CONCORD — Air filtration is a crucial HVAC feature that affects everything from system performance to indoor air quality (IAQ). Consider the following tips for improving your HVAC system’s filtration:
Check the MERV rating. Air filters are rated on a scale of 1-20 by the MERV rating chart, with 1 representing lowest quality and 20 representing highest quality. Low-rated filters (MERV 1-5) allow high amounts of airborne particulates to pass through into the HVAC system, which diminishes both system efficiency and IAQ. Over time, this can lead to increased utility costs and reduced system performance—a real lose-lose situation. A better choice is to invest in a high-rated filter that effectively captures airborne particulates and keeps them out of your home’s air stream. Depending on what type of HVAC system you have, opt for a filter with a rating of MERV 8 to MERV 16.
Consider a carbon filter. Carbon air filters are made from activated charcoal. When charcoal is activated, the surface area of each particle increases substantially, which makes it more effective at absorbing dust, pollen, germs and other airborne particulates. Carbon filters are especially effective at controlling strong odors like smoke, which makes them a great choice for those who suffer from asthma or particular allergies.
“Activate” your air filtration. Most HVAC systems operate via “passive” filtration, wherein airborne particulates are caught in the filter as air naturally flows through it. These days, many homeowners are upgrading to “active” filtration, an enhanced form that actively kills adverse particulates in order to deodorize and purify the air. Active filtration systems use a variety of means to do this—for example, some utilize a UV lightbulb to kill germs and bacteria as they pass through the filter. If you want to maximize your IAQ, ask your HVAC contractor about adding an active filtration system.

Tips to Improve HVAC Air Filtration

Get expert tips to enhance your HVAC system's air filtration for a healthier, cleaner home environment. Improve air quality and efficiency with these insights.

Tips to Improve HVAC Air Filtration by Brian Waskow

By Brian Waskow, a Diamond Certified Expert Contributor

Benefits of a Programmable Thermostat

Benefits of a Whole House Air Purifier

Home Applications for Smart Technology

Improving Insulation in a Drafty Home

The Benefits of Proactive HVAC Maintenance

The Importance of HVAC System Filtration

Video: A Proactive Approach to HVAC Maintenance


when it comes to maintaining your
heating and air conditioning system it's
better to be proactive than to be
reactive today we're in Concord with
diamond certified expert contributor
Brian wasp a love hometown being an air
conditioning to learn more so one thing
that we all should do in life in general
is to be proactive as opposed to
reactive one piece of advice I can give
you as a technician and doing heating
and air conditioning ventilation for
many many years just to test your system
out when you don't need it prior to the
summer turn on your air conditioner let
it run make sure that the air is coming
out cold in all the vents make sure that
you change your thermostat it's better
to find out in April that your system
doesn't work than it is on Jeff July
first when it's 110 degrees same advice
can be said for the winter prior to
needing your heater in the wintertime
turned it on make sure that you run it
change the thermostat to make sure that
the heat is coming out everywhere one
thing it's also going to do is there's
this funny smell of dust that gets on
your heater during the summertime and
it's going to get rid of that smell it's
going to burn off you'll be able to open
the windows and ventilate the smell out
without it being freezing outside it's
much better to know that your heater's
not going to work when you don't need it
then when you have to become
to learn more from local top-rated
companies visit our diamond certified
expert reports at experts diamond
certified org


Video: Benefits of a Whole House Air Purifier


I get many questions from clients about
indoor air quality and their filtration
system working with furnaces and duct
work and people usually tend to buy
filters from over the counter at
Distributors and stores the value of a
whole house air purifier there are many
benefits to that and the best benefits
you get from these is A system that will
neutralize odors in your home fight
bacteria viruses throughout your home as
well the ability to catch fine dander
that passes through a store-bought
filter that usually gets by into your
system into your home back up into your
Air these whole house air purifiers will
greatly decrease that and you'll have a
much pure air going through your home


Video: HVAC Air Filter Warning


do you remember the last time you change
your furnaces air filter if not you may
be in for some adverse effects to learn
more we're in Walnut Creek with Jessica
loeben of hometown heating and air
conditioning speaking on behalf of our
diamond certified expert contributor
brian wah scow i'm here to speak to you
today about filtration in your heating
and air conditioning system filters like
these collect dust dirt and particulates
over time these filters can get clogged
that clogged filter can have an adverse
effect on your system causing it to work
harder and causing it to have less
efficiency what we recommend is that you
replace your filter or have it looked at
at least twice a year to do that we
recommend a maintenance by HVAC
professional that can come out and
assess the situation to learn more from
local top rated companies visit our
diamond certified expert reports at
experts diamond certified org


Video: Insulation Upgrades


hvac and insulation upgrades
which upgrade should we install first
well first we need to take a look at
your current home situation
is this one colder than the other room
as we losing more heat
and cooling in this room what should we
install first
first you want to check your attic you
want to check your walls you want to
check your crawl space for
installation because if you don't have
insulation in these areas you can make
the mistake by installing a hvac system
first
and you still experience the same
problems and also
you can decrease the efficiency
lifespan of the hvac system by not
installing insulation
first and your attic walls and crawl
space
please reach out to a insulation
contractor
and receive advice on how to approach
the situation and
install insulation in the near future


Video: Programmable Thermostat Advantages


if you want to save time and money on
your HVAC system your first step should
be to get a programmable thermostat to
learn more we're in Concord with
Danielle Jones with hometown heating and
air conditioning speaking on behalf of
our diamond certified expert contributor
of Brian wasco so this is the Honeywell
9000 it's a programmable thermostat that
you can set the schedule and also
program from your phone so I'm just
going to go through a few options on how
to set and edit the schedule so from the
menu option I'm going to go ahead and go
to view edit schedule so here I have how
I set my schedule for when i wake up for
when the last person leaves the house
for when i return to work and from when
we go to sleep if you're like me i have
a big family and we always forget to
turn off the thermostat so one thing i
really like about this is that i don't
have to remember it remembers for me so
i have it set to turn off automatically
at seven o'clock when everyone leaves
the house once i have that sent i can go
to done and it tastes my schedule to
learn more about the honeywell 9000
contact your local contractors
to learn more from local top-rated
companies visit our diamond certified
expert reports at experts diamond
certified gorg


Video: Taking Advantage of Smart Home Technology


from automated door locks to intuitive
thermostats smart technology is
increasing the safety comfort and
efficiency of modern homes to learn more
we're in Concord with Galen Squires of
hometown heating and air conditioning
speaking on behalf of diamond certified
expert contributor brian WASC ow here's
a tip on smart home products there's a
large amount of smart home products
available on the market today that will
not only increase the comfort of your
day-to-day life but it will increase the
safety of your home and family from
thermostats light switches smoke
detectors and doorbells to indoor and
out there are security cameras for home
alarm systems and automated door locks
all could be easily controlled and
monitored from your mobile phone
to learn more from local top rated
companies visit our diamond certified
expert reports at experts diamond
certified org


Video: The Benefits of a Heat Pump


we get a lot of questions about heat
pumps
and the new California regulations for
electrification heat pumps is an
alternative for gas heaters gas furnaces
a heat pump is really just a box just
like your condenser for your a AC system
and it's able to heat your home as well
as cool your home for California this is
a big part of California now uh we are
seeing a lot of heat pumps being placed
into homes along with air handlers and
this would be the unit that pushes air
throughout the house we're seeing people
use heat pumps a lot more often than
they use a gas furnace due to the cost
savings that they they're having and
you're able to regulate your temperature
of your home a lot easier with a heat
pump than with a gas furnace


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