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The Benefits of Purified Air

How Do Indoor Air Purifiers Work?

Air purifiers use a system of internal fans to pull the air in your home through a series of filters that remove harmful airborne particles like dust, pollen, and bacteria. The air purifier then circulates the purified air back into the room. This process repeats itself several times an hour, keeping your environment healthy.

With this information in mind, an air purifier should sound like a solid plan, right? If not, here are some points to consider:

  • Air purifiers ensure you and your family are breathing clean air. The EPA estimates that indoor air is two to five times dirtier than outdoor air — and sometimes up to 100 times dirtier. A good air purifier circulates and cleans the air, keeping you healthy.
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  • Air purifiers remove unpleasant odors. You love to cook, but your weekly fish fry makes the house smell like, well, fish. Air purifiers don’t only clean the air, they also help get rid of unpleasant odors.
  • Air purifiers trap airborne allergens released by pets. You may love your pet, but your furry friend releases pet dander, fur, and other airborne allergens into the air in your home — not to mention the smells! Air purifiers help combat these allergens by trapping them before they settle into your home.
  • Air purifiers help neutralize smoke. Smoke stinks. Whether it’s a family member who smokes or your love for a roaring fireplace making your home smell dingy, an air purifier can help trap smoke before it ends up in your upholstery.
  • Air purifiers trap dust. There will always be dust. No matter what you do to keep your home clean, dust accumulates. An air purifier helps trap dust before it has the chance to settle, reducing build-up and leaving you with less to clean.
  • Air purifiers remove up to 99 percent of airborne bacteria. Small airborne particles like pollen, mold spores, and other bacteria float around in the air, causing your family to get sick. By cycling the air in the room repeatedly through internal filters, an air purifier helps remove up to 99 percent of these airborne pollutants.
  • Air purifiers combat seasonal allergens. Seasonal allergies are a problem for many people. Air purifiers help keep the allergens that make breathing uncomfortable out of your home.
  • Air purifiers stop sickness and germs from spreading. Worried about catching your children’s flu? Your spouse’s cold? True HEPA air purifiers with UV bulbs capture and neutralize up to 99.97 percent of the airborne germs that you want to avoid.
  • Air purifiers keep your lungs healthy. Consistent exposure to dust, pollen, dander, and other airborne particles can cause long-term breathing and health issues for you and your family. Using an air purifier in your home gives you the confidence that your lungs will be healthy for years to come.
  • Air purifiers fit everywhere. They come in a variety of sizes and have a variety of features that will keep the air healthy in any room of the house.

Some Summer Tips for your HVAC

Summer is here (in a way). While the extremely hot temperatures haven’t hit our area, what has come has been muggy some days. This increase in humidity might have some of you turning on your AC, even if only for a short time. Even without heavy usage, it’s still a good idea to practice these maintenance tips for your HVAC system.

Summer Thermostats

Summertime means schedule changes, especially for kids out of school for the summer or families planning to travel for vacation. Make sure to adjust your thermostat settings to account for your family’s new schedule and any vacations that occur. Examples include:

  • Later wake-up times in the morning, since there’s no bus to catch for kids
  • With family members home all day, adjust setbacks for more occupancy hours rather than a vacant home from 8am to 5pm
  • Summer sports and activities that keep you out of the home for periods of time
  • Later bedtimes

Improve Your Airflow

Good airflow through your air conditioner helps the system function efficiently and deliver better comfort throughout your living areas. These HVAC maintenance tips show you how to improve airflow through your cooling system this summer:

  • Change your air filter on a regular basis. In the summertime, filters often fill up with debris quicker than in the spring because the system runs more frequently. Check the filter each month to determine if a change is necessary.
  • Clean off the exterior air conditioner. Do this whenever you do lawn maintenance or cut grass. Grass clippings, mulch, leaves, and other outdoor debris can gather on your condensing unit and block the fins that allow heat to leave the system.
  • Clear the area around the outdoor unit. In addition to cleaning, make sure there are no plants or other items in the two feet of space immediately surrounding the unit. Prune shrubs and branches nearby and pull up vegetation that has grown around the unit’s base. Relocate outdoor storage away from your unit to eliminate any airflow obstructions.
  • Ensure vents are open and unblocked. Walk through your home and check every vent, register, and return air grille. All vent and register louvers should be set open. Move rugs, furniture, and other items away from the vents and grilles to allow air to freely circulate through the ducts, into your home, and back to the air conditioning system.

Tips for Heating and Cooling Old Houses

Originally posted on HVAC.com

Old houses are notoriously challenging to heat and cool. Structural differences from modern homes make efficient heating and cooling difficult to achieve, but enjoying the history and beauty of an older home doesn’t have to mean paying an arm and a leg to stay comfortable! These HVAC options for old houses keep your interiors at the right temperatures throughout the year.

Best Way to Cool Old Houses

Many older houses were built long before air conditioning was standard in the home. Therefore, they lack the infrastructure (ductwork) needed to accommodate modern forced air cooling systems. Therefore, the traditional central air conditioning system is not always the best way to cool old houses.

Luckily, there are energy efficient solutions available that work well for an older home’s cooling needs. As a bonus, these systems provide heating as well!

High-Velocity HVAC Systems

Ductwork is most often nestled in the areas of the home we cannot see – if central heating and cooling wasn’t included when your home was first built, it may not have the space necessary to install unobtrusive ductwork to accommodate central HVAC. High-velocity systems use a dedicated HVAC unit connected to the mini-duct system to provide heating and cooling throughout the home.

High-velocity systems use mini-ducts, which are much smaller than standard ductwork, so they can be more easily incorporated into the home in many cases. Mini-ducts are approximately three inches in diameter. Because of their smaller size, they may be snaked over ceilings and through walls for installation. Their vents are small, creating less disruption in the interior aesthetics of the home.

Ductless Mini-Split HVAC

Another solution to the ductwork dilemma many older houses face is a ductless HVAC system. As the name suggests, these units do not require ductwork installation, making them a best way to cool old houses when ducts are not an option.

Ductless mini-split HVAC systems utilize an exterior heat pump connected to interior air handling units which directly distribute conditioned air to the living areas. One exterior unit can support a number of interior air handling units (the capacity depends on the model you select). The interior and exterior components are connected via a line set containing wiring and refrigerant piping, through a small hole in the exterior walls of the home.

Interior air handling units are mounted on the wall (either up high or down low) or can be installed within the ceiling of a room, controlled via a remote. A great benefit of ductless HVAC is the zoned heating and cooling they provide – each individual air handler can be controlled independently. Occupants can adjust temperatures just for the space in use, saving energy in unused areas of the home.

Best Way to Heat Old Houses

The cooling solutions mentioned above are also some of the best ways to heat old houses. Another option which may be appropriate for your older home is radiator heating. Many older homes have radiator heating systems in place, as this technology was quite common in the 18th century.

Upgrading old, inefficient radiator heating components with new, high efficiency models provides an excellent solution for whole home heating in an older house. Your HVAC contractor can examine existing components to determine which upgrades are needed and if the old system is still usable. In many older systems, in-room radiator units are often in good condition and can be used with a new boiler to provide heating throughout the home.

New modulating-condensing boilers offer better efficiency for hot water radiator heating systems compared to older home heating boilers. These boilers heat only the amount of water needed to provide for the home’s heating needs, rather than heating all the water within the unit at once. This technology provides great energy conservation, drastically cutting energy bills as a best way to heat old houses.

A Special Spring Special

Spring is going to be here before you know it. Will your system be ready for this change? If not, we have a special Spring special to share with you! Your home should be a comfortable place and deliver energy efficiency.

Curious yet? You could get rebates up to $1,700 on a new system or financing for as low as $116 per month! Check out our Specials page for more information.