Air Duct Facts
- All across our nation, people live, work and learn in indoor enviroments.
On average, people spend approximately 90% of their time indoors, where
many pollutant levels are often two to five times higher than outdoors.
The EPA and its Science Advisory Board have ranked indoor air pollution
among the top five enviromental risks to public health. (U.S. EPA, 1987;
reconcluded U.S. EPA, 1990)
- "The average 6 room house collect's 40 pounds of dust each year. " (Discover
Magazine)
- "Common harmful molds can be found in air conditioning systems
including Aspergillus, penicillium and cladosporium." The Center
for Disease Control (CDC)
- "Typical fiberglass furnace filters are less than 7% efficient " (ASHRAE)
- "There is no practical means to limit exposure to pollens outdoors.
However, at least half of a 24 hour day is spent indoors, and air conditioning
with high- efficiency air filtration can markedly decrease indoor exposure. " (Environmental
Control Measures for Asthma, Miles Weinberger M.D.; Professor of Pediatrics
Director, Pediatric Allergy and Pulmonary Division)
- "Children are more likely than adults to be affected by polluted
indoor air." (Dept. of Consumer Affairs. )
- "Because new houses are built to a high level of energy efficiency
and older homes are being updated, the amount of outside air exchanged
with inside air is dropping dramatically in homes throughout the United
States. The upside is that you're being energy- efficient. The downside
is you're breathing the same air over and over, and allergens do build
up in the house. " (Nat'l Jewish Medical and Research Center.)
* NOTE: The Lucky Duct solution to this problem is that you get your
Air Ducts cleaned out and have Lucky Duct install an ERV (Energy Recovery
Ventilator) ERV's allow the home owner to bring filtered fresh air inside
your air ducts and they expell stale stagnant air out. So it's like your
window's are open year round without the ill effects of energy loss.
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What are dust mites?
Genus: /Dermatophagoides/; Mites are Arachnids (member of the spider
family)- Species: Dermatophagoides Farinae (DF)- commonly found in North America
- Size: About 250 to 300 microns (um) in length
- Adult Mite Lifespan: Up to 3 months; (3 larval stages)
- Reproduction: Female mites lay about 25- 50 eggs.
- Habitat: Mites live in carpet, fabric upholstery, mattresses and inside
air ducts. (Essentially mites live anywhere, where there is a source
of household dust and some humidity)
- Diet: Human skin scale, animal dander and trace nutrients. Mites need
to absorb humidity, they cannot drink water.
- Allergen: Dust mite fecal matter.
- Body Color: Translucent
- Average Threshold before Developing Allergies: 100 mites/gm of dust.
- Allergic Reactions: asthma, rhinitis
- Living conditions: Temp. Range: approximately 59 F to 95 F (15 C to
35 C)
- Relative Humidity Range: approximately 55% to 85% * NOTE: The survival
of adult dust mites is limited to 4-11 days in relative humidities below
50%, however dust mites in the protonymph stage can survive in this dormant
larval stage for several months waiting for the right humidity level.
- Number of People in the United States suffering from Allergies: 50
million and rising.
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