Why Replace Your HVAC Filters?

Heating and cooling systems contribute to around 48% of the typical energy use in a standard home — and with energy prices constantly on the rise, it pays to ensure your HVAC systems are as efficient as possible.

One of the simplest — and most effective — things you can do to reduce energy waste is to check and replace your HVAC air filters on a frequent basis. According to Energy.gov, changing your HVAC filters regularly can improve the efficiency levels in your equipment by 5% to 15%.

They may seem like just one small part of the whole system, but filters are one of the biggest factors affecting the efficiency of your unit, its lifespan, and even its impact on your health.

When Is it Time to Change your HVAC Filters?

Most property owners change their HVAC filters at the beginning of a new season, or when they know their equipment will need to work harder than usual. Some people change their filters once a month, for peace of mind.

A good rule of thumb is to change your filters whenever they’re dirty. Though “when they’re dirty” is different for each individual property, and living situation. The most accurate answer to “When should I change my HVAC filters?” actually depends on a number of factors, such as:

1. The type of air filter — Each type of air filter has a different lifespan. For instance, disposable filters generally don’t last as long as pleated filters. Research the expected lifespan for the type of filters you use.

2. The air quality indoors — If you (or your family members) suffer from frequent colds or allergies, especially if you notice these symptoms intensify inside the house, it may be a sign of poor indoor air quality. Changing your filters more often will improve the air quality.

3. The presence of pets — Usually, people with pets need to change their air filters more frequently, to avoid a buildup of dander.

4. The number of people present — The more foot traffic in the property, the more dirt and dust gathers in the air. If you have a large family, or entertain guests often, change out your filters more frequently.

5. The levels of pollution in your area — If your home experiences a high level of daily pollution, such as car traffic or regular construction debris, your air filters likely get dirty much quicker than those in less polluted regions.

Everything depends on the living conditions of your home, how hard your HVAC system works, and what kind of filters you’re using. If you change your filters once every couple of months, and notice that dust builds up in your property between changes, this is likely a sign you need to switch your filters out more frequently. Remember to check your filters more often during cold winters or hot summers.

What Are the Types of HVAC Filters?

One of the biggest factors dictating when you change your filters is the kind of filter you use. Today, homeowners have a range of choices in energy-efficient equipment, meaning that even something as simple as an air filter comes in many varieties. Here are some of the basic options available to you:

Economy Filters — These are disposable filters, and though they are inexpensive, usually have a poor filter rating, need replacing regularly, and may not perform as well as other options.

Pleated Filters — These filters can last from one to three months, and are more efficient than economy filters. They have a larger filter area but fit into the standard filter space.

High Efficiency Pleated Filters — Rated up to a MERV 16, these filters remove most contaminates out of the air and can last a year or more in some case. Though they filter really well, they also allow great airflow even as the filter continues to load up

HEPA Filters — HEPA filters are hospital grade and often the most efficient, but also the most expensive to purchase.

The Benefits of Changing your HVAC Filters

Changing your filters regularly keeps your energy costs down, by reducing the strain on your systems; but it will also keep you (and your family) healthier. Clean air filters reduce the number of toxins, pollutants, and allergens you breathe in every day. The more pure and filtered your air is, the less likely you are to suffer from allergies, respiratory symptoms, and other health issues.

Neglect and dirt mark the top causes of HVAC failure — one of the easiest ways to prevent system issues is to stay on top of your air filters. Every time you change them out, you’re improving your HVAC system’s lifespan, reducing the risk of breakdowns, and boosting your own health.

How to Clean The Air Inside Your Home

During the most allergy-prone seasons, many allergy sufferers choose to hide away indoors, in an attempt to avoid seasonal sources of dry throats and sneezing. Yet, experts have found that the pollution levels inside your home may be more dangerous than the ones outside, by two to five times!

It’s not uncommon for allergens to lurk around your home — sometimes in the most unexpected of places. From curtains and cushions, to your children’s bedsheets, there are so many ideal spots within the average house where allergens can grow and thrive. Pet dander, dust mites, pollen, mold, and various other forms of airborne allergens can accumulate to add misery to anyone’s day – especially if your HVAC system isn’t in the best shape. Following are some tips on how you can reduce allergens within your home.

1. Know the Details of Effective Dusting

By far, one of the quickest and most useful ways to reduce allergens in the home is to demolish dust. The reason for this is that dust mites trigger asthma and allergy symptoms on a regular basis. Over time, excessive exposure to dust mites can trigger asthma in children who haven’t previously displayed any symptoms. So if you have young children around the home, it’s particularly important to start a regular dusting routine.

Poor dusting practices can make symptoms worse, by making allergen particles airborne – so make sure that you use a moist cloth, that’s capable of attracting dust, rather than spreading it around. If you have allergen issues yourself, consider using a mask while cleaning, and attempt to minimize clutter throughout your rooms wherever possible.

2. Have Your HVAC System Serviced

Because dust mites are attracted to moisture, and mold thrives on the same element, air conditioners that help to minimize humidity within the home can help to reduce allergens. However, it is important to change filters within the system regularly, and follow any maintenance or service instructions as recommended by the system manufacturer. If you begin to suspect that your air conditioning system isn’t working as it should be, or that mold may be growing within the machine, you may need to have the ducts professionally cleaned.

If you see mold particles near the ducts, or smell a musty odor when using your HVAC system, consult a professional to ensure that mold hasn’t started to accumulate. You may also consider upgrading the system that you currently have if it has aged, and is no longer offering the results that you need.

3. Use Your Vacuum Cleaner

Allergens can accumulate and thrive within the home environment, particularly if there are plenty of places for dust to gather without detection. Indeed, many allergy sufferers are encouraged to opt for hardwood flooring instead of carpeting within their homes, as fibers within carpets can easily hide dust and allergen particles. Whether you’ve chosen to stick to carpeting or attempt wooden flooring, it’s worth noting that vacuuming — particularly in the areas most likely to accumulate dust, such as furniture and carpeting — can help to control the spread of allergens throughout the home. However, like dusting, vacuuming can sometimes send dust particles into the air, causing problems for people with allergies, so it may be worth considering HEPA filters.

4. Purify the Air

A great way to reduce allergens within the home, is to ensure that the air is clean, pure, and free of any problem-causing particles. For instances, it’s usually a good idea to avoid using window fans which bring pollen and mold spores into the home, and instead opt for HVAC systems that can filter the air used to determine indoor temperature.

High-efficiency particulate air filters, or HEPA filters, assist in capturing tiny particles of dust, pollen, and dander in the area, meaning they can be ideal for improving the productivity of air conditioners, air purifiers, and even vacuum cleaners.

5. Reduce Mildew and Mold

Mildew, and various types of mold tend to thrive within damp areas like the basement, bathroom, or sometimes even the kitchen. Like dust, mold spores can sometimes circulate in the air, triggering allergy symptoms. To minimize these problems, try painting damp-prone areas with mold-resistant paint, and run fans after taking baths or showers so that condensation can’t build up over time. Also, remember to replace moldy carpeting whenever necessary.

Conclusion

Above are just some of the methods that you can use to help reduce the presence of allergens in your home. Regardless of what you might be allergic to, helping to rid your house of airborne particles and sources of discomfort should help to give you and your family a more pleasant experience — regardless of the weather.

Do you have any tips or tricks to removing allergens throughout the home? Let us know in the comments!

Why Indoor Air is Worse Than You Think

Your home is supposed to be your castle, your respite from the wearying world, your sanctuary of solitude, safety, and security. But did you know that your home’s indoor air quality can be as much as 5 times worse than the air outside? Your pets, your carpet, even your HVAC system can all be harboring allergens and pollutants that exacerbate your respiratory allergies. Here’s a list of some of the more common household allergens that call your home their home too, and what you can do to reduce their effects on you and your family.

Dust

Dust isn’t just dirt. Dust consists of all of the following:, bacteria, fibers, pollutants, hair, dust mites and their excrement, dryer lint, molds, animal dander, decomposing insects, insulation, pollen, skin flakes that humans shed, and, yes—blowing dirt. Some of that dust comes from your HVAC system, especially if you haven’t had it cleaned and sealed in a while. Routine cleaning of your ducts, as well as having them checked for leaks, can greatly reduce the amount of dust in your home. Not only will your home be cleaner and fresher looking, but it will be healthier for your lungs without all that dust flying and lying about, too.

Molds

Molds are a part of dust, but they can also get under carpets and inside your walls. Any time you have dampness, whether it’s from your climate or your kids’ spilled juice, you can grow mold. Your HAVC system can grow its own mold in the tubing and ports of the air conditioning system. Air conditioning creates condensation, and that condensation, left unchecked, can cause mold. Routine cleaning and maintenance of your HVAC system, especially in spring before turning on the air conditioning and in the fall after you’ve turned the AC off, can keep all the mold and mildew-growing condensation out of your house.

Pollen

Whether you live in the wide open spaces of the country’s rural heart or the middle of Manhattan, you’re dealing with pollen. Pollen is the stuff plants use to reproduce, and even that lovely pot of violets on your kitchen windowsill is a pollen-producing problem, if you are sensitive enough. Filters, especially the high-efficiency variety with a MERV rating of 14 to 16, are the tool to fight pollen in your indoor air. Your HVAC “breathes” in outdoor air, and sucks all those lovely pollen particles in with every breath. Your cold air return system also breathes in the pollen that gets in your house. The use of a high-efficiency filter with a MERV rating of 14 to 16 will block most of that nasty pollen before it ever reaches your sensitive nose.

Pollutants

Airborne pollutants can come from outside and inside your home. Whether it’s your son’s excessive body spray products, your husband’s model airplane glue, or your kitchen cleaner, indoor pollutants can take many forms. Most are chemical in nature, and even natural chemicals like lemon and orange oil can cause problems if you are sensitive or allergic to them. Outdoor chemicals and pollutants can range from exhaust fumes to pesticides to heavy industry, depending on where you live. Again, your best defense is your HVAC system’s filters.

Pet Dander

People shed skin cells daily. You’d probably be amazed at how much skin you shed in a week. But we’re not alone. Our pets, especially cats and dogs, shed skin cells, too. While there are breeds that are hypoallergenic, even they shed some dander, even when they have no fur. And it’s the dander that people are mostly sensitive to when they are allergic to Fido or Fluffy. If you have a pet and an allergic person in the same home, you can do your best with your HVAC’s filtering system. You may even want to try some of the “in grate” filters to catch whatever your main filter doesn’t. (Be careful to make sure your HVAC system isn’t struggling to “breathe” through your filters.) Using filters is the best way to keep pet dander out of the air. Pet dander on furniture and the carpet may still present a problem, so be sure to vacuum regularly.

PVC From Vinyl Flooring Products

One household pollutant that can actually be more harmful than a case of the sniffles is PVC. It’s most commonly found in the home in flooring products like vinyl coverings. As the flooring ages, the chemical is released into the air. Breathing PVC can cause you HAVE respiratory allergies, may cause cancer, and can even be responsible for reproductive issues. There’s no real way to get PVCs out of your home unless you use nothing but wood or ceramic or brick in your floors. However, high-efficiency filters may be able to help reduce the amount you breathe. Your HVAC could save your health!

As we seal up our homes and hide from the elements and potential bad air outside, we back ourselves into a corner of unhealthy air inside our homes. In this latest infographic we show how bad air can get in the average home and how filtration works!

Today we are bombarded with things that aren’t good for our health and especially our lungs. We may think we are getting away from bad air outside by closing ourselves up inside our home. But the reality is the stuffy air in our homes can be 10 times worse than outside. That can make us sick and effect our immune systems. Here are 5 ways to take control of our health and breath easier inside your home this summer: