When it comes to cleaning the air ducts in your home, you must be careful in choosing which system is the best. Having clean duct work in your home or office is extremely important for the well being of those inside it. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calculates that indoor air contains up to 70 times more contaminants than outdoor air. Cleaning your ducts can remove allergens like dirt, dust, debris and mold from your home. It can also prevent them spreading throughout it via the air conditioning and heating systems.
There are two types of systems used to clean air ducts. The first and most common is a portable system which uses hoses to go through the vents and suck up contaminants in the ducts. The second, and much more effective is the truck mounted Power Vac system. It also uses hoses, but there are several differences between the two. When compared there is really only one logical choice.
Differences Between The Systems
Power
The biggest difference between portable and truck mounted systems is power. Most portable vacuums are rated at around 2,000 cubic feet per minute (CFM) of air circulation. The very largest gas or electric one is rated at 5100 CFM. Power Vac systems on the other hand have 12,000 CFM. That is more than double the best portable system, and around 6 times the average ones.
Storage of Contaminants
Portable systems have their hoses hooked up to a storage container which is set up inside your house. Even if nothing goes wrong, and the portable system is working properly, 1% of the pollutants find their way back into the house. It might not seem like a lot, but to someone who is allergic to contaminants in the air, 1% can be the difference between life and death. Power Vac systems are mounted right on the truck so 100% of the contaminants are taken outside of your house and stored. Portable systems often have seals and gaskets that are not tight or spring leaks, again releasing pollutants back into the household.
Fly By Night
We’ve all had those annoying calls from people wanting to clean our air ducts. They are the fly by night kind of companies that show up with a cheap system, and do a third rate job of cleaning your ducts. Some even pretend to be truck mounted, and hide their storage container in the back of their truck, out of sight. A real Power Vac truck mounted unit costs about $100,000, something these scam artists could never afford. The real deal almost looks like a firetruck, so you will know the difference immediately.
Cost
Power Vac units cost around double what the portable units charge. When it comes to the health of you and your family, isn’t it worth spending the extra money to be sure it is done correctly and responsibly? You get what you pay for, especially when it comes to eliminating pollutants from your home.
After comparing the two systems, it is easy to see that the Power Vac truck mounted system is hands down the logical choice. When it comes to breathing clean air, there really is only one option.
