Manage Your Home’s HVAC Unit to Help Your IAQ Health

You’re well aware of how your HVAC unit keeps you comfortable in summer and in winter. You may be less familiar with the role your HVAC system plays in promoting better IAQ health. (IAQ stands for indoor air quality.) Let’s have a look at this crucial HVAC task and what you can do to ensure better IAQ health.

How the HVAC System Cleans the Air

Your HVAC system requires an air filter to keep airborne pollutants out of the equipment so that it can function properly. If you choose an inexpensive fiberglass filter, that’s all it will do. But if you opt for a denser, pleated, polyester filter designed to capture smaller airborne pollutants, then you’re expanding the filter’s role to help clean the air.

The type of filter that will clean your air should be rated approximately MERV 8 to 12 (MERV meaning minimum efficiency reporting value). That’s a medium rating for an air filter; dense enough to catch some smaller particles but not so dense as to slow down your equipment’s airflow to the point it can damage it. To catch even smaller particles, you would need an even denser filter, perhaps a HEPA type, which would require significant modifications to your system.

Beyond this type of mechanical filter, you might also equip your HVAC equipment with UVGI (ultraviolet germicidal irradiation) lights to destroy or inactivate airborne microorganisms such as mold, mildew, and fungus spores. These types of pollutants are particularly troublesome if you have humid conditions in your home.

You can also improve IAQ health when your home is polluted by cigarette smoke or other vapors. Activated charcoal filters are designed to remove these gases from the air.

Why IAQ Health Matters

If someone in your household has poor IAQ health from allergies to certain pollutants or has a respiratory condition such as asthma, it’s crucial to keep the air as clean as possible. Discuss using any of the aforementioned remedies with your HVAC consultant or look into more-advanced methods of air purification.

For more on improving IAQ health, contact Hansberger Refrigeration and Electric Company.