Paul Binczarowski
Furnaces are something that we often forget about until there’s a problem. We realize that we need to take care of this essential part of our home when we experience problems in our air handling units when it comes to producing heat, cooling our homes, leaving us feeling uncomfortable. However, we often forget that we need our furnaces to work efficiently and effectively all year round.
Furnaces work as the heart of your home; they pump air through your vents so that your home is optimal temperature all throughout the year. In order to keep your furnace working to the best of its ability and without malfunctions throughout the year it is very important to clean out or change your filters regularly.
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The traditional forced-air furnace heats your home through a heating cycle. It begins by drawing air in through the return ducts, warming it over the heat exchanger, and pushing it out of a series of ductwork by a blower fan. These ducts branch off into different rooms in your home distributing the warm air. The furnace continues to run and heat air until the temperature in your home matches the thermostat temperature. The process is very similar in a central air-con. In the summer the air is cooled by a compressor unit that is located outside of your home and coils that are located inside of your furnace.
Furnace filters are an important part of keeping the air quality in your home clean, protecting your furnace, and saving you money if you keep up to date with their maintenance. The central purpose of a furnace filter is to protect the furnace’s blower fan from dust, debris, pet dander, hair and other airborne allergens that the return ducts pull in by trapping them. When your furnace filter is dirty it causes the blower to work harder using more energy. By trapping allergens, the furnace filter helps improve the air quality inside of your home by removing contaminants that are being recirculated in the process. If your filter becomes clogged with particles it loses its ability to keep catching these allergens recirculating them back into your home. A blocked filter can also cause damage to your furnace unit by causing it to overheat or burn out which can lead to costly repair bills.
In order for your filter to work optimally, you also need a filter that fits the furnace in your home.
Now that we’ve touched on what furnace filters do and the importance of keeping your filters clean and unclogged, the frequency of filter replacements is also crucial in maintaining your furnace and air quality. Homeowners should have their filters changed from once every month to every three months. This ranges depending on the circumstances that concern your home. Some factors include pets in the home, living in an area that has higher particulate matter as a result of construction or heavy traffic, family members with respiratory problems such as asthma or allergies, and the particular furnace that you have. Manufacturers often recommend the frequency of their specific filter replacements. High-efficiency furnace filters need to be replaced more often because they get clogged faster as a result of their efficiency in removing particles.
The Coronavirus disease causes respiratory illness that is why we are told to wear masks to protect our faces. Similarly, furnace filters act as the face masks of HVAC trapping particles so that the air that is recirculated into your home is clean. That is why it is extra important to keep your air filtration systems working to the best of their abilities during this time. Paige Freeland, the marketing manager of General Filters stated that this “historic event in which we now find ourselves with the COVID-19 pandemic has caused renewed awareness of just how important healthy air is inside our homes and elsewhere.”
Air filters and UV filters alike work to protect you and your family. UV filters work by having the ultraviolet light kill harmful bacteria, mold, fungi, viruses and other microbes in your units in about ten seconds. The UV lights are installed directly into the return air duct or other strategic ducts in your home. The frequency of UV lamp replacements, as always, depends on how the system is used. UV lamps tend to need a replacement once every 12 months, especially for those who are living with respiratory conditions. The annual replacement is vital because UV lights by their first year will lose almost half of their germicidal effectiveness if the main purpose of your lights are to disinfect the air, however, if you are using it to keep your HVAC unit clear of mold and other growth, you can wait up to two years for a replacement. After three years your UV lamp should not be running because at this point the effectiveness is spent and the use of excessive energy consumed can cause an overheating of the power supply and a potential system failure. At this point, you are simply wasting energy and paying for it in your electricity bills.
For your air filters to have an impact in helping you fight against allergens, microbes, and disease transmission filters need to be properly installed and maintained to treat the recirculated air. Give Humberview HVAC a call to carry out preventative maintenance, make sure your systems are working properly, check the airflow rates, inspect and replace air filtration filters, clean and disinfect your system, and more.
Changing your filters is an important part of keeping your systems running smoothly and keeping your air quality clean, especially during this unprecedented time. Filtration in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning may assist in mitigating the spread of harmful bacteria and allergens by trapping and killing them. At Humberview HVAC we are here for you every step of the way and are working hard to keep you safe and healthy.
Humerview Heating + Air Conditioning
416-726-4229
paul@humberviewhvac.ca
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