If you have inferior indoor air quality in your home, you’re not alone. It’s a common problem here in Southwest Florida. One big contributor is our humid weather, which makes mold growth almost inevitable.

An excellent way to combat airborne mold spores plus other lung irritants in your home’s air is with an air purification system. Whole-home air cleaners are designed to remove a high percentage of harmful, breathable particles and contaminants from the air, including:

• Pollen
• Dust
• Animal dander
• Chemical vapors from cleaning products
• Emissions from home-improvement projects or hobbies
• Odors
• Mildew and mold spores
• Insect debris
• Viruses and bacteria – bioaerosols
• Ozone – some systems are also capable of destroying this pollutant
• And other harmful particles

The most effective and efficient air cleaning technology can be incorporated in your central air conditioning and heating system. Many systems use both physical barriers (for instance dense, pleated air filters) and UV light equipment, working together to clean the air. The air cleaner also helps keep your home comfort system from accumulating dirt internally and thereby extends its life.

The efficiency of the purification system is determined in large part by the air filter. A filter that’s rated higher on the MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value) scale is capable of trapping more of the smaller (and often more unhealthy) particles in the air. Flat fiberglass filters are generally low on the scale; the denser, pleated filters are higher on the scale, which ranges from 1 to 16 for residential use. MERV 16 filters remove over 95 percent of particles as small as .3 microns, and are generally sufficient for hospital use. (Filters rated MERV 17 to 20, true HEPA filters, are generally used for industrial applications in larger, more powerful commercial A/C systems.)

Improving your home’s air quality with a whole-house purification system helps shield your family from the ill effects of indoor pollution such as:

• Allergy flare-ups
• Sinus irritation
• Watering eyes
• Fatigue
• Concentration problems
• Colds too often passed between family members

Questions about whole-house air purification? Talk to the experts at Conditioned Air. Visit our website for information or just give us a call.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Air purification image via Shutterstock