Don’t underestimate the particles that may lurk in the air all around you. If you’ve got a runny nose, a bad cough, or you’re dealing with some itchiness while hanging out at home a significant part of the day, your HVAC system could be the culprit. It doesn’t always stop at simply conditioning your air, it could bring unwanted impurities inside – tiny substances that can make you sick. While many people try to manage these symptoms with remedies like a Nasal Spray, ongoing exposure to indoor allergens can continue to trigger discomfort if the underlying cause isn’t addressed. If somehow you notice your allergies flaring up right when you switch on your AC, it’s essential that you investigate the potential impact it may be having on your indoor air quality.
In this article, we’ll give you an introduction on how your HVAC system can contribute to allergy issues and provide practical tips to help you improve the air quality in your home, making it a more comfortable, healthier environment. If you find yourself getting progressively sicker at home with a faulty system, consider calling for an HVAC emergency repair.
Harmful Floating Particles in Your Home
A lot of people suffer from allergies, in particular while sitting at home, despite the fact that there are reported cures people have found for allergies. There are a lot of nasty impurities that cause this, which often go unnoticed.
Common forms are:
- dust mites
- pet dander
- pollen
- mold spores
- bacteria
We breathe these into our lungs. In many cases, they accumulate in places that are difficult to clean or control, such as our homes’ ACs and furnaces. When it comes to allergies at home, it’s often the invisible that settles in all kinds of places, from floors to furniture, and they can also be stirred up and circulated through the home by your heating & cooling system. So, never lose sight of how critical your air circulation is in the spread of germs.
Your AC and other temperature-controlling machines are designed to move the air around your home to warm you up or cool you off the whole year. Nevertheless, it can also be a pathway for allergens to spread should it not receive due maintenance. In some environments, poorly maintained systems can even create an environment that fosters the growth of mold and mildew.
Inside Your AC
Your HVAC system itself is a place germs like to call home. Filth and debris buildup inside your
filters and ducts reduces your machine’s ability to effectively trap allergens. As the system runs on and on, it is capable of pushing the trapped particles into the air. Air conditioners also provide a moist milieu, especially in areas where there’s poor ventilation, in evaporator coils and drip pans. Mold expands easily under warm, damp conditions, so if moisture accumulates in these areas, these spores can be released into your home, potentially causing diseases like asthma. This is even worse if your home has high humidity.
Common Signs Your HVAC System Could Be Contributing to Allergies
Common Signs Your HVAC System Could Be Contributing to AllergiesNow that we’ve discussed the potential for undesirable filth floating around the air and impacting unsuspecting residents, let’s determine whether your HVAC system is causing you health problems.
Persistent Allergy Symptoms
You get allergic reactions in certain parts of your home. This would suggest uneven air distribution.
Visible Dust around Air Vents or in Filters
If you spot a layer of dust building up around your air vents or see dust and debris in the filters, your system isn’t filtering right, and it’s likely being resent back into the air.
Foul Odors or Musty Smells When Your HVAC System Is On
These may harbor bacteria and other particles. If you notice something like that, definitely investigate the system’s condition. Rising humidity levels in the home are a contributor to this.
Inconsistent or Poor Airflow
Your air is wishy-washy or barely blowing when it does come out, it may be a sign that your ducts or filters are obstructed.
How to Improve Your Home Air Quality
If you suspect that your HVAC system is contributing to some ailment of yours, solutions exist that you can utilize to improve your indoor air quality. Here are some practical ways to mitigate bad airborne impacts.
Maintenance
This is the key to keeping your HVAC system operating at its full potential and preventing the circulation of harmful matter in the air of your home.
That includes:
- Regularly replacing your filters once every 1-3 months: Choose filters with a higher Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) A higher rating indicates superior filtration efficiency, meaning that it will capture smaller particles. A MERV rating of 8-13 is usually recommended for allergies.
- Cleaning your ducts: A good idea is to have professionals clean them for you. They have the tools and expertise to clean hard-to-reach areas and remove any build-up. It’s typically recommended every 3-5 years, but homes with pets or high dust levels should do so more often.
- Checking for mold: optimal humidity levels in your home (ideally between 30-50%) is what you should shoot for. Use a dehumidifier if you live somewhere with high humidity. Many HVAC systems today also have a built-in humidity control feature. Also, ensure that you don’t have any leaks or water damage in your ducts, drip pans, or the system as a whole.
- Cleaning your thermostat.
Air Purifier
This is a good investment to improve your home’s air quality. These are designed to capture airborne allergens. You could do worse than to buy a High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter. These can capture 99.97% of dust particles as small as 0.3 microns, so they’re quite efficient allergen killers.
UV Lights
UV radiation is emitted to destroy germs. Subsequently, they’re not able to reproduce and fester throughout your system. They’re installed near the coils or inside ductwork where mold and bacteria tend to accumulate.
Ensuring Proper Ventilation
Ensuring Proper VentilationThis allows fresh air to circulate and push stale air out of your home. If you fail to do so, pollutants and allergens will accumulate inside. So open your windows if the weather so permits and ensure your exhaust fans in your kitchen and bathroom work to expel moisture and pollutants.
Consider a Whole-House Air Cleaner
If you have someone living with you who suffers from severe allergies, installing a whole-house cleaner as part of your HVAC system can offer a more thorough filtration solution. They’re designed to trap smaller particles that are typically too fine for standard filters to capture. These include electronic ones that use electrical charges to trap particles and media-based filters, which use a thick, dense material to capture allergens.
Air Quality Monitor
These devices measure particulate matter while some can even detect humidity level. Place one in different rooms, especially rooms where you experience the most severe allergy symptoms. Monitor the results to see if there’s a correlation.
Spray foam insulation
Not all insulation materials are created equal. Spray foam insulation, in particular the closed-cell variety, has the highest R-value of any material. It does a better job than any other counterpart at stopping pests and harmful airborne particles from getting through. Open-cell spray foam, meanwhile, can fit into any crack and crevice and thus does a great job at plugging filthy passages. Fiberglass and rockwool are far easier environments for mold and other pests to fester.
