FXSTD – Alternative Energy Center

By: Gen Wright
home: traffic congestion filled with black smoke freshly burped from the exhaust of a big rig. After a long day inside an office, you may look at the city where you live and see nothing but a cesspool. How do you walk around breathing the fumes of what you and your fellow neighbors have created?

You probably can't wait to get inside under a nice cool air conditioner and enjoy clean air for a change. Maybe that is what you expect. But if it is, get ready for some bad news, because you'd be dead wrong to think so.

Did you know that the Environmental Protection Agency estimates indoor air is up to 70 times more polluted than what you encounter every single day during your work commute?

Seventy times!

Most of this indoor pollution exists because people fail to engage in air duct cleaning or furnace cleaning as often as they should. That's right. The cost of ignoring basic maintenance on your central heating and air can produce a pollution worse than anything you will likely encounter outside, and could lead to costly air duct repair ? or worse, air duct replacement.

You can't afford to take air duct cleaning for granted any longer. And why would you want to? Here are four great benefits of quality air duct cleaning and care:

1. For your health. Inside your air ducts, there are all kinds of unwanted critters waiting for you to discover, if left alone. Bacteria, fungus, mold spores, pet dander, and pollen, routinely collect to contaminate the quality of your clean air. Through air duct cleaning and furnace cleaning, you can remove these factors from your indoor life before they take control of your allergies, your asthma, or your day.

2. For the energy savings. The EPA estimates that it doesn't even take one-tenth of an inch of dust buildup on a heating coil to negatively affect your energy efficiency. Just how negatively does less than one-tenth inch affect your energy savings? It reduces the performance by 21%. If your electric bill was $100, that means you could be paying only $79 through proper air duct cleaning.

3. For less work around the house. Notice you've been dusting (or needing to dust) a lot lately? It may be time to check your air ducts. By engaging in routine maintenance and air duct cleaning you can greatly reduce the time you spend on menial chores like dusting.

4. For the life of your equipment. By routinely engaging in quality air duct cleaning, or hiring a specialist to ensure your ducts are getting the treatment they need for optimum performance, you greatly reduce the likelihood of air duct repair or air duct replacement, which will surely be waiting for you down the road otherwise. And that you don't want. It is expensive, and until you can take care of the problem, it means you're not getting clean air.

It is best to stay on the problem before it becomes too late. But if it is time for an air duct replacement, don't hesitate any longer. The cost you can quickly make up for in a more efficient energy system and future awareness that will prevent serious problems before they occur.