Category Archives: Indoor Air Quality

Gilley says, “Fly south for winter? What winter? I’m sticking around for spring with Gillece!”

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Believe it or not, spring is less than one month away – March 20, 2012 – and with such a mild Pittsburgh winter this year, we’ve barely even noticed that we had one – a winter, that is!  Pretty soon we’ll be springing our clocks forward, putting away our next-to-hardly-used shovels and salt bags, changing our smoke alarm batteries, preparing our flower gardens for what’s to come….. but, sometimes we overlook a few very critical household issues.

Sometimes we overlook that our Central Air Conditioning System has been asleep for at least 3 months.  Not used; not checked – without maintenance.  How do we honestly know if it will even turn on when we click the switch?  Does it still match up to manufacturer’s standards?  Will it live up to its own efficiency and/or is it time to consider something even better?

A great place to start is with Gillece’s $19.95 A/C Maintenance Check.* Just like your vehicle, your Central Air Conditioning System needs cared for; needs maintenance; needs kept up with…  Get a complete overall A/C inspection, complete A/C safety inspection, freon checked, all controls checked, drains checked, and filter checked for only $19.95 with Gillece Services.  An ounce of prevention can actually help save you time and money in the upcoming spring and summer seasons.  Getting you’re A/C  Check-Up before you turn it on can prevent potential major damage in the near future as beginning symptoms can be evident during the maintenance service.

Another key thing to remember is the very pathways through which cooled air travels and is delivered to the rooms in your home.  So, you’ve got the A/C checked and working, but…have you considered your air ducts?  Dirty air ducts affect the quality of your home’s air.  Pet hair, pet dander, dust mites’ feces, pollen, decaying organic matter, residue from chemicals and household products, viruses, bacteria, skin flakes, etc. are typically trapped within your home’s air ducts and can trigger and often enhance allergy and asthma problems and symptoms.

The cleanliness of your ductwork system actually improves its operation as air flow is pushing through more effectively, which can assist in reducing utility bills.  You’ll also see a difference in the amount of dust in your home; and, clean air ducts means no musty odors.  Air is more evenly distributed, and rooms are more balanced and comfortable.

So, get ready now to spring forward – Call Gillece!

*Restrictions apply.  Please call for details.

Gilley asks, “Don’t you and your family deserve to breathe cleaner, healthier air?

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In 2011, Pittsburgh was ranked THIRD WORST metropolitan area for 24-hour particle pollution according to the American Lung Association’s State of The Air Annual Report.  There is, however, some good news!  Gillece Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Solutions can help you to breathe a little easier.  Gillece AIR CARE offers a variety of services and products that increase the integrity of your home’s indoor air, so that you and your family are inhaling the best quality indoor air possible.  Gillece IAQ AIR CARE lessens the impact of indoor air pollution on personal breathing problems, allergy sufferers, asthma sufferers, and the like.

The quality of your home’s indoor air is continuing to be an increasing, yet often overlooked anxiety.  Don’t hesitate to be safe in your very own home.  Gillece Services can clean your air and clear your mind.  If you’re not cleaning it, you’re breathing it.  You are what you breathe!  Gillece AIR CARE offers an assortment of individual and packaged services and products that clean, filter, and purify your home’s air.  An elaborate line of offerings including duct cleaning, scrubbers, filter, purifiers, cleaners, and yes… even humidifiers and thermostats that work to make your home a safer breathing environment for you and your family.  While each service and product performs effortlessly as stand-alones, when cohesively teamed up to work as full-service Gillece AIR CARE management systems, results are even superior.

What’s more important than investing in your family’s health?  Capture and remove dust mites, pet dander, pollen tobacco, and smoke;  assist your body’s immune system against dryness, dehydration, and impact of bacterial germs; balance your indoor air temperature with the smartest, most portable, and easiest-to-use technology; reduce or eliminate mold, mildew, germs, viruses, bacteria, and fungus; and, more.

Gillece Indoor Air Quality Management has a full menu of AIR CARE offerings including:

Gilley says, “Gillece can clean your home of air pollutants and contaminants down to .3 micron in size!!”

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If you’re not cleaning it, you’re breathing it!  Gillece Services offers a variety of Air Filtration Systems, Filters, and Air Purifiers to filter and clean your home’s indoor air, vastly improving its quality.  One of Gillece’s most elite home air filtration systems, the Gillece MicroPower Guard Air Filter by Nature’s Home, is extremely effective at removing even the tiniest air particle contaminants, down to .3 micron in size (98% of all airborne particles measure below 1 micron).  The superior filtering process actually uses an active electromagnetic field to magnetize airborne particles into its disposable filter pad.  The magnetic MicroPower Guard system literally creates a virtual “force field” within the home’s ductwork itself, attracting and capturing many of the smallest, most dangerous-to-breathe submicron airborne particles and pollutants.

Allergenic particles such as pollen, dust, mold spores, fungi spores, tobacco smoke, dust mites, pet hair, and pet dander equally contribute to poor Indoor Air Quality, and are known to have a direct link to allergy and asthma suffering and breathing-related problems.   Your heating and air conditioning air ducts that are dark, damp, and dirty act as an excellent breeding ground for mold, fungi, and dust mites which can spread rapidly when these ducts are in use to either heat or cool your home.  Poor air quality, poor ventilation, and dirty filters are all major contributors to unhealthy air quality.

The MicroPower Guard System comes with four (4) filters and a 90-day timer to remind you to change its filter for maximum electromagnetic filtration of even the tiniest pollutants.  Gillece Services offers replacement filters in a convenient and economical 3-pack as well.

Clean it!  Don’t breathe it!  Call Gillece!!

For over 30 years, Gillece Services has been the Pittsburgh area’s one-stop shop for Plumbing, Heating, Cooling, Electrical, Indoor Air Quality, and Water Conditioning services – emergency, maintenance and replacement.  Family owned and operated, President Tom Gillece innovated the Gillece “There The Same Day or You Don’t Pay!”* service policy, and “Always Here to Take Your Call!” customer philosophy.

Gilley Says, “The Right Balance of Humidification in Your Home Can Improve The Air You Breathe!”

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Fall is upon us – and the heat is on!  Most of Pittsburgh and surrounding areas have clicked on their furnace by now.  Chances are that the furnace may be on every night at this point.  Have you begun to notice “things” drying out a bit?  Your hands, your lips, yes… even your furniture?  Lack of humidity in the home can draw out moisture out of all these things and also create the simple annoyance of static electricity.  But, did you also know that studies have shown that our immune system actually functions better when humidity is at a properly balanced level?

That’s right – the proper amount of humidification does help to support the quality of your indoor air!  In dry fall and winter months, the spread of mold, bacteria and viruses can run rampant with low humidity levels.  Here’s how it works – dry, heated air allows viral molecules to move about freely and furiously that may ultimately be inhaled by you and your family.  However, with balanced humidity in the air, these viral molecules have the opportunity to “bump up” against water found in moisture in the air and then drop down to the surfaces found in your home.  So, by then simply keeping these surfaces clean and germ-free, you are actually far better protected than having the molecules just floating around aimlessly in the air waiting to be inhaled.  Gillece Heating Services can help to decrease the negative effects of overly dry air, assisting your body’s immune system in defending itself against dryness, dehydration, and the impact of germs.

Gillece Services’ Whole House Honeywell Humidifiers automatically monitor the level of dryness in your home and operate as needed.  They are easy to use and maintain and there are no tanks to fill.  They are out of sight – connected to your household’s central heating & cooling system.  In colder winter months, they may even provide substantial energy savings with continued use.  Why?  Indoor air feels warmer with the proper level of humidity.  Remember, usually it’s not the “heat,” it’s the “humidity” that you really notice on a super warm day!  Therefore, you can turn your thermostat down a few degrees and with the right amount of humidity you’ll still feel the same, saving money on your heating bills.

Summertime Heat and Humidity Chases Us Indoors for Relief… but How Exactly Safe is our Indoor Air?

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89 degrees with a high humidity level – not an unusual forecast for a hot, summery day in Pittsburgh….

Naturally, we happily all rush to the outdoors when we can – picnics, swimming, amusement parks, water parks, and of course, grass-cutting and gardening, etc.  But, after a partial day has passed, or even a few hours… we tend to want to, even need to, get back inside for our body temperature to cool down while we catch up on some easy breathing.

Here’s the thing – while the air in our households is one of the most vital elements in our environment, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ranked indoor air pollution (that’s right, pollution) among the top five environmental dangers to the public.  Their studies have indicated that air pollution is often likely to be two to five times higher inside your home than outdoors.  Our homes today are tightly sealed and insulated to conserve energy.  So, while you’re cooling down from fun-in-the-sun, here’s what you might be breathing in without knowledge.

The air that you breathe indoors has been recycled over and over, trapping and circulating unwanted elements. These include allergens and particulates like dust, pollen, mold, and fungi, infectious agents like bacteria and viruses, and toxic compounds like carbon monoxide and pesticides. Indoor pollutants can worsen chronic health conditions, lead to new health risks, and potentially cause grave illness and disease.  As humans, when our bodies build up with too many bad elements commonly found in indoor air, our immune systems simply cannot handle them. In defense, we start to create what’s known as “histamines.”  Histamines can cause us to have minor symptoms like itchy, watery, runny nose, coughing, and wheezing, or more severe ones like allergy and asthma flares.  Rather than resolving the cause of the problem, many of us purchase “antihistamines” to relieve these symptoms.

Concerned?  Don’t sweat it!  Think of it this way – if you have a driveway full of sharp nails and you continue to drive over and over it, getting flat tire after flat tire… would you then continue to repair and replace your tires, or take the time to remove the nails from your driveway?  You’d remove the nails!  And, that’s exactly what Gillece does – we remove the problem.  Gillece identifies indoor air quality problems and then recommends the right solutions.  In some instances, the solution can be whole-house duct cleaning to remove dust, mold, allergens, and other irritants. Other solutions can involve air cleaners, purifiers, and filtration systems to remove airborne particles and pollutants.

So, sit down, cool off, and breathe in a sigh of relief and Call Gillece today!  We’re “There Same Day or You Don’t Pay!”* Guaranteed.