Reducing the number of pollutant-causing sources within your home is an excellent first step towards enhancing your home’s air quality. Of course, before you can limit pollutants and remove their sources, you have to know precisely what you’re looking for.
The most common pollutants found within modern homes include secondhand smoke from tobacco products, debris from building materials (asbestos, paint fumes), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from household cleaners, mold, radon, pesticides, pet hair, and dust.
There could be dozens of individual sources of air pollution within your home. To reduce the amount of pollution they’re producing within your home, you need to take some essential steps. First, clean your house regularly to reduce dust, pet hair, and pesticides accumulated on surfaces. Keep your home dry to reduce the chances of mold growth. Have your home checked for radon and ensure your heated appliances are appropriately ventilated during use. Try not to smoke indoors and reduce the amount of VOC producing cleaners you use within the house.
Ventilation helps to mitigate the damage all of these pollutants could cause. Opening your windows and allowing fresh outside air into your home helps to remove existing contaminants. However, this is mostly practical if you live in an area that doesn’t suffer from high smog levels or other outdoor pollution sources.
Regardless of how hard you try to avoid it, you’ll always produce some form of air pollution within your home. Updating your air filter is a great way to limit your exposure to those pollutants that aren’t easy to remove or reduce and passively clean the air around you while you go about your everyday business. Every HVAC system requires an air filter but, contrary to popular belief, not all air filters are created equally.
The key to finding a good air filter for your home lies in the Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, more commonly known as MERV. MERV scores exist on a scale of 1 to 20, with 20 reporting the most pollutants pulled from the air on each pass through the filter. However, a rating of 20 is well above what is required by most residential homes. Ideally, homes should use a filter with a rating of between 6 and 13.
You want to keep the air within your home as clean as possible, but springing straight for the filter with the highest rating isn’t always the right move. Suppose you’re thinking of choosing anything over a MERV 11 rating. In that case, you should have an HVAC professional check on your current HVAC system’s efficiency and strength before installing to avoid complications. And of course, changing your air filter regularly is the key to helping it do its job correctly.
Even with proper ventilation and good filtration, your home could still encounter pollutants that have built up within your ductwork over the years. This is an excellent way for those who suffer from allergies to ensure they’re comfortable within their home and is a service that is offered by Speedy.
Ductwork can be tricky to reach and clean properly, which is why it’s always a good idea to trust the job to a team of trained professionals who have the right tools and experience on hand to get the job done right.
Air purification systems are the best, most effective method of cleaning the air in your home and keeping it clean. Installing a simple portable air filter in high traffic areas of your home help to cut down on airborne debris quite a bit, but these filters are by no means your only option. New LED-based systems can now utilize new technology to clean air within your HVAC system before it is circulated throughout your home.
If this type of upgrade to your system interests you, contact us at Speedy. We are here for all your HVAC needs, from inspections and advice, to preventative maintenance and add-ons.
