Whether your HVAC system is working hard to keep your home warm in the winter, or it is blasting cool air in the summer months, you’re going to need to schedule regular cleaning and maintenance for continued efficient operation. In addition to keeping your HVAC system’s performance up to snuff, regular maintenance can also help improve the quality of your air.
While some households don’t have the need to run the air conditioning or heat as often as others, the systems can still become dirty and mechanical parts can suffer some wear and tear. If nothing else, regular maintenance will ensure that the quality of your air remains at a consistently high level.
To understand how HVAC maintenance can improve the quality of your indoor air, we first need to consider what causes poor air quality and what the negative effects can be.
What Affects Indoor Air Quality and What Are the Consequences?
The quality of the air in your home is a function of the types of airborne particles present and the quantity of these particles. Dust, allergens, mold spores, bacteria, and other micro-organisms have a significant impact on the quality of the air you breathe.
For those with allergies, unclean air can cause a flare up resulting in sinus problems. If there are more dangerous particles, such as molds or bacteria, the consequences can be a more significant ailment. Because the HVAC system in your home continuously circulates the air as it runs, it’s important that the air is free of harmful particles.
According to the EPA, indoor air pollutants can have a negative impact on your health, and can present as:
- Irritation of your eyes, throat, and nose
- Fatigue, dizziness, and headaches
- Respiratory disease, heart disease, and cancer
While some of these effects are rare, there is no denying that indoor air filled with pollutants can have a serious negative impact to your health. This is of particular importance if dangerous mold spores were to find their way into your HVAC system. While it’s critical to locate and eliminate the original source of the mold, you also want to make sure your HVAC system is filtering out any airborne spores.
How Can Air Quality Be Improved?
While you can place portable air purifiers around your home to help with air quality, it’s more effective to clean the air within the HVAC system itself. Most systems have HEPA filters installed to remove impurities from the air to ensure that you are breathing fresh, clean air at all times. If your system doesn’t have HEPA grade filters installed, this would be a highly beneficial upgrade to install.
However, the filters are only helpful if they are kept clean. These filters require regular replacement, typically every 90 days. It’s important to keep up with these filter changes to maintain the quality of your home’s circulated air. An unchanged filter can quickly clog from all the pollutants it is removing from the air, and once this happens the filter will no longer be effective and airflow itself may grind to a halt.
It’s also important to have regular mechanical maintenance performed on HVAC systems at least on an annual basis. By doing so, you’ll keep your system running to full capacity and help prevent mechanical breakdowns. If the system isn’t maintained and begins functioning poorly, air circulation may suffer, and this will negatively impact your air quality. After all, if air isn’t flowing through the system and into the filters properly, it won’t be able to remove dangerous airborne pollutants.
In addition to mechanical upkeep, having your air ducts regularly cleaned will go a long way toward improving the quality of your indoor air. As the system runs, dust, bacteria, mold, and other particles may settle into the ducts. All of this settled dust can kick up at any time to find its way into your air system. While the HEPA filters should catch most of these pollutants, it’s still important to keep the ducts cleaned to prevent any potential air contamination.
How to Improve Your Air Quality Today
If your HVAC system needs cleaning and maintenance, don’t hesitate to act. Any issues with dirty filters, mechanical maintenance, and anything else HVAC related can be resolved by American Comfort Experts. Simply contact us today to schedule your next HVAC maintenance appointment. We’ll help keep your HVAC system running smoothly and to keep the air in your home clean.
