Outdoor air quality receives a lot of attention on the news and weather forecasts, but you shouldn’t overlook the quality of the indoor air that your breath. In particular, your home’s air quality impacts your health because you inhale and exhale the air for hours each day and night. If you want to breathe cleaner air when at home, here’s how to improve the quality of your home’s air.
Learn How to Replace Your Furnace’s Filter
One of the most effective ways to improve the quality of your home’s air during the cooler months of the year is to replace your furnace’s filter regularly. The filter removes airborne dust and debris from the air that flows through the furnace, thus acting as a giant cleaner for your home’s air when the furnace runs.
Your furnace’s filter is only effective if it’s changed regularly, though. If a furnace filter isn’t changed on time, the filter becomes clogged with the particles that it removes from the air and the filter’s efficacy diminishes.
To find out how often you should change your furnace’s filter, measure how thick it is. Thicker filters tend to have longer lifespans while thinner filters will need to be changed more frequently. If you have allergies or pets, you might want to shorten these spans a little regardless of the thickness of the filter.
As for actually replacing the filter in your furnace, the process is simple. Your furnace’s owner’s manual will indicate where the filter is located. Remove the current filter and replace it with one that is the same size. You just have to make sure the new filter is installed in the right direction, which your owner’s manual will also detail. Filters can be bought at a hardware store.
Install a High-MERV Furnace Filter
In addition to replacing your furnace filter regularly, you can also upgrade to a higher-quality furnace filter. These filters are graded on a minimum efficiency reporting value scale, which is commonly abbreviated MERV. The scale has a range of 1 to 16.
Since the quality of filter increases as you go up the MERV scale, the price of the filter commonly does too. A MERV 7 filter will likely cost more than a MERV 3 one, and a MERV 11 filter will be more yet. If you want to breathe clean air, though, the added cost for a high-quality filter can be a wise investment.
As a baseline, consider a MERV 7 or 8 filter. These remove 80 to 95 percent of particles that measure at least 5 microns, which is sufficient for most homes. Additionally, these filters still tend to be quite affordable.
If you find that a MERV 8 filter doesn’t meet your needs, you can move up to a higher filter. Go with a MERV 11 or 12 filter, which is the highest that’s suitable for most residential furnace systems. MERV 13 and higher are reserved for medical and industrial settings.
Notably, a higher filter isn’t necessary if you have pets. For pet owners, changing out a filter frequently is more important than getting a higher-quality filter. High-MERV filters remove smaller particles than their lower-MERV counterparts, and a finer filter isn’t necessary for pets since pet hair is quite large. A high-MERV filter is useful if you want to remove small particles.
Open Your Home’s Windows
Whenever the weather permits, open your home’s windows. Open windows let fresh air into your home, and they allow stale air that’s built up in your home to escape. As the stale air escapes, it’ll take chemicals and allergens that are in your home’s air with it.
To further expedite the exchange of air when you open your home’s windows, turn on fans. Both box fans and ceiling fans improve air movement and will help fresh air move throughout your home faster.
For an indoor air quality assessment or to get help improving the quality of your home’s air, contact Apollo Heating & Air.
