Demonstrate visible evidence of microbial growth in your duct work. Some service providers may attempt to convince you that your air ducts are contaminated by demonstrating that the microorganisms found in your home grow on a settling plate (i.e., petri dish). This is inappropriate. Some microorganisms are always present in the air, and some growth on a settling plate is normal. As noted earlier, only an expert can positively identify a substance as biological growth and lab analysis may be required for final confirmation. Other testing methods are not reliable.
There is a lot of good, general information in the article. As with anything, the homeowner should do their due diligence in getting enough information to make an educated decision. Should duct-work be cleaned? YES! Does it need to be cleaned annually or even every second or third year? Not necessarily. It all depends on a bunch of variables. You're right that a well designed and balanced system will deliver the right amount of air flow, but sometimes conditions outside the home/business, make it a necessity to get the ducts cleaned. As for mold? NO filter is going to address a mold issue. If you have mold, you have a moisture issue that needs to be addressed. Also, in my 38 years of experience in the HVAC and sheet metal industries, washable filters are one of the reasons ducts need to be cleaned. They are no where near efficient in cleaning/filtering the air to the level that they should.
From Day 1, Alberto walked us through the process, and present us with a variety of options based our budget for the project. His customer service is the best as he did not oversell any services and did not nudge us towards buying a unit that would stretch our budget. On installation day, HVAC Services sent out a crew of 6-7 guys, all of whom were very polite and kept their work areas clean, and installed the whole system the same day.
In the middle of summer—even more so in North America—AC repairs are undoubtedly the last thing you want to have to think about. But that won’t keep them from taking place. Fortunately, Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning is dedicated to completing expert quality AC repair, maintenance and installation throughout the North America area. We certainly don’t want you to be stuck in an uncomfortable home during the hottest days of summer.

The cooling coils the air comes into contact with appear to need UV-C lights on them in humid climates. That's the biggest thing. If the ducts have never been cleaned, then getting that done goes without saying. But those coils need to be cleaned, disinfected, and then UV-C light(s) installed to prevent mold & bacteria build-up in the future on them. That appears to be chiefly responsible for the dirty laundry and/or sour milk smell coming from forced-air AC systems in humid regions.

Here in Atlanta we get 6 to 10 $49 coupons in the mail weekly…I have always consider them a complete scam….just had my master bathroom& bedroom and guest bath completely remodeled down to the studs…Had my 3 returns nearest the area sealed to prevent sheet rock dust to spread…it worked and I personally cleaned all 7 returns when a 5 HP , new Rigid shop Vac($99 from HD)…took one hour and I found little evidence that “I need my ducts cleaned” Had quotes from $400 to $600…I use the best air filters for my air handler and change it every 2 to 3 months…..any dust is trapped in it and I believe the Air Duct folks are all cons….
You and your family spend hours sitting on your favorite chairs, couches and sectionals. Over time, dander and body oil become trapped in the upholstery, but with regular cleanings you can keep these delicate fabrics looking, feeling and smelling great. We examine your furniture and select the best process to safely clean and protect any kind of upholstery, including leather.
Concrete Blocks -- Concrete blocks are used in foundations and are often found in full basements. Insulating the spaces in the blocks is not the way to insulate them as the heat energy will travel along the concrete itself. The best way to insulate with concrete blocks is to use insulated concrete blocks, which have polystyrene incorporated into them.
Interesting. Giuliano Cuete and Carlo Olcese have the exact same post about pretenders and being NADCA certified, word for word. So how do you become NADCA certified? And does that mean you are not a scam artist or a "blow and do" ripoff? hmmm, interesting. The EPA says that under normal conditions, a properly maintained system should NEVER need it's ducts cleaned.
Contact/Relay -- Relays are electronically controlled switches that activate the various components of your HVAC system. They manage everything from the power going to the motor to automatic dampers, humidifiers, etc. Most of them are controlled by the thermostat. The most common failure for a relay is being stuck in the "open" position. Separated from its assigned contact point, it fails to complete the connection and send the message to whatever it was supposed to operate. This failure usually occurs from use over time. Each time a relay connects and sends its signal, the electrical arcing from point to point eventually causes wear and tear.
From furnace installation and heating system installation to air conditioning installation and central air installation, Lowe’s has all your HVAC installation needs covered. Lowe’s will coordinate with independent air conditioner installation professionals to make installing central air a breeze. So stop worrying about how to install an air conditioner and contact Lowe’s to help with your air conditioning install.

Because an air conditioner moves heat between the indoor coil and the outdoor coil, both must be kept clean. This means that, in addition to replacing the air filter at the evaporator coil, it is also necessary to regularly clean the condenser coil. Failure to keep the condenser clean will eventually result in harm to the compressor, because the condenser coil is responsible for discharging both the indoor heat (as picked up by the evaporator) and the heat generated by the electric motor driving the compressor.

Duct cleaning is a complete scam, I was a “duct cleaning technician” for a whole week before I was fired for not upselling elderly widowed women $2000 extra for “toxic mold remediation” when their ducts were spotless to begin with. The last two days I was employed there I worked as a “helper” alongside a technician thats been with the company 7 years. He scammed every customer on mold and would at times get as much as $2500 extra for treating “toxic mold” in a typical 3 bedroom house in the suburbs. Wait…it gets even better, the “Biocide” the company used was simply a cheap $4.99 per gallon bought at Home Depot air freshener with no anti-microbial properties that was fogged into the HVAC system for 5 minutes, maybe using 1/2 cup of the stuff. In order to provide the customer with evidence of “mold infestation” the technician would be given bogus mold tests that always resulted in “toxic spores present” regardless if you swabbed the actual duct or nothing at all. Not to mention the actual duct cleaning job (typically $400) did basically nothing and the homeowner could’ve done a better job with a shopvac
I hope that those customers you have with breathing problems don't follow your advice too closely. You are doing them a disservice. Dirt in your ducts does not always stay there, depending on what the contaminants are. I bet you tell your customers not to worry about mold either- just to kill it with bleach. Educate yourself before opening your mouth- You may kill someone someday with your opinion.
In reading through all this about duct cleaning, THE ONE preventative measure people need to realize is that a poorly installed HVAC system that is not sealed and air tight to ensure that ALL indoor air passes through a GOOD air filtration system IS THE best means of ensuring your ducts remain clean. Duct cleaning does not now and will NEVER improve an HVAC systems efficiency. Proper maintenance and installation are the key just as improper installation practices allow for dust infiltration into the duct system. I am a state licensed contractor in Texas, and unless people have their hvac system sealed and/or properly installed, duct cleaning is an absolute waste of money. My duct system is 12 years old as is as clean today as the day I installed the system with ductwork. SO before ANYONE jumps on the bandwagon of duct cleaning, get with your hvac professional FIRST.
Duct cleaning has never been shown to actually prevent health problems. Neither do studies conclusively demonstrate that particle (e.g., dust) levels in homes increase because of dirty air ducts or go down after cleaning. This is because much of the dirt that may accumulate inside air ducts adheres to duct surfaces and does not necessarily enter the living space. It is important to keep in mind that dirty air ducts are only one of many possible sources of particles that are present in homes. Pollutants that enter the home both from outdoors and indoor activities such as cooking, cleaning, smoking, or just moving around can cause greater exposure to contaminants than dirty air ducts. Moreover, there is no evidence that a light amount of household dust or other particulate matter in air ducts poses any risk to health.
I recently replaced my 44 year old furnace. Over the years we have had several construction projects inside the home. For many years breathing the heated air from the duct work caused excessive sneezing, sinus issues, and lung irritation. . The heat smelled like dust. To maximize air quality I added a humidifier, MERV-11 filter, and UV light onto the new furnace. To further improve air quality, I had the ducts cleaned and sanitized. I took before and after pictures of the inside of each return and output duct. They were filthy before, and sparkling clean and fresh after the procedure. Now when running the system, clean sanitized air flows through my whole house. A huge difference. It will make sleeping and being indoors during the winter months far more tolerable. I use window air conditioners, and run the system in the summer to keep the house air clean and fresh on hot summer days too. It works! Great decision!
The A/C System Cleaning and restoration industry has become a very lucrative bait and switch industry that many Carpet cleaning companies, Maid services, as well as plumbing or handyman service companies are adding on to there services. These add-ons are not fully certified, trained or even have any experience in the HVAC industry. These companies are the reason prices and quality of work are all over the place. If you are looking to make a smart decision for your home a professional Duct Cleaning service will protect you for 5-7 years. This info comes from NADCA (National Air Duct Cleaning Association) which is the closest thing to a license we have for duct cleaning. They have a great site that explains this process and pricing much more in depth and factual than what has been written here. This organization is working very hard to get these bad companies exposed and out of this industry. So in saying that do your research! Green Duct Decontamination is a certified company with certified technicians that take this work very seriously. We can not have these low rated unprofessional companies paste a bad name for an entire industry. Stay away from anything under 250$ for a full duct clean this is not feasible, go look at NADCA.com and you will understand why and what these companies are doing to rob you of your dollar.
Within the construction sector, it is the job of the building services engineer to design and oversee the installation and maintenance of the essential services such as gas, electricity, water, heating and lighting, as well as many others. These all help to make buildings comfortable and healthy places to live and work in. Building Services is part of a sector that has over 51,000 businesses and employs represents 2%-3% of the GDP.HVAC services is our go to contractor when it comes to our HVAC needs. Back in 2013, we were dealt some unforeseeable home projects, as our HVAC was failing and needed to replace the whole system, e.g. Furnace, Blower, A/C, Condenser, Vents, etc... We reached out to a few HVAC companies (Contra Costa Heating and Air, EP builders, High Performance Heating and Air) so we could compare the bids for the job. We have had some issues with past contractors and after thoroughly screening a few of the above mentioned HVAC contractors, we awarded the bid to HVAC services because of their superior customer service and very reasonable pricing.
The bottom line is: no one knows. There are examples of ducts that have become badly contaminated with a variety of materials that may pose risks to your health. The duct system can serve as a means to distribute these contaminants throughout a home. In these cases, duct cleaning may make sense. However, a light amount of household dust in your air ducts is normal. Duct cleaning is not considered to be a necessary part of yearly maintenance of your heating and cooling system, which consists of regular cleaning of drain pans and heating and cooling coils, regular filter changes and yearly inspections of heating equipment. Research continues in an effort to evaluate the potential benefits of air duct cleaning.
In variable climates, the system may include a reversing valve that switches from heating in winter to cooling in summer. By reversing the flow of refrigerant, the heat pump refrigeration cycle is changed from cooling to heating or vice versa. This allows a facility to be heated and cooled by a single piece of equipment by the same means, and with the same hardware.
Metal is way better than flex duct or ductboard. It gets better airflow, holds up to critters and duct cleaners. I know of no hvac company here that cleans ductwork. (there probably is one somewhere) The mfg's of duct cleaning equipment keep trying to sell us hvac people on their benefits and profit potential but most all hvac people know that unless you have metal ductwork you are NOT doing the customer any favors.
An alternative to packaged systems is the use of separate indoor and outdoor coils in split systems. Split systems are preferred and widely used worldwide except in North America. In North America, split systems are most often seen in residential applications, but they are gaining popularity in small commercial buildings. The split systems are a great choice for small buildings where ductwork is not feasible or where the space conditioning efficiency is of prime concern [20]. The benefits of ductless air conditioning systems include easy installation, no ductwork, greater zonal control, flexibility of control and quiet operation [21]. In space conditioning, the duct losses can account for 30% of energy consumption [22]. The use of minisplit can result in energy savings in space conditioning as there are no losses associated with ducting.
Tip – Be careful with change-outs. Ductwork deteriorates and sometimes has to be replaced. It is only if the ductwork is in fantastic condition that you should get a change-out without ductwork (Remember – the ductwork has already been there for 15-20 years, and now it will be there another 15-20…it has to be in good shape). However, many HVAC installation companies like to push change-outs because the ductwork is the most time consuming part of the job, and a change-out is quick, easy money. Realize that it’s only about 15-20% of the jobs that qualify for a change-out, so be careful.
Cost Factors: The size of the unit, its efficiency and it’s single-stage, two-stage or variable-capacity are the top cost factors. Features like communicating technology and improved dehumidification performance also affect the price. Learn more about communicating technology here including the pros and cons, before being agreeing to a communicating system.
We use third party data sources to conduct a criminal search, in the state in which the owner/principal of the company is located, for any relevant criminal activity associated with the owner/principal of the business, within the three years prior to such service professional's application for membership in the HomeAdvisor network. HomeAdvisor's third-party vendor uses a national criminal database ("NCD") to screen our service professionals. The comprehensiveness of the NCD varies by state. Please be aware that the reporting in the NCD is particularly limited in the following states: AL, CO, DE, GA, ID, KS, KY, LA, ME, MA, MI, MS, MT, NE, NV, NH, NM, SD, UT, VA, VT, and WY.