How to Improve Indoor Air Quality for Allergies
If you or anyone in your household suffers from severe allergies or has any respiratory ailment such as asthma, it’s important to take steps to reduce the amount of allergens in your home. Just making sure to clean all of your floors and surfaces regularly definitely helps as does using a vacuum with a HEPA filter. Nonetheless, your HVAC system can be your best ally in eliminating allergies and ensuring you can breathe more easily. Here, we’ll look at how an HVAC system can contribute to allergy issues and what upgrades you can make so that it helps improve your home’s air quality and combat allergens and airborne pollution.
The Effect an HVAC System Has on Allergies
Keeping your windows closed during allergy season obviously helps to keep pollen and other allergens from getting inside your house. Nonetheless, there is really nothing you can do to keep your house completely free of allergens. After all, any time you go outside you then end up bringing some pollen in on your clothes and tracking it inside on your shoes. If you have an older home that isn’t sealed up tight, you’ll also end up with air leaking in through various places and bringing allergens inside. There’s also not much you can ever do about all of the dust mites inside your house or pet dander being present if you have indoor dogs or cats.
The other issue is that some of the allergens in your house end up getting sucked into your air ducts as your HVAC system runs. Many common allergens are small enough that they can pass through a basic HVAC air filter, which means that the HVAC system then spreads them throughout the entire house. The good news in this regard is that you can make a few upgrades to your HVAC system so that it fights against all of the allergens instead of contributing to your allergy issues.
Options for Reducing Allergens in Your Home
One of the easiest things you can do to at least reduce the amount of allergens that your HVAC system spreads around your home is just to use a more efficient air filter. A basic MERV 6 to 8 filter is mostly only effective at filtering dust out of the air. That’s why most experts recommend allergy sufferers to instead use a filter that is rated at MERV 10 or even MERV 12 since it will trap far more pollen, dust mites, pet dander, and mold spores.
An even more effective solution is to have an HVAC company upgrade your system so that it uses a 4- to 5-inch thick media filter instead of a standard 1-inch filter. Media filters are typically MERV 14 or 15 and efficient enough to trap the vast majority of allergens. That means your HVAC system will actively reduce the amount of allergens in your home as it runs instead of circulating them around your house.
If you have extremely severe allergies, your best option is to install a whole-home air filtration or air purification system. Whole-home air filtration systems may have a HEPA filter that traps over 99% of even the smallest airborne particles. That means it won’t just eliminate allergens but also chemicals and the majority of other indoor air pollutants. HEPA filters are so effective that they even trap more than 90% of bacteria and viruses. Room air purifiers can definitely help, but they won’t have even close to the same impact as adding a whole-home filtration system to your HVAC.
Understanding the Difference Between Air Filtration and Air Purification
Many people are confused about the differences between air filtration and air purification. With the exception of HEPA filters, most air filtration systems are only effective at trapping particulate matter. That means they don’t work to combat odors or reduce the concentration of gaseous chemical pollutants. Air purification systems, on the other hand, combine a highly efficient filter with other solutions.
For instance, some systems utilize UV lights to destroy bacteria, viruses, and mold spores present in the air flowing through the system. Others use UV lights and a special catalyst to produce powerful oxidizing ions that attract chemicals and other contaminants and either change them into something less harmful or completely destroy them. You can also find systems with an activated carbon filter that’s designed to eliminate odors so that your HVAC system no longer puts out bad, musty-smelling air.
Choose the Right Professional for Your HVAC and Air Quality Needs
Since 1986, JAMCO Heating & Air Conditioning has been the company homeowners in southern New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania have trusted for all of their HVAC needs. We specialize in air conditioning and heating and also offer a maintenance agreement to ensure system longevity. To schedule a consultation and learn more about which indoor air quality options are best for your home, contact us today.
