Dirt is the biggest killer of central HVAC systems and drains homeowners of their hard earned money. As a homeowner there are a couple of things that you can, proactively, do to keep your utility bills in check, avoid replacing your system to soon and to reduce expensive repairs. At Cogburn’s Heating and Air Conditioning we have a few air quality service tips for your home. The first step is to have regular maintenance or, in other words, schedule service on your system before it breaks down. Our Service Club Membership can help you economically take care of system maintenance. The second tip is to choose the proper air filter for your system and replace it regularly.
Air filters come in many sizes and types. Honestly the more filters you have in your system the better. Most systems only have one maybe two. When you choose an air filter you need to consider your intention along with the size of your home and the number of filters your system requires. For example, If your home is over 1900 sq. ft. and you only have one filter you are starting at a disadvantage. The intake duct of your system is already undersized. This is actually common in 7 out of 10 homes. So, the filter you choose is critical to the efficiency and comfort your system provides.
When you are shopping for an air filter you will notice that there are pleated filters, micron filters, fiberglass filters, one inch filters, four inch filters etc… So what do you do? In the late 1980’s Research Products discovered that with a pleated filter the deeper the pleats the greater the dust holding capacity, the smaller the particles it can hold and a lower resistance to air flow. This was the beginning of the pleated filter technology.
With this technology evolved two ways to rate filtration. The dust spot and the MERV rating. Dust spot ratings are basically a percentage of a fixed particle size blown thru the media at a fixed velocity. The bigger the spot the higher the percentage. The MERV, Minimum efficiency reporting value, measures all particle sizes from atmospheric dust to what you can see with your eyes. Most one inch filters are dust spot rated while four inch filters have a MERV number. A high efficient particulate arrestance or HEPA has a MERV rating of 13 to 16. We recommend a MERV 11. It is almost as effective as a HEPA but does not restrictt the airflow a s a HEPA would.
The bottom line. You want to choose an air filter that keeps your system clean and improves the air quality in your home. It can be a challenge. If you need assistance in determining what would best suite your needs then feel free to contact our office, call us toll free today at 1-866-523-8762. . One of our Cogburn’s specialists would be more than happy to drop by and visit with you. To learn more about Cogburn’s Heating and Air Conditioning or to check out our Spring Coupons visits us at www.cogburnsheatingandair.com.
