Allergens typically cause serious health problems for millions of people each year and frequently result in seasonal allergy conditions. For example, airborne particles such as dust mites and pet dander as well as mold and other particulates can make it difficult to breathe and may result in sneezing and coughing as well as a runny nose and red eyes. The good news is that there are ways to address the issue of allergens in a residential HVAC system.
Using The Right Type of HVAC System Filter
Here are a few ways to properly care for an HVAC system in order to remove allergens and keep air clean and healthy. For example, using the right type of HVAC system filter can make a big difference. In fact, the right type of furnace or AC filter is one of the first lines of defense against poor air quality in most residential homes. When selecting a filter choose one that has at least a MERV 8 rating. This type of filter will in essence be more effective at trapping microscopic particles.
Mt. Vernon Washington HVAC Services
When choosing the right type of filter is combined with the frequent replacement of filters, the end result is cleaner air and better health. Equally important is to remove any debris near the outdoor portion of your HVAC unit. A typical AC system draws air from the outside the home. This air is eventually circulated throughout the home’s interior. As such it is important to keep this area outside clean and free of debris. Regularly inspecting an outdoor unit for surrounding debris can greatly improve efficiency and even lower energy costs. Finally, keeping air-conditioning registers clean is another great way to reduce allergens in your home.
Particulates That Circulate Throughout Your Living Environment
When dusting your home it is important to consider first dusting the returns and registers of your HVAC system. Follow this by dusting the rest of the home as a way to reduce the amount of airborne particulates that circulate throughout the living environment. One of the best ways to dust a home is to make use of the damp rag. This helps to reduce the amount of dust and even dust mites that could be sent airborne by using a dry dust cloth. Contact Alpine Heating and Cooling today for the best in Mount Vernon Washington HVAC system services and care.
Summertime in the Skagit Valley
Life doesn’t get much better than this. There is so much to do here in the summer, like the Skagit County Fair in August. The temperatures and humidity are usually in the comfort range. For the times they aren’t, many of us have air conditioning to turn to. With so much to do in the summer, and no cold days or nights, it’s easy to forget about furnace maintenance. Remember, though, the fall and winter will come…
At the time of this writing, late July, it’s as hot as it gets here in the Skagit Valley of Western Washington state. Those of us with air conditioning are probably enjoying it for at least a couple hours most days. If you haven’t had an HVAC professional out since last fall, this is a good time. One service visit can cover both air conditioning and heating maintenance. Therefore, a summer furnace maintenance from Alpine Heating and Cooling can stretch your HVAC maintenance dollar.
While it may seem silly to have your furnace maintenance done in the summer, there are several compelling reasons. While we’re there, we can make sure your AC is running at top efficiency, saving you money all summer, and Alpine also has the most flexible scheduling right now.
Don’t wait to schedule furnace maintenance until everyone cranks up their heating system at once in the fall. You might find yourself in a long waiting line to get a technician out to your house.
What Does a Summer Furnace Maintenance Include?
For a comprehensive, point-by-point list of what we do when we perform a furnace maintenance, please refer to our Annual Service page. For a more general overview, please read on. When it’s running smoothly, it might seem like there’s not much going on in your heating system; However, today’s carefully engineered HVAC systems allow numerous adjustments that can improve efficiency, function, and safety. Filters, safety equipment, feedback systems, and more can all be checked and brought into spec.
Visual Inspection of the HVAC System
First, we’ll check over the unit for broken, missing, or incorrect parts, substandard installation, obvious leaks, and code and safety issues. It is astonishing, the number of HVAC systems we see that include massive efficiency and safety problems (often easy to resolve) resulting from poor quality installations. Consequently, we always recommend checking the basics first.
It’s a Good Idea to have a Look Inside your HVAC Unit Regularly!
Clean the HVAC Unit and Change the Filter(s)
Moving from winter into summer is an important time to check the cleanliness of your HVAC unit. After a long winter of closed windows, elevated indoor humidity, and poor ventilation and indoor air quality, your system’s controls, filter(s), and ducting can be layered with dust and debris. Dust buildup on electronic components can cause overheating and premature failure. Plugged filters overwork fans and significantly reduce air movement while providing a breeding ground for bacteria and mold.
Depending on your filter’s MERV rating, filters should be changed not less than every six months. A clean furnace filter is inexpensive insurance against poor performance, premature failure, and poor air quality in your home.
Electrical Checks
Checking the safety and integrity of the electrical supply to and throughout your HVAC unit is important. If the supply is inadequate or if safety cutoff equipment, like breakers and fuses, is missing or improperly sized, damage to your HVAC system or even catastrophic failure resulting in fire is possible. Rather than wonder, it’s best to know.
Summer Is a Great Time to Upgrade Your Furnace
If you’ve been considering upgrading to a more efficient unit, summertime is ideal. The leaps in efficiency and reliability in recent years are incredible. You won’t have to shiver through even one cold night without heat, and you avoid the inconvenience and expense of a system failure in winter.
If your system is old and inefficient, call for a free estimate to replace it. We can even estimate the payback time based on the fuel savings you’re going to enjoy.
DIY or Call a Professional?
As homeowners, it’s important to many of us to maintain a level of self-reliance. Changing the filter in your HVAC system or installing a carbon monoxide detector are good for homeowners. Turning off the pilot light in your furnace for the summer is useful and safe. We all need to know our limits, so when one of Alpine’s service trucks needs maintenance, we’re not pulling out the furnace tools to give it a shot. So, we head to a professional mechanic!
Not everyone is or even can be an expert on how to maintain their HVAC system. If you are unsure if your system is in good condition or you aren’t trained, call a professional. Alpine Heating and Cooling is fully licensed, insured, and bonded. We have years of experience to keep your HVAC system running right, and we want customers for life. We will work hard to earn your trust.
Call Alpine Heating and Cooling in Burlington, Washington at 360-755-5146 360-293-6210 for a free consultation over the phone or to schedule a furnace maintenance, HVAC repair, or upgrade. We can’t wait to help you!
When You See This, You’re In Good Hands
Black Mold Has Significant Negative Health Implications
While the term “toxic mold” isn’t exactly accurate, many molds, including so-called “black mold,” (Stachybotrys spp.) produce toxins that negatively impact human health.
According to the Centers for Disease Control:
In 2004 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) found there was sufficient evidence to link indoor exposure to mold with upper respiratory tract symptoms, cough, and wheeze in otherwise healthy people; with asthma symptoms in people with asthma; and with hypersensitivity pneumonitis in individuals susceptible to that immune-mediated condition. The IOM also found limited or suggestive evidence linking indoor mold exposure and respiratory illness in otherwise healthy children.
Molds grow from spores, which are ubiquitous in our indoor and outdoor environments and become active when conditions are right. Persistent moisture is the biggest factor that causes mold to grow and produce more spores and harmful toxins. Since the proliferation of Stachybotrys depends so strongly on moisture, the best place to begin is to figure out where excess moisture in our homes comes from and how we can mitigate its accumulation.
Where Does Problem Moisture Come From?
Any water-using appliance or fixture, especially ones using or producing hot water, are strong sources of indoor moisture.
- Showers (run the fan!)
- Washing machines
- Dishwashers
- Sinks and tubs
- Unvented combustion sources (gas stoves and space heaters, typically)
- Steam irons
Cooking, too, releases moisture into the air, as does human respiration (moisture is expelled from the lungs and through the skin). When you go outside on a cold day and “see your breath,” you are actually seeing the moisture you exhale every time your lungs fill and empty. If you and your whole family are snug in your warm house with the windows and doors shut all winter, you can see how that might become a problem!
The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies eleven common sources of moisture-related issues in buildings (see the entire list here on page 54). A complete discussion of them all is beyond the scope of this article, but we will touch on those related to heating and cooling and how they can be mitigated.
The following are excerpted from that list:
- Plumbing leaks and spills, perhaps resulting from improper design, installation,
operation or maintenance (e.g. failure to inspect and repair plumbing
leaks) - Infiltration of warm, moist outside air through cracks and holes in the enclosure
during warm, humid weather – which can cause condensation on materials
that are cooler, because they are part of the air-conditioning system – have
been cooled by air-conditioned indoor air or are in cool basements or crawl
spaces - Exfiltration of warm, moist indoor air through cracks and holes in the enclosure
during cold weather, which can cause condensation in wall and ceiling
cavities and attic spaces - Intentional or accidental vapor barriers in the wrong place, which can lead to
condensation in the building enclosure - Unvented or poorly vented sources, such as swimming pools, spas, aquariums,
dishwashers, combustion devices, kitchens and baths, from which water
may condense in the building enclosure or, if indoor humidity levels are high
enough, on materials in the space itself (e.g. ceilings, walls, furniture, cold water
pipes or air-conditioning air supply diffusers) - Insufficient dehumidification by HVAC systems,
which may result in levels of interior humidity that are high enough to
cause mould to grow on furniture, walls, ceilings or air-conditioning supply
diffusers - Poor condensate drainage due to heating, ventilation and air-conditioning
system deficiencies; condensation from cooling coils may overflow drain pans
or leak from condensate drain lines
Sources of Excess Moisture Vary by Season
In Skagit county, we have four wonderful seasons. Each is defined by a typical air humidity level and temperature range. Our climate determines how we condition our spaces for both our comfort and health in each season. The winter is typically cold and moist, with temperate summers that can vary from dry to humid depending on the prevailing weather pattern.
Many of the conditions experienced in Skagit county can quickly cause an excess of moisture and mold buildup in the home. Here are some tips to avoid mold buildup.
During (or before!) the heating season:
- Install double pane windows (at minimum) or shrink-wrap plastic indoor window covers
- Ensure sufficient indoor/outdoor (fresh) air changes – run fans, open a window or two, or install an ERV/HRV (energy/heat recovery ventilators)
- Maintain enough heat in the space (minimum temperature) to overcome the condensing effect of unabated drafts and cold air leaks
During the cooling season:
- Use a standalone dehumidifier when indoor humidity exceeds 50%
- Ensure careful insulation and encapsulation of cooling lines where they pass through building materials
- Properly installed and intact (functioning) vapor barrier
- Maintain the temperature in a small range rather than large warming and cooling cycles
- Keep condensate drains clear – make sure condensate goes to a sewer drain or outside and away from the building and foundation
- Use a toilet tank insulator kit or plumb warm water (with a mixing valve) to your toilet tank
All seasons:
- Avoid large swings in indoor temperature that alter the ability of indoor air to hold moisture
- Keep indoor humidity under 50% (use an indoor humidity meter (like this one, under $10) to monitor it
- Make sure that you home has good overall insulation
- Be sure you have a properly designed, installed, and intact vapor barrier
- Insulate all exposed or uninsulated cold water pipes – condensation or freeze (and subsequent leak) risk
I’m Feeling Overwhelmed! Help!
This (partial) list of ways that moisture can build up and contribute to harmful black mold growth can be a bit daunting. Sometimes, I feel the same way when I’m struggling with my computer and it just won’t do what I need it to do! I have found the solution, and I think it will help you, too: call a professional.
Alpine Heating and Cooling is not a mold remediation business, but we can come out and take a look at your heating and air conditioning equipment, which is a common source of moisture problems. We’ll make sure it’s properly installed, functioning at top efficiency, and that drains are clear, and lines are insulated. You’ll be ready for whatever mother nature throws at us here in Skagit county.
Give us call or send us an email – we’d love to hear from you.
For even more reading, check out this fantastic publication from the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension called, “Winter Home Moisture Problems.”