mildew, and other bacterial growth: Mold and bacteria developing inside your ductwork is one of the worst problems your HVAC system can encounter. It will severely lower your indoor air quality and cause major health issues. These growths will also increase damage to the ducts and weaken the material. Sealing gaps in the ducts will prevent moist air from entering and raising the humidity level that encourages these biological growths.
- High utility bills: Even a small leak in a duct that breaks the airtight seal can cause a 33% drop in airflow form an AC or forced-air heater. This will put strain on the system to compensate for the loss of airflow, and it will start to drain money to obtain its regular levels of cooling or heating (and often fail). Keeping your ducts intact and all leaks sealed will prevent you from paying heavier costs to keep a home comfortable.
- HVAC repairs: An over-strained AC or heater, or one dealing with excess contamination that can enter into its cabinet, is at higher risk for repairs. You can avoid these unnecessary repairs with proper sealing to keep the ducts airtight.
Saddleback Plumbing has helped homes in Mission Viejo, CA with duct sealing and duct cleaning since 1981. Make us your first call when you notice low airflow or odd musty smells coming from your vents, or when heating and cooling bills start to rise for no obvious reason. We’ll track the problem and fix it, whether with duct sealing or HVAC system repair.
HVAC Tip 1: Factors Contributing to Poor Air Quality
Monday, September 10th, 2012The truth is that most people don’t even realize that they have poor indoor air quality in their Irvine homes. It is imperative that you be aware of this problem if it exists. The following are some signs and symptoms that point towards poor air quality.
- Irritable eyes, throat and nose with cold like symptoms
- Dry skin
- Rashes and other skin irritations
- Sleepiness, fatigue and headaches
- Other symptoms such as wheezing, dizziness, nausea as well as hypersensitivity reactions can also be attributed to poor air quality
The onset of most of these symptoms is not very direct or immediate. They usually build up gradually and become a part of your daily life without you even realizing it. These symptoms are highly subjective and can also be brought about by a variety of other co-existing factors such as stress, so you might not realize right away what’s causing you to feel the way you do.
This is why it is very important to evaluate the problem of poor air quality in an objective and scientific manner. The following are some of the primary causes of poor air quality.
- Poor ventilation system leading to inadequate supply of fresh air in the house
- Pollutants coming from the paints and chemicals on the walls and furniture in your home
- Pollutants arising from various other building products, cleaning material, gases, new materials, pesticides, office machines and stationery
- Micro-organisms, as well as other contaminants coming from the atmosphere
- The presence of allergens such as pollen, pet dander, mold spores or dust mites
The primary reason for all these problems taking root in your home is poor ventilation which does not allow enough air circulation and exchange between indoors and outdoors. That means not enough fresh air enters your home, making the air rather stale and providing no way for any types of pollutants to get out, and these contaminants tend to increase in concentration over time.
Luckily, all of these issues can be addressed by adding a good indoor air quality system to your home. A professional Irvine HVAC contractor can tell you exactly what types of pollutants are causing trouble in your home and get the right systems in place to eliminate them effectively. Call Saddleback Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning today to learn more about how to improve the air quality in your home!