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Old 07-10-2009, 04:33 PM
m22 m22 started this thread
 
139 posts, read 586,382 times
Reputation: 84

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A company called American Clear Air came to clean our air ducts today & found mold and mildew. They sprayed biocides/sanitizers and then recommended a UV cleaner/germicidal called "SafeGuard UV Cleanser" for $750 to prevent future growth.
Is this necessary (the UV thing) or is it a scare-tactic, trendy kind of thing? Everyone knows mold & mildew are big red flags and that you'll pay just about anything to prevent it. However, I already paid $750 for them to get rid of the existing mold & mildew so money is definitely tight and if I don't have to pay another $750, I would sleep a lot easier!!! HELP Please!

Also - any feedback about American Clear Air would be great too, if you have worked with them.
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Old 07-11-2009, 04:54 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
16,787 posts, read 49,079,250 times
Reputation: 9478
I have not worked with this company and don't know anything about them. But I think your skepticism is justified. There are people out there who are profiting on peoples fear of problems that they may not have.

This UV Air Purifier review UV Air Purifiers - Air Purifiers Reviews says

Quote:
The problem with UV air purifiers, or combination units that include UV light bulbs, is that the science isn't conclusive. While studies do show that UV light can kill organic allergens, heat, low humidity and exposure time are also important. Critics doubt that the UV light bulbs contained in air purifiers can live up to their claims, because allergens aren't exposed for very long to the light. For now, it's not clear whether these air purifiers are worth the extra expense over a good performing HEPA unit.
I would not spend any money on a piece of equipment like this if I had not first had an indoor air quality test done by an independent lab to determine if I really had a problem or not. And then the solution to the problem would probably be more along the lines of eliminating the cause of the leak, excess humidity, condensation, flooding, etc. that caused the mold problem to begin with.

Mold exists everywhere in our environment so I expect the company trying to sell you on the duct cleaning and UV cleanser could probably find evidence of mold in any house they tested. That doesn't mean its at such high levels it is an indoor air quality problem which would require remediation.

If seriously think you have problems I would contact someone like ARC Abatement Inc. - Services - Mold Remediation (http://www.arcabatement.com/mold_remediation.htm - broken link) to test for and verify the problem, and recommend appropriate remediation and correction measures. I have worked with them on commercial abatement projects.

This State of Texas "Consumer Mold Information Sheet" may be helpful to you. http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/mold/docs/consumerinfo.doc

I don't see American Clear Air on the list of State approved Mold Assessment Companies http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/mold/profession.shtm

See also the Texas Attorney General website regarding mold http://www.oag.state.tx.us/consumer/...ent.shtml#mold

Last edited by CptnRn; 07-11-2009 at 05:28 PM..
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