indoor Air Quality testing?

Indoor air quality has a significant impact on health. Exposure to the pollutants in indoor air has been associated with sneezing, coughing, respiratory irritation, and more-severe long-term health issues like cancer and lung disease. High-quality air filters can improve the quality of your home's air. Call Air Assurance Co if you would like a no costs assessment and report of your indoor air quality, including VOCS, particulate count, CO2 and more.

How Air Filters Affect Air Quality

The air that your HVAC system circulates throughout your home passes through an air filter before it's distributed. The air filter captures large dirt particles, dust bunnies, hair, and lint. If you have a high-quality filter, it will also capture microscopic allergens. As a result, the high-quality filter leaves the air that's circulated throughout your home cleaner, healthier, and better for breathing.

Cheap fiberglass air filters only trap large particles. As a result, they don't boost your home's air quality. High-quality filters that also capture microscopic particles (helping improve indoor air quality) include:

• Pleated electrostatic filters. Electrostatic filters consist of charged material that attracts oppositely charged particles. These filters capture tiny pollutants like smoke, bacteria, and allergens. Pleats improve their filtering performance.

• HEPA filters. These utilize specially formulated filtration technology that captures up to 99.97% of airborne particles equal to or greater than 0.3 microns in diameter. As a result, they capture a wide variety of microscopic particles like mold spores, tobacco smoke, pollen grains, pet dander, bacteria, and some viruses.

• Carbon filters. Carbon filters are specifically made to remove odors. They also remove gaseous vapors, smoke, and certain chemicals, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

• Air purifiers. Air purifiers use the same filtration types as HVAC air filters. They pull air from a room, pass it through a filter, and send purified air back to the room. Modern purifiers typically use a multilayer filter system comprising prefilters, carbon filters, antibacterial filters, and HEPA filters.

Considering the large volume of indoor air that passes through an air filter, well-maintained filters can have a significant positive impact on your home's air quality. Make sure you replace your filters regularly to keep them working efficiently. For the best indoor air-quality solutions in the Broken Arrow area, don't hesitate to contact us at Air Assurance.

Should You Change Your Air Filter More Frequently in the Summer?

Summer brings substantial heat and humidity to our area, and that means air conditioners get a good workout. You probably know you should change your air filter to keep things running well, but you might hear different opinions on how often. Here are reasons you should play closer attention to the filter in summer and avoid letting it get too dirty.

When the HVAC System Works Harder, Filters Collect Dust Faster

Hot weather plays a big role on how frequently you will need to change your air filter. The more your air conditioner has to run, the more air blows through the filter. When more air is moving through the filter, greater amounts of particulates get trapped.Unless Oklahoma has an unusually cool and dry summer, which is very rare, then chances are you will be using your air conditioner a lot and it will work hard to keep your home comfortable. This means you should check your air filter every month during the season, even if you don’t think you will need to change it.

How Often to Change the Filter

Many air filters, especially the low cost ones, will need to be changed every month during summer. You will be able to see very quickly how much dust it has already collected.Thick, pleated filters can sometimes last longer without needing to be replaced, but you should still check them every month and avoid going longer than 3 months without replacing them. The only exception to this is if the manufacturer or your HVAC technician specifically states otherwise.

Why Dirty Filters are Harmful

One of the primary problems with dirty filters is they restrict the volume of air getting through. This places a burden on the air handler and in turn takes a toll on the entire system. Soiled filters can also lead to:

• Frozen coils

• Dirty ducts

• Worsening allergies

• Higher energy bills — the restricted airflow makes your air conditioner cycle more and expend more effort.

To learn more about air filters and your Broken Arrow home, please contact us at Air Assurance.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Credit/Copyright Attribution: “Steve Heap/Shutterstock”