Few things are as important as the air you breathe. Breathing is so automatic we usually don’t think about what’s lingering in the air—especially at home. But did you know the air you breathe in your home may be more harmful than the air you breathe outside?
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency studies have shown that your indoor air can be up to 100 times more polluted than the air outside—even in smoggy, urban areas.
Treating indoor air should be #1 on your list of home improvements. Aprilaire Whole-Home Products can help improve your family’s health and comfort by improving your indoor air quality.
Indoor air quality refers to Temperature, Humidity, Air Purity, and Freshness.”
Temperature
Temperature is often the only quality that is thought about in the average home as everyone has a thermostat to control the heat and air conditioning. However, the thermostat is usually installed in the center of the home where it is easiest to heat and cool. This tends to cause hot and cold spots in the home. Check out our Thermostat section to explore some options for better control of your home comfort system.
Humidity
Winters in West Michigan fluctuate wildly through the seasons. It can be 30 degrees, sunny, and humid one day, and blustery, frigid, and desert-dry the next day. This can wreak havoc on your home and your health. Having a humidifier installed with your furnace helps mitigate the massive moisture loss through the cold months. Humidity reduces the static shocks and nose bleeds associated with dry weather and keeps the expensive woodwork in your home from contracting as it releases moisture.
This is an Aprilaire steam humidifier we installed.
Air Purity
Air purity can be broken down into two parts: filtration and purification. Filtration is the process of catching, trapping, and removing particles in the air and keeping them from clogging up your heating and cooling equipment and coming back into your home. Most systems come equipped with a standard air filter. These 1” filters provide adequate protection for your equipment but do little to improve the quality of the air that you breathe. A standard filter is rated at 6 or 8 on the MERV scale, which is enough to protect the equipment and remove large duct particulates from circulation but nothing more. Upgrading your filter to an Aprilaire media cleaner will improve the air filtration rating from 6 to 13. These filters remove smaller harmful particles from your air such as bacteria, spores, and even large viruses. And the large surface area of the Aprilaire 5000 & 2000 series’ medias give them the capacity to filter your home’s air for up to a year in between changes.
Freshness
Purification, on the other hand, doesn’t trap or remove anything. Instead, it attacks and neutralizes living organisms (bacteria, viruses, mold, and mites) as well as VOCs and other odor-producing compounds. Air purification systems like the SecondWind Ultra Violet system or the RemeHalo are great for keeping your home’s air fresh.
Get a Free Estimate for Air Quality Systems in Your Home
Interested in learning more about improving the air quality of your West Michigan home? Contact Baumann & DeGroot, the indoor air quality experts at 616-396-HEAT for a free estimate.