Are there industry standards or methods that all duct cleaning equipment manufacturers use when making airflow claims for their products?
Unfortunately, there are no meaningful standards, and published claims and methods used are all over the map. Some manufacturers use the “free air” rating for the blower, or test airflow with the filters removed, methods which obviously indicate a much higher airflow than the equipment is capable of producing under normal operating conditions. A few companies have even begun to publish test results based on air velocity testing, which can be even more misleading. For example, the airflow of a machine that is rated at 3,000 fpm (feet per minute) with an 8″ diameter outlet is only producing about 1,000 cfm. All of Abatement’s performance claims are based on independent testing under real-life conditions with all filters in place.