Most calls to our HVAC company (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) are from customers needing to make the temperatures in their homes more tolerable. This is certainly an important factor in your home comfort, and it’s the reason we’re in business, but it’s not the only factor. Comfort depends on a lot of things: a working air conditioner, a comfy mattress and couch, and good indoor air quality.

Unfortunately, many homeowners don’t realize that there’s a lot you can do about poor indoor air quality. Others purchase small portable air purifiers that only help with a small part of your home’s air quality. But the best way to improve your air quality is with a whole-house system. We’ve got some choice selections for whole-home indoor air quality systems below, along with a few expert tips.

The Best Indoor Air Quality Systems

The best indoor air quality system is one that works with your air conditioner and heater, cleaning the air that is already circulating throughout your home. Here are our recommendations for what to discuss with your local heating and air conditioning contractors.

• Air Filtration Systems: The best indoor air quality systems go above and beyond standard air filters, cleaning the air of the smallest (and often most harmful) particles thanks to the boxed pleated design.
• UV Air Cleaners: UV light kills and sterilizes germs like bacteria and viruses as they pass through your HVAC system.
• Electronic Air Cleaning: Electronic air purifiers give a charge to particulate in the air so they become attracted to a surface of the opposite charge (instead of circulating in the air).
• HRVs/ERVs: A heat recovery ventilator or energy recovery ventilator helps to let in some fresh air and exhaust stale, stuffy, polluted air outdoors—without severely affecting AC and heating efficiency.

Schedule Regular Air Duct Cleaning

One pro tip we can offer to anyone feeling frustrated by indoor air quality troubles is to regularly schedule air duct cleaning—about every 3-5 years. This is a service in which technicians vacuum and brush dust out of the ducts so that germs and particles are not at risk of forcing their way into your air. The ducts are probably dirtier than you realize!

Change the Filter

Changing the filter primarily helps with managing airflow into your HVAC system. A dirty filter gets clogged up and blocks airflow, but it also makes it a lot harder for particles to get cleaned out of your air. Change your air filter every 1-3 months, for the wellbeing of your system and for your indoor air quality.

Leaving the Outdoors In

Outdoor air quality is usually better than the indoor air quality, but that doesn’t mean you want dirt from outside recirculating in the air in your home. Leave the outdoors inside by enforcing a no-shoes-inside policy and having people leave outerwear by the door. Your air quality will thank you for it!

Improve your indoor air quality in Fort Worth, TX with the helpful team at Frymire Home Services: A Higher Degree of Comfort.