Air Duct Cleaning: Are Chemical Biocides Necessary?

1. A AI IR R D DU UC CT T C CL LE EA AN NI IN NG G: : A AR RE E C CH HE EM MI IC CA AL L B BI IO OC CI ID DE ES S N NE EC CE ES SS SA AR RY Y? ?

2. INTRODUCTION It’s essential to clean your heating and cooling system’s air ducts to control air pollution in your home, and consequently, free yourself and family from related health problems. A professional cleaner may employ any of the several techniques in air duct cleaning including brushing, use of blowguns, application of biocides, and utilization of hand-held vacuums. Most of the methods are generally accepted and have little or no health concerns, but questions and controversies emerge when it comes to the application of chemical biocides.

3. TABLE OF CONTENTS When Should You Use Chemical Biocides? What Are The Concerns? What to Do To Ensure Safety Bottom-line Water Damage Restoration Awareness: What to Do Before Help Arrives Complete Mold Removal: When Is Testing and Sampling Necessary? How to Tell If a Mold Remediation Process is Done Professionally Can Duct Cleaning Boost the Efficiency of Your HVAC System? How Do Dust and Other Deposits Lower HVAC Efficiency? What the Solution? Duct Cleaning Vs. HVAC Efficiency: What’s the Relationship?

4. WHEN SHOULD YOU USE CHEMICAL BIOCIDES? An air duct cleaning professional may recommend the use of chemical biocides to kill odor- causing microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. As much as you are looking to eliminate bacteria growth and odor, you need to understand that chemical biocides come in different forms, with varying properties and pose certain health risks when not used correctly. It’s generally agreed that the application of chemical biocides is an effective method of cleaning air ducts as long as a qualified cleaning professional uses the right product properly. Mild fungistats and bacteriostats remove mold, mildew, and bacteria odor from your ducts, and there is no need to vacate your home during the application. Stronger solutions are good at eliminating both disease and odor-causing microorganisms on hard and non-porous surfaces. Nevertheless, you will be required to vacate your house during application and wait for about an hour or so for the chemical to dry completely. Additionally, you should never allow a cleaning professional to use the substances if you or any other house occupant is sensitive to such treatments.

5. WHAT ARE THE CONCERNS? As mentioned earlier, there are health concerns associated with the use of chemical biocides in air duct cleaning. Exposure to the chemicals may result in respiratory, nerve system, eye, and skin problems. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates chemical biocides and does not recommend their application in air duct cleaning unless specifically proven. It’s noteworthy mentioning that EPA has not approved any chemical biocide for use on fiberglass-lined ducts or fiberglass boards. So, check if the materials are present in your ducts before cleaning.

6. WHAT TO DO TO ENSURE SAFETY Although chemical biocides are effective antimicrobial solutions, it’s of utmost importance to verify that the cleaning expert is duly qualified and is using the right product. Before the cleaning service provider applies the product, ask him or her to demonstrate the evidence of microbial invasion in your ducts, and explain why physical means such as brushing cannot be used instead. Moreover, let the professional explain the safety measure they undertake when cleaning with chemical biocides. Check the product’s label to ascertain whether it’s fit for air duct cleaning and ensure the service provider utilizes the chemical as per the instructions outlined on the label.

7. BOTTOM-LINE Chemical biocides are necessary for the elimination and prevention of microbial growth and odor in air ducts. Nevertheless, proceed with caution when applying these chemicals in your home. They are potentially dangerous, and it’s best to ensure that the professional cleaner uses an EPA-approved product to clean your ducts. All in all, chemical biocides are effective in duct cleaning, provided the cleaning provider uses the right product appropriately.

8. WATER DAMAGE RESTORATION AWARENESS: WHAT TO DO BEFORE HELP ARRIVES Leaky household appliances, broken pipes, and heavy downpour can often teach us an important lesson about how damaging water can be. An unforeseen and sudden water invasion in a home can not only be catastrophic, but also result in the loss of property and valuables. Even lives may be at risk, depending on the amount of water in the house. Assume you have just got home and instead of a warm loving family, you are greeted by 10 inches of stagnant water. What do you do? While calling a water damage restoration company is important, you need to stay safe until help comes. Here are the steps to take as you wait for help.

9. 1. Figure Out The Source Of The Leak And Stop It If Possible If the result of flooding in your home is due to a broken household appliance like dishwasher, washing machine, an overflowing sink, or a broken pipe, start by seeing if you can make the leak stop. Turn off the tap if you left it off, and turn the water source off if the problem has been brought about by a leaking appliance. 2. Stay Safe Sometimes, it’s impossible to turn off the leak, especially as the water levels keep on rising dangerously. In that case, your safety is of utmost importance. If you are unable to get out, identify the highest point in the home and remain there until help comes. 3. Have Electricity Connection Switched Off This helps you to avert shock hazards. Only after switching off electrical connections can you attempt to turn off your electrical appliances from power. This also helps to avoid damage to these appliances. If you must get into a wet place to switch off the power, do not try that.

10. 4. Get Your Valuables To A Safer Place To Reduce Risk Of Damage Where you are unable to get to the source of water and turn it off, try to move your undamaged goods from flooded sections and take them upstairs or even to the attic. The point is to try and salvage anything you can to minimize financial losses. 5. Remove Water As you wait for help, mop up the water to minimize destruction to your personal valuables. However, before you begin mopping, make sure this water is clean. Gray or black water often contains bacteria that may cause infections or put your life at risk of other health complications. If it is an external sewer line that’s causing water to fill your house, do not attempt to remove the water. Just wait for help.

11. 6. Put Together Evidence For Your Insurance Company Do this by taking as many pictures as you can before help comes and sets off the damage restoration process. A water emergency can throw anyone off balance, and the implications of water damage can be far-reaching. As you wait for help to arrive, there are a couple of things you can do. Switch off the water source if you can, turn off electricity to prevent shock, and make sure you are safe.

12. COMPLETE MOLD REMOVAL: WHEN IS TESTING AND SAMPLING NECESSARY? Mold is like a ninja. It is silent, smelly and most of the time, sneaky! If you’ve noticed lately that there is a stale odor in certain parts of your home, or you see discoloration in the walls, chances are you have mold colonies in your home. But before declaring a family meeting and deciding to sell your house, have mold testing done. Below are circumstances when you need to do mold testing and sampling.

13. 1. You Are Purchasing or Moving Into a New Building or House Buying a home is a massive investment and you shouldn’t discover that there are moisture and mold problem after signing those escrow papers. Also, moving into a new rental property often requires that you sign a lease. Make sure you have a professional test and sample air just to ensure everything is fine. 2. The Moldy Air Tends To Be Stronger When Doors And Windows Are Closed In most cases, you can notice mold smell even before even seeing the mold itself. The mold visible to your naked eye is composed of millions of mold spores that aren’t visible without a microscope. It’s important for a mold inspection to be done earlier and not wait until you see the mold. This might help to prevent damage to the building as well as save you lots of money in repair work.

14. 3. You Or A Neighboring Unit Has Experienced A Water Leak Water or a source of moisture is integral to the growth of mold. If there has been a water leak in the property for a few days, it could be all that’s needed for mold to begin growing. Apart from ensuring that the water leak is repaired immediately, you also need to have a thorough test done to ensure that there is no mold. In the event that it is found, dealing with it now will be much better than waiting. 4. Your asthma or allergies become worse when you get inside. This is the strongest indication yet that your air contains allergens. Mold is a very common indoor allergen. It could be grown indoors and you won’t see or smell it. A professional mold removal provider can not only test to see if there is mold, but also perform allergen testing for pet dander, mouse, cockroach, rat, and, dust mites.

15. 5. Condensation on the Windows When there is condensation on the inner part of your windows, it is possible for mold to grow in the wood neighboring your windows. Moisture on windows usually indicates high levels of moisture in your home. If this is the case, make sure the air is sampled and tested. It will help you to nip the mold problem in the bud, and forestall a possible disaster. Bottom-line If you suspect mold presence in your home or office, the most important thing you need to do is to invite a mold removal professional to test it. Mold can cause the structural integrity of the building to deteriorate, and cause allergies to kids and even pets. Also, if left unchecked, mold can lead to diseases that become expensive to treat. If you are moving into a new property, or you want to buy one, make sure mold testing is done first.

16. HOW TO TELL IF A MOLD REMEDIATION PROCESS IS DONE PROFESSIONALLY No one likes mold on their property. The fungus gives your property a disagreeable and depressing look. The biggest problem, however, is not about mold messing up the appearance of your property, but its ability to make you sick. Mold is associated with disease-causing mycotoxins that you shouldn’t come into contact with. Since mold likes invading wet places, it’s difficult to avoid it. Therefore, you are likely to find mold under the sinks, on the walls of your bathroom, and beneath the ceiling of leaking roofs. In the event that you have tried home remedies like ammonia and vinegar and they’ve failed to work, you should consider hiring a mold remediation professional. It’s important, nonetheless, to understand that not all mold remediation professionals and companies are really professional. Some just want your money and will not do a satisfactory job. So, how can you know that the mold remediation process is professionally done? To answer this question, here are 5 important things the professionals you hire needs to do:

17. 1. Initial Site Inspection When you give a mold remediation company a call, the first thing they do is send some experts to your place. The experts will primarily come to examine your site to determine the extent of the mold attack. They’ll come with advanced tools for inspecting mold, especially in areas you wouldn’t expect, including your basement, on the ceiling, and behind the walls. They actually do site inspections before giving you a budget estimate. 2. Mold Testing and Reporting Once the mold remediation professionals have visually examined your site, they’ll collect air samples to be taken to the laboratory for testing. The whole idea is to know the kind of mold they are dealing with. This helps them to come up with an effective treatment for the fungi and its ideal removal technique. To confirm that the testing has been done, you’ll receive a conclusive report from the company.

18. 3. Permanent Mold Removal This is the highlight of professionalism in as far as mold remediation is concerned. The removal process is very elaborate and it’s characterized by physical and chemical techniques. Physically, mold is removed by cutting out infected parts, vacuuming, and surface cleaning. Chemically, the experts will use biocide, an EPA-approved mold killer. Though most people use bleach and ammonia, these two are not EPA-certified. 4. Permanent Mold Disposing When the mold is removed, it has to be totally disposed of to prevent a reinvasion. So, the mold remediation professional will put the mold in plastic bags. The bags will be sealed and taken for safe mold disposal.

19. 5. Professional Follow-Ups Lastly, professionals always make follow-ups to ensure that the job was well done. So, expect the mold remediation company that you hire to send some experts over to you to check your site. If there’s something you are not happy about, you can talk to the expert about it during the follow-up. So that you can be sure that you are not wasting money on mold remediation, it’s important to know what to expect from the remediation process. The above aspects are indications of a professionally-done mold remediation process. So, keep watch to see if the expert you hire will accomplish them.

20. CAN DUCT CLEANING BOOST THE EFFICIENCY OF YOUR HVAC SYSTEM? Considering that the ductwork of an HVAC system is ordinarily hidden, most homeowners tend to forget about it entirely. You only come to realize that you should have taken proper care of it when your HVAC system is failing. One major ductwork challenge that may make your HVAC system to fail is dust. Nowadays, even mold and vermin invade HVAC systems. So, you also need to be aware of them. The accumulations generally lower the efficiency of your HVAC system.

21. HOW DO DUST AND OTHER DEPOSITS LOWER HVAC EFFICIENCY? Generally, dust and other deposits clog up your ductwork. As a result, your system suffers airflow resistance. This means that air cannot flow as efficiently as it should. The resistance forces your HVAC system to work harder in order to maintain acceptable indoor temperature levels. The problem, nonetheless, is that your system needs more energy to meet the new requirement and to conquer airflow resistance. So, you’ll have to pay more for the HVAC energy costs. There’s also the danger of the deposits interfering with your ductwork, resulting in premature breakdown of your HVAC system. Now, you’ll not be dealing with a less efficient system but one that’s not efficient at all. Simply put, you’ll have to consider repairing or replacing your HVAC system. Unfortunately, it’s never easy to incur either cost.

22. WHAT THE SOLUTION? Dust, dirt, and mold need to be removed from your ductwork. This means having to clean your ductwork. Luckily, there are a number of duct cleaning experts you can approach. Most of them employ advanced technologies like compressed air, pneumatic agitation, and visualization tools. The technologies ensure that no deposit is left in your ductwork.

23. DUCT CLEANING VS. HVAC EFFICIENCY: WHAT’S THE RELATIONSHIP? As aforementioned, duct cleaning is all about removing dust, dirt, mold, and other deposits from the ductwork of your HVAC system. This means that your ductwork will not face airflow resistance after cleaning. In other words, the HVAC system will perform at its peak. Minimal energy will be required to power your HVAC system and to keep the indoor temperature of your home regulated. In the end, duct cleaning guarantees you reduced energy bills. The other thing that you are guaranteed is improved in-house air quality. You’ll be able to breathe air that’s free from allergens like dust and pet dander. The greatest benefit in all of this is having a long- serving HVAC system. Since duct cleaning ensures that your HVAC system is not overworked, the chances of the system failing because of a ductwork problem are reduced. So, you’ll be able to not only enjoy an efficient HVAC system but also one that serves you long without breaking down. Of course, you have to continue cleaning your ductwork periodically or as advised by your HVAC expert. Clearly, duct cleaning will help to boost the efficiency of your HVAC system. Thus, it’s advisable to consider doing it regularly. However, it’s important that you let professionals handle the job as it’s not a straightforward task. It requires specialized tools and techniques. The cleaning will cost you money but the cost can’t be matched by what you’ll be saving when having a fully-efficient HVAC system.