Duct Service
Signs That You Need Dryer Vent Cleaning
Clogged Vent is the leading cause of house fires. So, at least once a year, you should schedule a professional dryer duct cleaning.
Got Rusted Out Vents?
Why is my ductwork rusting?
The rusting of air vents, including floor vents, can be attributed to several factors, primarily involving moisture exposure. If there are high humidity levels or water intrusion within the ventilation system, it can lead to the development of rust over time. This holds true for floor vents as well. Additionally, poor ventilation and inadequate insulation may contribute to condensation, accelerating the corrosion process on both air and floor vents. Regular maintenance, addressing leaks promptly, and ensuring proper ventilation can help mitigate the risk of rust formation, preserving the efficiency and longevity of your HVAC system.
Here’s something that we frequently see when cleaning air ducts in older buildings.
In a specific example, this heating vent is located in a store on the Danforth, near the front door. It was totally rusted out to the point where almost no air was coming out of the vent. There was a gaping hole in the pipe underneath that was serving it.Understanding what causes rust on air vents, including floor vents, is crucial for implementing effective preventive measures.
If you have air ducts like these in need of repair, contact us at City Duct Cleaning for a free estimate on our professional air duct cleaning services.
Another common thing we see while visiting older homes has to do with the return air vent right near the front door… the metal inside is often rotted out because over the years shoes and wet boots have been placed on the grill, causing the metal to rust out over time.
Related Blog
“The duct cleaning procedure in a Toronto area home starts with a visual inspection of your heating and air duct system.”
How to fix rusted ductwork?
If you’re dealing with rusted HVAC ducts, follow these steps for effective rust removal and repair. Identify rust in air vents, particularly if your system is showing signs of being rusted out. Address rust on AC vents promptly to prevent further damage. We can fix this for you, and this will help to make your HVAC system much more energy efficient. Repairing rusted out duct connector pipes and the metal boots will also make your home much more comfortable. And when you happen to look in, the metal will be shiny and new again!
After you have replaced any rusted ductwork in your home, you may want to consider sealing the system as needed. Sealing your home’s ductwork saves money, energy and your health. Find out why and how in this short video.
Also read: Dryer Vent and Air Duct Cleaning Testimonials
Also read: Dryer Lint Traps – Everything You Need to Know
Also read: 4 Ways Dirty Air Ducts Can Make You Sick
The Technical Side To Cleaning A Dryer Vent
A magnehelic pressure gauge is a device, similar to a manometer, that is used to measure positive, negative, and differential pressures.
Just as a magnehelic gauge can give your HVAC technician a wealth of information about the operation of your furnace and duct system, it can also provide your duct cleaning technician with valuable information about your dryer exhaust vent too.
The magnehelic gauge can be used to quantify how blocked (or inefficient) a dryer is operating prior to cleaning the dryer vent. After cleaning, the gauge will tell you exactly how much more efficiently the dryer is venting. Technically speaking, dryer manufacturers say to have the dryer vent cleaned if the back pressure readings are greater than 0.6 – 0.75 inches of water column (wci), as indicated on the gauge itself.
The magnehelic gauge measures duct static pressure, which is the pressure the blower produces in the exhaust conduit. In this industry, back pressure is a result of one or more of these conditions: long duct runs, excessive elbows, squished transition hoses, lint buildup, bird nests, rodent nests, and termination hoods that are blocked or feature an inefficient design.
As you can see, cleaning a dryer exhaust duct can be narrowed down to a pretty exact science. Contact City Duct Cleaning today to schedule your dryer exhaust vent cleaning/inspection.
Here you can know about how often your home needs dryer duct cleaning.
Related Information:
My Animals Urinated in My Duct System Again! What Can I Do?
Pet Urine is difficult to locate in any home, even though it is very easy to smell. Pet urine can be removed out of your duct work. To determine where your pet has urinated, provide yourself with a UV black light. Make sure you turn all the lights off on that floor, so that you can be sure to see the glow.
Once you detect the area(s) where the pet has urinated, you must clean that area in its entirety. Most times animals will go to the bathroom on carpet or hardwood floors, which can be located close to your duct system. Once an animal has urinated in one spot then it is very instinctive that they keep re-soiling that specific area.
To remove the odor, it is highly NOT-RECOMMENDED to use any products that are ammonia based. As you know, if you have this problem, most urine has ammonia in it, which does not effectively clean the soiled area, and will keep the animal still interested to keep re-soiling this spot. We do recommend the use of baking soda with white vinegar. Please always do a test spot first to ensure that it does not create more damage, by discoloring your carpets or hardwood floors. Make sure that these products do not enter your heating and cooling system. If any of the products do enter the duct system, you should open all the windows and doors and call us.
Once the surrounding areas around the vents are cleaned, you will need to take professional home duct cleaning services. Dust, debris, crevices, or cracks can hold in the pet urine odor. Once your system is running it will distribute this awful smell throughout the home. At City Duct Cleaning we have the proper chemicals that can remove the urine smell from inside the ductwork, without contaminating the rest of your system.
We have a long-time customer who had a kitten that took a liking to urinating directly over one particular air vent in her home.
The heat from the furnace would dry it out and spread the stink throughout the entire floor that vent was serving.
It was necessary to replace the metal boot and the first pipe leading into it. Due to the nature of normal ductwork installations, where one pipe goes into the next one to enhance proper air flow, there was a gap where the two fittings connected that could not be reached to be cleaned. So we replaced those two parts and the air vent even though it was necessary to put a hole in the drywall directly below that air vent.
We also encapsulated the entire duct system, paying closer attention to that duct run. Our chemical also happens to work perfectly on drywall, concrete and wood, so while we had the space open we also sealed all around the area where the vent was (between the floor and the ceiling below). This procedure solved the problem with the odor completely.
It is not clear how she was able to get her kitten to stop peeing in the vent.
Also read : How Is Duct Cleaning Different from Furnace Cleaning & Maintenance?
What a Summer
HOT!!! Yeah no kidding. Here in Toronto it has been exceptionally hot this summer…but are we complaining? No Way!!
But is your air conditioner complaining? Maybe. Whenever you operate the air duct system for heating or cooling, the bottom of the Air Conditioning coil has a greater chance of clogging with dirt.
This can often cause your coil to freeze up and will definitely reduce your air flow down to almost nothing. Give us a call and we might be able to help you over the phone, and if not, then one of our friendly technicians will be happy to stop by and help with your cooling needs.
Here is a useful video that explains some ways of how to stay cool during our extremely hot summers.
Published on Jun 19, 2012
Toronto EMS Public Service Announcement, the dangers of hot weather and quick tips to stay safe.
