Indoor Air Quality, or IAQ, is the fastest-growing area of our industry. It's a fact - the more airtight your home, the more indoor air pollution can affect your health. People with allergies and other sensitivities suffer greatly from mold spores and other biological elements trapped inside their homes by inefficient filtering and cleaning of conditioned air. In recent years, many companies have entered this rather un-regulated branch of the air conditioning industry which includes duct cleaning, sanitization and air filtration. Few are actually qualified IAQ specialists, and many are just plain incompetent. Make sure an IAQ company is experienced and properly certified before they perform any work on your air conditioning system.

Here are several methods currently being used to alleviate IAQ pollution:

Duct Cleaning.  A profitable service for many companies, but often not effective help for you. Most residential duct systems are made of material that can be damaged by current cleaning processes, allowing loose fibers from the fiberglass lining to blow into your home. And dust levels are often elevated after "cleaning," sometimes taking six months to settle down to original levels! Actually, if you're having IAQ problems from contaminated ducts, you can actually replace your entire duct system for not much more cost than a cleaning!

Sanitization.  Applying sprays and other products to "sanitize" your duct system is another method of IAQ pollution control. Few spray-on products are EPA-approved, but for lack of regulation and certification controls, many companies use ineffective and often dangerous products. One company was caught saturating a home duct system with a product approved for use only in dog kennels!

Filtration.  Indoor Air Quality can be greatly improved by using proper filtration equipment. There are many levels of filtration available.

Washable, Disposable Filter.   Designed primarily to protect equipment, these filters are included in all systems to prevent large dust particles from becoming lodged in the evaporator coil. They do very little to improve indoor air quality.

Electrostatic Filter.  The next step up in filtration, they create a positive/negative electrical field through friction, producing a static charge that collects particles. There are many brands offered on the market and all vary in effectiveness. The Newton brand electrostatic filter is considered the best available.

Pleated Filter.   A better level of filtration, the pleated filter is very effective in removing mold spores, pollen and fine dust. We recommend the Space Guard brand 4" pleated filter when customers need more sophisticated air filtration.

Electronic Air Cleaner.   The best method of indoor air filtration, this equipment creates an electrical charge forming a positive/negative field that forces contaminates to bond to collecting cores in the unit. It's highly effective in removing major contaminants like mold spores, pollen and fine dust. One caution though - ozone gas is created as a by-product of this process, and can adversely affect people with ozone sensitivity.