Duct Cleaning
Affordable Heating and Cooling is your duct repair & installation system expert. If your ducts are old or damaged, our expert technician will repair or replace them as needed to ensure your heating system is operating at 100%.
Old ductwork can corrode and rot, allowing heat to escape through small holes and causing your heating system to work twice as hard. Our Affordable expert technician can evaluate your duct system and repair or replace duct as needed to ensure a tight, leak-free system. Many homeowners overlook their ductwork, but repairing or replacing your ductwork makes a huge difference in your home.
Just a few benefits include:
- Health - Leaky ductwork can cause harmful fumes, chemicals, insulation particles and dust to leak out into your home. Many people suffer from allergies or asthma because of this. Replacing or repairing your ducts will eliminate all of these harmful particles from leaking out into your home.
- Safety - If your ductwork is not sealed properly, combustion gases from your home gas equipment (stoves, furnaces, water heaters, fireplaces, etc.) can actually flow back into your home instead of outside as they are supposed to. These gases include carbon monoxide, which is completely odorless and invisible and can cause death. With new ductwork, you can rest assured that all harmful gases are directed outside your home.
- Save money - Leaky ducts allow heat to escape, making your heating system work harder. A properly sealed duct system saves money and lowers your energy bills.
- Comfort - If your duct work is improperly sized or leaking, it can cause severe temperature differences in parts of your home. This puts an unnecessary strain on your system and wastes energy. In addition, old ductwork usually contains dirt and dust that your family breathes in. New ductwork allows you to breathe easier and helps prevent certain allergies.
Upgrade Your Air Filter
For your family's health
Most heating and cooling systems still use a basic air filter. These filters were originally designed to protect the equipment and not the people served by the equipment. The average air filter is only capable of removing 3-5% of the particles that pass through it. Today, however, there are several types of permanent air filters available in various efficiencies that can help you filter the air in your home. If you suffer from allergies, asthma, hay fever or other breathing difficulties, there is an air filter that can help you. We can even provide you with the same type of air filter used in hospital operating rooms.
Carbon Monoxide Detector
An important line of defense for the ones you love
Not too long ago, carbon monoxide detectors were only for people who had sophisticated alarm systems in their homes. Today most every family is aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning and have at least one CO detector in their home. The smartest families have CO detectors installed on every level of their home, including one next to their heating equipment. This is the safest way to protect your family from deadly carbon monoxide poisoning.
Carbon Monoxide Detectors sold at big box stores do not compare to our low level CO monitors. I am an NCI certified carbon monoxide and combustion analyst. Visit http://www.stopcarbonmonoxide.com for more information.
Additional Return Air Runs
Solve many system airflow problems
Lack of return air is a very common problem for those systems that were either poorly designed or originally planned for heat only applications. Adding additional returns to your system allows for greater supply air into your home, resulting in better airflow and comfort for your family. The benefits you will receive by taking care of this problem include: quieter operation, better airflow, fewer repairs, longer life of your equipment, lower utility bills and, best of all, greater comfort.
Is Your Home Making You Sick?
To understand why many of today's health problems can be caused by the home you live in, you need 
to look back a few years to see what caused this to happen. You see, during the energy crisis of the early 1970s, highly insulated "tight" homes became popular because of their potential to reduce energy costs.
Within a few years, however, complaints started to arise, due to health, and excessive moisture issues caused by indoor pollution, and associated moisture problems within these homes.
In the late 1980s and early 90s, indoor air quality became a nationally recognized issue. Even today, newer and more energy-efficient homes seemed predisposed to the problem. In addition, they retain more humidity and airborne pollutants, which causes longer life-spans, and more productive cycles of microbial activity within the home, such as mold, germs, bacteria and viruses.
This greater activity and concentration of these airborne contaminants, equates to more allergic reactions, and sickness within families, for longer periods of time.
MOLD: A SURVIVOR
Why is mold so difficult to control? Mold is at the bottom of the food chain. It thrives on very little, grows rapidly, and produces spores, volatile organic compounds, and other toxins. One organism can multiply to trillions in less than three weeks. When given the right conditions, mold can occur anywhere; in homes, schools, workplaces, entertainment centers, vehicles, etc.
The interior of your ductwork and air conditioning equipment, provides an ideal environment for mold growth - especially in the air conditioners inside drain-pan where it is dark, damp, and filled with nutrients. The result can be like blowing air over a swamp or through a sewer and then into your home, vehicle, and workplace.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 60% of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) problems and allergies may be mold-related. Some IAQ diagnosticians and practitioners today say the figure may be as high as 80%. The increased usage of air conditioning systems almost directly parallels the increase of allergies and IAQ problems.
As mold and bacteria grow on coils and in drain pans, they are disseminated through the ducts to occupied spaces. Some mold products (toxins) produce serious and sometimes life-threatening reactions, including allergy, asthma, hypersensitivity, pneumonitis, and in some extreme cases even bleeding lung disease.
Additionally, mold creates a troublesome maintenance problem. Its activity results in dirty coils, a loss of air-flow, loss of heat exchange efficiency, dirty and sometimes plugged drain pans, and excessive energy use.
USING UVC TECHNOLOGY
Our company has found that the most successful way to handle system mold is through Ultraviolet (U.V.) germicidal lights.
Ultraviolet light has been used to kill microorganisms in hospitals, barber shops, laboratories, pharmaceutical plants, and at the nation's Center for Disease Control. Residential ultraviolet units have been independently tested and proved to be effective in the constantly moving air environments of heating and cooling systems, killing mold and bacteria quickly and effectively. The UVC energy attacks the organism's DNA and either destroys it immediately or prevents it from reproducing.
For most people, the original motivation for installing the lights is to abate IAQ complaints and/or allergies. However, they are also pleased to learn that many hidden odors are also eliminated with U.V. technology.
Why you want to check and change your filters regularly
There are several benefits to routinely cleaning or replacing the air filters in your home. Depending on the heating and cooling system(s) installed in your home or business, you may have different types of filters installed for different purposes.
Most heating and cooling systems employ a filter to keep the system clean and operating efficiently.
Filters that go unchanged (or uncleaned, depending on the type of filter used by your system) will eventually become dirty and clogged and will restrict airflow to the equipment. This will not only make your system run harder and deliver less comfort, but it will consume more fuel doing so. Removing a filter will increase airflow but, if not replaced, will cause your equipment to accumulate dirt and debris, inviting preventible breakdowns and premature failure. When you consider the cost of replacing equipment and energy bills related to maintaining indoor comfort, time spent checking or replacing/cleaning your filter is a relatively small investment with a very good return.
Air filters on your heating and cooling equipment also filter the air circulated to your home.
If you or others suffer from allergies or if you find excessive dust accumulation, paying regular attention to your filter is a good starting point in looking for relief. You may want to consider a higher quality filter.
Cheap disposable filters are good for keeping puppies and small children out of your ductwork. Seriously— they are better than nothing but are not very effective at filtering out smaller particles if you are seeking improved air quality.
Higher quality filters (MERV) are more effective at filtering dust, allergens, and other particulates out of your indoor air. The higher the rating, the more stringent the filter, but be aware that not all systems have a powerful enough blower to support denser filters. If you are interested in improving your filter quality, check your system literature or contact us to determine which type(s) will work with your system.
