Good HVAC Filters in Tracy Ca Mean Healthier Indoor Air
There’s an old saying in the medical profession: you’re only as healthy as the air you breathe.
Okay, so we don’t know for sure if doctors really say this, but if they don’t they should because it’s true. The quality of your home’s air has a direct impact on your health, and if the air you breathe is saturated with contaminants your family will undoubtedly feel the effects.
You may not see the dust, dirt, pollen, bacteria, mold spores, pet dander, chemical molecules and other contaminants that are polluting the air around you. But if you live in the typical American home they are most certainly there, forming an invisible fog of unwelcome and unwanted intruders.
Fortunately, you do have an ally in your fight for a healthier indoor environment: your heating and cooling system’s air filters. Whenever your furnace, air conditioner or heat pump kicks on you can be sure your filters are hard at work, doing what they can to remove the airborne pollution circulating about your home.
Types of HVAC filters in Tracy Ca
f you want something cheap fiberglass is the way to go. Fiberglass filters will generally cost you less than five dollars apiece, and even though you have to change them every month they will still save you money in the long run, if that is your priority.
But fiberglass filters were never designed to improve air quality. Their primary purpose is to catch large debris particles that can clog your HVAC equipment and prevent its proper functioning. To remove the airborne contaminants that threaten your health, you need something better.
Pleated air filters are one money-saving option that can help you create a cleaner home environment. At double or triple the cost of the typical fiberglass filter they are still affordable, but will do a substantially better job of removing smaller particles of dust, dirt, dander and other undesirables.
If anyone in your home is already showing clear signs of allergy or respiratory distress, installing pleated filters won’t cure them. But if your indoor air is only mildly-to-moderately contaminated they can be quite effective and can help prevent future outbreaks of illness or discomfort.
For a more decisive filtering effect, you may want to consider electrostatic air filters. They are a step up from pleated air filters in both performance and price, catching a higher percentage of contaminants as they scrub clean air that has been seriously compromised. Electrostatic filters won’t need to be replaced as often as cheaper options and in some instances can even be reused after washing.
On the higher end of the scale, media air filters require a more significant investment than the other types but come highly recommended by industry professionals. Precisely manufactured for superb performance, media filters can capture and remove some very small particles, including mold spores, bacteria, pollen, smoke fumes and chemical traces that might pass right through more conventional filters.
The Importance of MERV Ratings
MERV stands for ‘Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value’ and is the standard used to evaluate the effectiveness of HVAC filters. MERV ratings for air filters run from one to 20, with higher numbers representing a higher percentage of contaminants captured.
Cheap fiberglass filters are so low-end they often don’t provide MERV ratings, which would be in the 2-4 range if they did (anything below MERV 6 will not do much at all to improve your indoor air quality).
To put things in perspective, an electrostatic filter with a MERV rating of 11 would be 30 times as efficient at removing fine particulate matter as the typical fiberglass model. If you have allergy or asthma sufferers in your home, an electrostatic or media filter with a MERV rating of 13 or better should be able to eliminate most everything that might cause a reaction.
Need Better Air Care? Call All Air When it comes to air filters and indoor air quality, you get what you pay for—and suffer from what you won’t pay for. Cheap fiberglass filters are the path of least resistance, but if you want to take an active role in improving your family’s health you’d be wise to purchase a superior quality product—and to replace it just as frequently as the manufacturer recommends.
If you’d like some advice before buying an HVAC air filter, contact us at All Air Heating and Air Conditioning and we will gladly share our opinions and expertise. HVAC filters in Tracy Ca and Indoor air quality management is a priority with us, and we take great pleasure in helping our customers upgrade their home environments to make them safer and more comfortable for all.
We may have other ideas about how you can improve your home’s indoor air quality as well, so please don’t hesitate to call.