ENTEK’S CHRIS MCKINNEY with one of the company’s vans. Pressurized vinyl acetate polymer is pumped into a sealed heating/ventilation/air cooling system, and reduces leaks in the system. The process is monitored by a computer and gives real-time leakage reduction information. Photo courtesy of FH Browne.
Entek Corporation of Vancouver is one of the leading heating, ventilating and air-conditioning contractors in Southwest Washington and is a company that has provided solutions for indoor comfort and air quality in both offices and homes since 1946.
Established in Longview as an appliance-repair and refrigeration-service company under the name B & B Refrigeration, Entek continued to grow since the 1970’s when it was a mid-sized, 19-person shop to its 56 current employees. The Vancouver office has served the Greater Portland metropolitan and Clark County areas since 1989.
Entek is a Better Business Bureau member, and is Dunn & Bradstreet rated.
Entek designs, installs and services climate-control systems for commercial, industrial and residential clients and offers air-duct cleaning service for both home and business customers and can remove years of accumulated dust and debris from ventilation, cooling or air circulating duct work.
Using a specialized vacuum truck, their equipment can exert up to 15,000 cfm (cubic feet of air per minute) of negative pressure on a duct system. Coupled with an assortment of power brushes and tools, and a small video camera, which they run through the ducts after the cleaning to make sure there is no residual dust or dirt, the company promises the most thorough duct cleaning available today.
They also offer duct sanitizing and are one of the only heating and ventilating companies in the area that offers a revolutionary new method to seal leaks in heating/cooling/ventilating systems.
Current research shows more than half of today’s homeowners suffer from indoor environment problems such as allergies, hot or cold spots, excess dust, poor humidity control and high utility bills. Since nearly 50 percent of a home’s energy bill is spent on heating or air conditioning, leakage costs consumers nationwide about $25 billion each year. Cleaning and sealing those ducts and getting rid of years of accumulated dust and dirt can make a huge difference in your quality of life.
After thoroughly cleaning homeowner’s ducts, Entek’s technicians, using infrared heat leak-finding cameras, infiltrometer blower doors and airflow measurement devices, can detect hidden home and duct systems problems. Then either using the labor-intensive mastic method of hand sealing of many of the visible joints, or the new recently-developed “Aeroseal” method, they can seal all visible and invisible joints.
Their test equipment can show the homeowner in real time the reduction of leakage as the sealant (an aerosolized fine mist of vinyl acetate polymer) is carried by escaping to any cracks and leaks, where it accumulates and permanently seals the leak. The polymer does not coat the inside of the ducts, so there is no worry about material breaking off and entering the home. The Aeroseal material merely bonds to the cracks.
When cleaning ventilation or heating/cooling systems, technicians completely block all registers and grills, scrub the ducts with pressured air and a system of brushes, wash and clean the filters, the register books and registers, then if asked, will seal the entire system against leaks. The process of cleaning takes about 6-8 hours, the application of the polymer sealant about 4-5 hours.
Clean and sealed ducts provide customers with cleaner, dust free air, increases the life of the furnace, heat pump or air conditioning system and helps the equipment remain trouble free. Then there is substantial energy cost savings.
“It’s like your house, no matter how old, is getting a 20-year-old’s set of lungs,” said Entek’s Chris McKinney. “With ‘normal’ home duct leakage of between 20-40 percent, we can guarantee that using this process we can get leakage down to 5 percent.”
In addition, Entek offers installation of Media air filters, electronic air cleaners, humidifiers and high-intensity UV light to improve the air their client’s breathe.
McKinney adds, “With more than 60 years of experience in the HVAC industry, Entek Corporation is dedicated to providing the best-possible solution to your family’s indoor-environment needs. You can count on us to design a system that fits your unique household. Since we have installed thousands of systems over the years, we have acquired the knowledge and know-how to do the job right, and as a result, we have earned a reputation for service excellence.
“Our longtime association with home-comfort and air-quality leaders including Carrier, Coleman, Honeywell and Mitsubishi ensures that our customers get the highest-quality components in their ‘indoor weather’ system. But, our commitment to your comfort doesn’t end with the sale. We have the largest staff of trained technicians in Southwest Washington. We are on-call seven days a week, 24 hours a day to provide quick, professional service along with preventative-maintenance plans to keep your system running at peak efficiency for years to come.”
While the complete process, the cleaning and sealing of a duct system can be expensive, the company offers full financing and Clark County Public Utilities offers a $500 rebate for both duct sealing and heat pump testing. The program is funded by a grant from the U.S. Dept. of Energy through the American Recovery and Investment Act.
Customers can call Clark’s Free Duct and Home Performance Program at (360) 397-2375 ext. 4752. They may also call Entek at (360) 883-5462 to learn more about the duct cleaning and system sealing and other energy conserving services the company offers.
