Fort Myers air company wants homes to breathe better

Ken McDaniel and his two sons want houses to breathe more efficiently.

If they do, the air conditioning specialists who run Kenmark Air Cooling and Heating say the occupants will breathe easier too.

Why? There’ll be less infiltration of pollen, dust and other airborne particles that can aggravate respiratory conditions, they said.

When someone calls for help with air conditioning service, the problem might not be in the blower, condenser or other mechanical part. Leaky duct work might need to be sealed and that can lead to big improvements, McDaniel said.

“I’ve seen it lower $400 a month bills to $200,” McDaniel said.

If the air conditioner is old and its time for a replacement, sealed ducts can reduce the size of the unit needed to cool the house, he said.

An air conditioner with leaky ducts also could be rated at 16 SEER but function like a 12 SEER, according to McDaniel.

McDaniel started out as a contractor doing work in a variety of trades, including air conditioning.

“This is the one that really grabbed me the best. I thought I could build more of a future with air conditioning,” McDaniel said. He and a partner started Kenmark in 1987. The business since has grown to about 20 employees including McDaniel’s sons Tyler, who is production manager, and Brad, who is service manager.

McDaniel said he hopes to pass the business to them someday and that their children will want to run the business when their time comes.

“His sons are about as capable as anyone I’ve ever seen,” said Edwin Cotton of Cape Coral. “You couldn’t get a better man,” he added about McDaniel. Cotton thinks highly enough of Kenmark to be a repeat customer.

“They troubleshoot it and they fix it,” Cotton said.

Change was coming however in 1999.

“Anybody can fix an air conditioner. I started realizing more and more that people needed energy efficiency,” McDaniel said.

So he started to educate himself by reading and attending training where he could learn about energy efficiency and how the house breathes. Air, McDaniel explained, comes in through the doors and windows and travels throughout the building.

Meanwhile, air conditioning ducts carry cool air around the house, usually through the attic. When ducts leak, cool air escapes and exits the house through eaves and soffits. As it leaves the house, more warm air loaded with pollen or other particles rushes in through the doors and windows to replace it, McDaniel explained.

A few years earlier, a process was being developed to seal leaky ducts.

In 2010, Kenmark began using the computerized Aeroseal system to plug those ducts. Kenmark was the first to use it in Southwest Florida, McDaniel said.

Now seven of the 39 Aeroseal dealers in the state are located in Southwest Florida, according to Aeroseal’s website.

Aeroseal works by sending a sticky sealant through the ducts. The ducts are blocked off and the sealant is released under pressure. As the particles move through the ducts, they try to escape through the holes, but they begin to pile up and stick to each other until the leak is sealed.

“It looks like little Styrofoam balls sealing the holes,” said Brad McDaniel, who runs the computer and monitors the pressure during a job.

Customers often are intrigued by the work, Tyler McDaniel said.

“They want to see how I’m going to seal their ducts. They can watch it on the computer,” he said.

The sealant looks like a white milky glue. It smells like Elmer’s Glue, according to Brad McDaniel, but others say it smells like bubble gum.

Using technology helps Kenmark serve its customers, according to Ken McDaniel.

Customers can watch videos on the company website to help them decide what services they want.

“Customers are doing more research,” Ken McDaniel said. They want the lowest cost and to find out who to choose to do the work.

“Making the house comfortable is what we have to do,” Tyler McDaniel said. “If you don’t keep up you don’t stay up.”

Kenmark Air Cooling and Heating

Location: 5811 Country Lakes Drive, Fort Myers

Phone: 239-437-7040

Email: info@kenmarkair.com

Web: kenmarkair.com/contactus.html

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