Do you experience sneezing, itchy eyes, or a cough when you are at home? Have you noticed an increase in headaches or fatigue while you are in your residence? Your indoor air quality may be to blame. There are several contaminants that can decrease the quality of our indoor air, often making it worse than what is outside. While the Lakeland, FL area can be beautiful throughout the year, maintaining indoor air quality is essential for relief from allergies, humidity, and more.
Indoor Particulate Matter
The kind of particulate matter that is circulating in a home will vary from one residence to another. However, some common culprits tend to be things like pet dander in homes with pets, pollen that is brought in from outside, dust and dust mites, and more. Mold spores are common in the Lakeland area because of high levels of humidity and the potential for tropical storms. Volatile organic compounds are often found in high concentrations from things like cleaning products that contain chemicals, new building materials that are off-gassing, etc.
What Can Be Done?
There are several ways that you can improve the quality of the air inside your home. This will make your residence feel more comfortable and keep it safer throughout the year. Let’s look at some of the methods for improving indoor air quality in your domestic environment.
Using HVAC Filtration
There is a filter in your furnace or AC that is used to collect particulates passing through your HVAC system. There are several types of filters you can use in this housing, such as fiberglass filters, pleated filters, activated carbon filters, and others. These filters are usually rated using the minimum-efficiency reporting value scale, or MERV for short. The higher a filter is rated, the more particulates it will trap. Your average HVAC filter is around 8 to 12 MERV. While higher-rated filters can trap more particulates, you need to be careful with what you choose. Your furnace or AC can experience airflow restrictions if you are using a filer with too high of a MERV rating. This could cause permanent damage to your equipment. Check with our experts at Snowbird Heating & Cooling to see what kind of filter we recommend.
Most furnace and AC filters need to be replaced once every 30 to 90 days. Check the manufacturer’s recommendations for your equipment as well as those for the filter itself. We can help you come up with a preferred filter schedule based on things like the frequency with which you use your HVAC system, whether you have pets at home, etc.
Upgrading to Whole-House Filtration
In addition to your furnace filter, you can have a whole-house filtration system installed on your HVAC system. This equipment will remove up to 99.97% of the particulate matter in your indoor air, depending on the specific unit you invest in and the type of filter it uses. Whole-house filtration is ideal because it will address your entire home’s air quality. Portable models are affordable, but they must be moved frequently and don’t handle a lot of square footage at one time. Make sure you regularly change the filter in your purification equipment to promote ideal indoor air quality.
High-efficiency particulate air filters, also known as HEPA, are extremely beneficial for removing things like pollen, dander, dust, and even bacteria from your indoor air. They are restrictive filters, usually used with whole-house filtration rather than in your furnace or AC. You may also have a HEPA filter in your vacuum to trap dust and other particulates before they can circulate into your air.
Activated carbon filtration can be combined with other types of filters in your whole-house equipment. This material does an excellent job of removing smells and VOCs from your air.
You can choose to have a UV light installed on your HVAC system as part of your filtration setup. Using UV-C light will destroy pathogens, viruses, and bacteria so your family can’t pass illnesses from one person to another. This method of filtration doesn’t trap particulate matter, so make sure you’re also using a traditional form of purification as well as your UV-C light.
Mold Spore Concerns
The outdoor environment in Lakeland can be very humid, especially during the heat of summer. If you allow this humidity to come inside your home, it can lead to uncomfortable and oppressive indoor conditions. Humid air tends to feel warmer than it is. This can lead to overuse of your air conditioning equipment, which causes an increase in wear and tear and a shorter system life expectancy. It’s ideal that your indoor relative humidity remain between 30% and 50%. If you’re experiencing very high levels of humidity, you can remove moisture using a whole-house dehumidification unit. This equipment is something we can install on your HVAC system. All the air circulating through your HVAC will then have optimal relative humidity, regardless of what the season is.
Unlike a portable dehumidifier that needs to be frequently emptied or moved, a whole-house unit addresses your entire home at once. It requires minimal maintenance. There is a drain line that will remove the moisture that is collected from the dehumidifier. It’s ideal that this conduit is kept clear of sediment and mineral deposits to allow for ample drainage. Otherwise, you may start to see condensation or water pooling around your dehumidifier or drain.
Keeping Pollen Outside
Unfortunately, a climate like Lakeland’s can promote high levels of pollen outdoors. If you suffer from allergies, you’ll want to take steps to minimize pollen from coming inside your residence. You can do this by keeping windows and doors closed during times when pollen levels are at their highest. This is usually in the middle of the day. If you want to open your windows for some air circulation, do so in the very early morning or late in the day when pollen levels decrease.
You should also make sure that you shower at the end of the day before you head to bed. This removes the pollen from your body and your hair, allowing you to get a restful night of sleep. Run your air conditioner at night to reduce pollen from your indoor air and bring your indoor temperature to a comfortable level. Regardless of these precautions, wash your bedding regularly in hot water to remove any pollen that does accumulate. If you have pets, it’s best to keep them out of the bedroom to minimize pollen and pet dander exposure at night.
If you need assistance with improving the quality of your indoor air, reach out to our team here at Snowbird Heating & Cooling. We have extensive knowledge regarding the contaminants that may be present in your home’s air. We can recommend ways to improve your IAQ and provide equipment installation to accomplish it. We also offer repairs, maintenance, and installation of different types of heating and cooling equipment, plus HVAC ductwork. In addition, our Lakeland, FL business offers plumbing assistance, such as pipe installation, unclogging of drains, repair of burst pipes, water heater maintenance, and much more.
Contact us at Snowbird Heating & Cooling in Lakeland today to schedule an appointment.
