The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends that if you are going to have your air ducts cleaned, you have it done by a company that holds membership and certification with the National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA).

Being a member of NADCA guarantees that a cleaner will follow a set of ethical guidelines and will service the entire HVAC system. The following links reflect on how to determine if the air duct cleaner you are considering is the right match for your home:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has listed poor indoor air quality as America’s fourth-largest environmental threat. Dirty duct systems are a major source of indoor air pollution. Airborne contaminants are pulled into the ducts every time the heating and cooling system runs. Over time, these contaminants build up inside the ductwork, decreasing the level of indoor air quality in the home.

Both the EPA & the World Health Organization (WHO) have published studies discussing the adverse health effects that occur when dampness and dirt contaminate indoor air quality. The WHO report establishes that HVAC system components play a major role in the perceived indoor air quality of a home. They link the dirtiness of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems with an increase of multiple respiratory symptoms and specifically mention "dirty ductwork, dirty filters, and dirty air intakes" as pollutant sources. You can read the document here:

Indoor Air Quality

According to Discovery Magazine, the average 1600 sq. ft. home accumulates about 40 pounds of dust per year. The contaminants within the system can often become so prevalent with the system that homeowners with allergies can suffer symptoms within their own homes. Reducing the amount of the allergens circulating through your ventilhation system can help to improve the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) of your home.  The following article reviews how serious a threat allergens within a duct systen can be:

Allergens

According to the EPA, a build-up of .042 inches of dirt on a heating or cooling coil can result in a decrease in an HVAC system efficiency of 21%.

A properly and thoroughly cleaned HVAC System, not just the air ducts, can reduce the costs associated with running your HVAC system and increase the useful life of your HVAC equipment. EPA research suggests that cleaning dirty cooling coils, fans and heat exchangers can improve the efficiency of cooling and heating systems and lower the energy costs of running your heating and cooling system. Because we provide air duct cleaning to the NADCA standard, we will be cleaning these components with the upmost care. In fact, an American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) study concluded that maintaining HVAC system cleanliness in homes would reduce average operating costs by 10% to 25%. The following article reviews these numbers and more in relation to air duct cleaning:

Energy Savings

In response to the pesticide industry's growing concern over the use of sanitizer in air duct cleanings, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted a study on the efficacy of its utilization. They found that sanitizing ducts can cause serious health concerns and do not approve of its application within HVAC systems.

Unfortunately, there are many companies that still try to utilize sanitizer as a selling point or, worse yet, an acutal service. They often make sweeping health claims, maintaining that they are capable of removing mold, mildew, bacterial growth, etc.

The truth is that these growths do not grow on sheet metal, so any charge for sanitizing services is unnecessary and false. They grow in organic material, which would be the dirt and debris within your system. As a NADCA certified cleaner, we are going to remove this material from your ductwork and use a before-and-after video inspection to prove it. The following article is the press release of the EPA responding to the pesticide industry's concerns.

Sanitizer