Most people enjoy the weather in the springtime, but there is one major downside, pollen. Arizona is different from the majority of the country in that the growing season doesn’t really stop during the winter, but spring is when pollen activity and other allergen levels reach their peak. Here are four ways you can keep your spring allergies under control:
1. Close Doors and Windows. Even if you have the cleanest home and expensive air cleaning systems, they won’t do much if new allergens keep rapidly entering your home. While it’s tempting to open your doors or windows sometimes, yo
u’re doing substantial damage to your indoor air quality when you do. On a similar note, if you haven’t eliminated air leaks in your home yet, this would be a good time to do so.
2. Keep the Air Filter Clean. Air filters are easy and cheap to replace, so there’s no excuse in letting it get too dirty. When your air filter does get dirty, it lowers the efficiency of your cooling system, but more importantly it won’t remove allergens from the air as effectively. When allergen levels are high, it’s not a bad idea to replace it every month or two.
3. Upgrade Your Air Filters. If you have really sensitive allergies, you want to clean the air in your home as much as possible. In order to remove virtually all of the allergens in your air, you should upgrade to a filter with a higher minimum efficiency reporting value (MERV) rating. Note that not all systems can handle the highest MERV filters, so install the best one that fits your system based on the owner’s manual.
4. Put in a Whole-House Cleaner. If you have the budget and want even cleaner air than from your air filters you can install a whole-house system. These remove more allergens and more other harmful microorganisms in your air as well.
For assistance getting your Spring allergies under control, please contact Hansberger Refrigeration & Electric Company.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Yuma, Arizona about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about spring allergies and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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