"Your Natural Choice" for duct cleaning, carpet cleaning and window cleaning solutions
You might be comparing apples to oranges when it comes to hiring a duct cleaning company.
When searching for a professional duct cleaning company, we are your right choice providing affordable yet high-quality services. Read on to learn more about the types of duct cleaning!
There are two types of duct cleaning. Negative Air method (what we do) and Rotary brush method. While both remove dust and other debris from your system, they differ in the results they achieve. The National Air Duct Cleaning Association (NADCA) recognizes the Negative Air as the most comprehensive method. Companies throughout the industry, however, practice both methods. Below are the differences between the two:
A Negative Air machine typically vacuums at 2000cfm whereas a Rotary brush system (Rotobrush, Ram Air, Goodway, Ductmaster, Rotovac) vacuums at 300cfm on the high end. The more powerful Negative Air system removes far more dust, dander, pollen, mold, mildew.
Negative Air systems remove not only dust, but also larger pieces of construction debris, plaster, rodents, and even toys! Rotary brush systems cannot collect larger pieces of debris due to small nozzle size. Large objects block their vacuum system.
Some homes have dampers which are moveable plates inside the ductwork which direct airflow to specific areas of the home. These dampers are often in zone control systems. Negative Air machines are well equipt to work with dampers and they do not pose any issues. A Rotary Brush system cannot pass through dampers.
A Negative Air system handles sharp turns and smaller ductwork with ease because the air sweep and brush are smaller than an inch in diameter. The 3 inch brushes of the Rotary Brush get caught in small ductwork.
A trunkline is a line of ducting that serves as the distribution source for your HVAC system. The plenums are the pieces that join your HVAC equipment and ductwork, allowing circulation between the two. A Negative Air system cleans the trunklines and plenums whereas a Rotary brush system does not create any negative pressure and is unable to clean these areas.
NEGATIVE AIR
At 4 Seasons we use the Negative Air. We connect the negative air machine to the ductwork or plenum which puts it under negative pressure. We then use a camera and agitation tools to dislodge the contaminates found inside. The Negative air machine sucks the light particles into the attached containers. The heavy particles fall to the bottom of the ductwork and air scrubbing tools force them toward the vacuum. Negative air cleans the entire HVAC system. And, in addition to all of this, we even clean the vent covers for you!
ROTARY BRUSH
Rotary Brush machines are equipt with a vacuum in the center of the brush. The spinning motion of the brush throws debris in every direction. The suction of the rotary brush vacuum picks up smaller particles, but is not strong enough to vacuum heavier objects. The larger particles may remain at the bottom of the vent after duct cleaning. Since the Rotary Brush uses no negative air pressure in the ventilation system, the dirt thrown can also escape into the home through seams in the ductwork. The Rotary Brush method misses the goal of cleaning all the dust, debris and other contaminants from the home.
In our opinion Negative Air is the winner. Now that you know how to compare air duct cleaning, which would you choose?
Brrrrrr! It’s cold outside! Are your house making popping sounds?
There are a few things that can cause the noises. One is the expansion or contraction of aluminum. If you have aluminum siding on your house, or if your windows have aluminum cladding, this natural occurrence could be the reason for all the racket!
Low-e glass in windows can also be a culprit of noise caused by temperature changes, particularly when paired with aluminum siding. This type of glass is very energy efficient and is made to reflect the sun, but when the glass absorbs the sun’s heat it radiates it to the surrounding aluminum siding which causes expansion and noise.
How low-e glass works
Vinyl siding, if not installed correctly, can be another cause of popping heard inside your home. Sometimes vinyl siding pops and cracks if it has been fastened too tightly to the house. If this is the case, you may want to have it looked it and possibly redone. Most manufacturers recommend a certain amount of space be allotted to allow for the product to expand or contract during temperature changes.
If you have never heard these sounds before and had recently had your windows replaced, the cause could be improperly installed windows. There may be tension built up on the jambs of windows that aren’t placed correctly and you should have a professional take a look at them.
While Four Seasons can help you maintain your siding and windows, we do not provide installation services. With this said, we always tell our customers to call us whether we offer the service they are looking for or not, because chances are we will know another great small business they can support. For your window or siding needs we recommend the following: ABC Seamless of St. Cloud, BD Exteriors, and Minnesota Home Improvements.
We Love our customers! And we love air duct cleaning! With February comes Valentine’s Day, a holiday to celebrate those we love. In the northern states February also marks a time where many of us have spent close to three months cooped up indoors! We decided the best way we could celebrate the meaning of this month is by sharing our love of clean air with the people we love at a heavily discounted price.
The average home collects roughly 40 pounds of dust in a years time. This dust settles into your vents or in your carpet and upholstery or other furnishings. It’s comprised of skin cells, hair, clothing fibers, possibly pet dander, bacteria, dust mites, dirt or soil, pollen, and bits of plastic. This interesting article written by www.Forbes.com shares a study on just how much micro plastic we are breathing. It’s important to clean your air ducts every four years, or following a remodeling project, particularly any involving drywall dust.
While duct cleaning alone improves air quality, saves on energy bills, and extends the life of your furnace, it doesn’t get all of the dust. Carpets and rugs are big offenders when it comes to trapping dust. Carpet should be cleaned once a year by hot water extraction, particularly if you are trying to protect a manufacturers warranty. Four Seasons is a one-stop-shop and can provide both of these services, plus dryer exhaust cleaning, upholstery cleaning, soft washing, and window cleaning.
While having both carpets and ducts cleaned at the same time is ideal for air quality, we understand it might not be ideal for your pocketbook. We LOVE our customers so for the entire month of February when you hire us to clean your air ducts we will throw in a free Young Living carpet cleaning. We will clean three areas, up to 150 square feet each, plus clean your air exchanger at no charge if you have one. That’s a $200 value! If you don’t have carpet and would like to have an area rug cleaned instead we can work that out as well. Give us a call. We strive to be flexible and easy to do business with and deliver the best possible customer experience. Learn more about us here and let us throw a little love your way!
Thank you for voting us BEST WINDOW CLEANING COMPANY!
To celebrate, we are giving away a FREE window cleaning in the St. Cloud area!
Nominate someone who deserves this special treat on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/4SeasonsWindowCarpetAirDuctCleaning
Sometimes it really is what you can’t see that makes all the difference. We are helping St. Cloud’s Promise Neighborhood http://www.pncentralmn.com with a much different kind of back-to-school collection this year. We want as many children as possible head back to school not only with new pencils, markers, crayons, and notebooks, but also with brand new socks and underwear. It’s such a simple thing. Many of us take it for granted – but for those who don’t have good socks and underwear it is a big deal. So let’s do this!
From August 1 -31 we are offering a skivvies special! Give your technician a new pair of socks or underwear when they are cleaning your windows, carpet, or ducts and your bill will be deducted by $2.00 per pair! Don’t need the services but still want to donate? Let us know and will work something out!
Here’s the DEAL:
Save UP TO $50 on air duct cleaning by donating 25 pairs of socks or underwear.
Save UP TO $30 on carpet cleaning by donating up to 15 pairs of socks or underwear.
Save UP TO $20 on window cleaning by donating up to 10 pairs of socks or underwear.
This week (Aug. 1) you can get a 14 pack of socks on sale at Target for $9.59 – so that’s big savings. You might even want to buy a bunch so you can throw some extras in just for fun!
All of your donations are guaranteed to stay local! The Promise Neighborhood will distribute all of the socks and underwear we collect to families in need who live in the St. Cloud area whose children are heading back to schools located within District 742.
Book your window, carpet, and/or air duct cleaning with us in August. You’ll beat the rush, save money, support a good cause, and give a kid a reason to smile. Call us today to schedule your appointment! 320-240-7994
Do you love the smell of your carpet and air ducts when we are cleaning them? That light cinnamon scent is Young Living Thieves Cleaner, a plant-based cleaner made from a blend of pure essential oils including cinnamon, cloves, eucalyptus, rosemary and lemon – and there is a story behind it!
Legend has it that a band of four 15th century French thieves would cover themselves in this special combination of essential oils to protect themselves while they stole from from both the living and the dead who suffered from the Black Plague. They never caught the plague, but soon their crimes caught up with them and they were arrested. Authorities were intrigued. Why had none of the four thieves fallen ill? The only explanation had to be the special formula worn by the thieves!
The authorities struck a deal of mercy on the condition that the thieves shared the ingredients in their secret formula.
We don’t claim that our carpet and air duct cleaning ingredients are going to protect you from illness but we do believe it contains some very powerful antibacterial qualities to sanitize your home while also cleaning it and giving you a little aromatherapy at the same time! It’s eco-friendly formula and safety for people and pets also makes it tops in our book!
Other ways you might enjoy using Thieves Cleaner is by diluting it into a spray bottle to clean countertops, sinks, toilets, showers and appliances in your bathroom, kitchen, and laundry room. We like to keep a bottle in our camper as well!
Drops of Young Living Thieves Oil can be dispensed into a diffuser to make a room smell nice and to fight germs. It can be rubbed on the feet to help boost the immune system.
Have you experienced our carpet and duct cleaning with Young Living Thieves Cleaner yet? Tell us how you liked it!
https://www.youngliving.com/blog/canada/the-legend-of-thieves/
Some air duct cleaning companies offer a fogging service, typically upsold to their customer as a means of disinfection. What is it? Should you consider it?
Fogging is the process in which a chemical biocide or ozone is sprayed directly into the vents to kill germs. Ozone is classified as a biocide. A biocide is a chemical substance intended to destroy any harmful organism by chemical or biological means. Chemical biocides are regulated under Federal pesticide laws.
There isn’t much research on the effectiveness of using chemical biocides and ozone inside ducts, but what we do know is that even the mildest of these products can cause lung and skin irritation in some people.
We also know that chemical biocides or ozone cannot be used inside fiberglass lined vents or those made with fiber glass duct board. Some chemical biocides can be used on bare sheet metal but may require rinsing with water afterwards. Rinsing with water may stimulate the growth of mold.
Four Seasons does not offer fogging. Our customers notice a difference in their air quality through our meticulous process of dust removal and our incorporation of Young Living Essential Oils. We feel that air duct cleaning should benefit your health – not pose potential risks to it.
If you decide to permit the use of fogging with a company using chemical biocide or ozone make sure your service provider actually SHOWS you why they feel it is warranted, and then get a second opinion. Also make sure you see the biocide label and it’s approved uses, and remember again, that no fogging should ever, under any circumstances, be done in fiberglass vents.
The microscopic particles in smoke can be very damaging to your health. Particularly if you are someone who suffers from heart or lung disease or are pregnant or an older adult. Lately there has been a lot of smoke blowing in from the wildfires. Everyone, but especially people at risk, should keep their doors and windows closed and try to trap drafts as much as possible. If you have leaks around doors or windows pick up some caulking and seal up the areas that are not air tight. Tape will work in a pinch, as will rolling up a towel and placing it in front of gaps. Close blinds or curtains. Run your AC to filter the air in your home. If you don’t have AC just set your thermostat to the fan setting to get the air moving through the filter. We prefer 3M Filtrete brand filters. They are sold in several levels of filtration. The red package is the micro-allergen reduction series and traps smoke particles. Consider upgrading your filter and taking steps to protect your health until the smoke blows over.
Don’t forget to clean your air exchanger while doing your spring cleaning this year. Your air exchanger is usually a box that is located in your laundry or utility room. It has three to four insulated tubes coming out of it. UNPLUG it before you work on it. Then simply slip the filters out and proceed with the maintenance listed on the instructions. Air exchangers can plug up with dust, leaves, hair, and worst of all, mold, since they also recycle hot humid air from kitchens and bathrooms.
Thank goodness it’s almost over. 2020 was hard! So many small business and livelihoods have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among them, and especially, our local family-owned small restaurants. These businesses are so important to our communities. They are involved in everything from sponsoring youth recreation to hosting fundraisers multiple times a month. Even forcing their doors closed could not stop their charitable hearts and community spirit; when they couldn’t fill their booths with people, they instead filled them with food shelf donations. They are absolutely committed to us.
Four Seasons wants to help give back. Specifically, to Blue Line Bar & Grill, House of Pizza, and Liquid Assets. Now until Feb. 28, 2021 when we clean your air ducts we’ll also buy you a $45 gift card to one of these three locally owned, family operated restaurants. You’ll get the chance to give your favorite a shout out on social media and further express your support. And, you’ll get to decide what you’d like to do with your gift card. Will you take a night off from your kitchen and treat your family? Or will you pass it on to a friend or neighbor who’s been going through a rough patch? Perhaps you’d like to thank your child’s teacher with it?
We’ve also talked to the kind folks at Homeless Helping Homeless of St. Cloud. They told us there are lots of single homeless individuals who are braving the winter weather in areas of Sartell, Sauk Rapids, and St. Cloud and they could use cards in $15 increments. If you choose to this option we will Pay it Forward by supporting each restaurant: Blue Line Bar & Grill, House of Pizza, and Liquid Assets with the purchase of one $15 gift card and you will feed three homeless people.
No matter what you decide we’ll be helping each other, and that is what it’s all about. Let’s give them a kickstart in 2021!
Together we’re stronger!
~ The Bertsch Family #Give45
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