Your indoor air quality can plummet when your home is closed up during the cold winter months, and this can worsen allergies, asthma and other respiratory conditions. To help you maintain a healthier winter living environment, it’s important to understand the difference between air filtration and air cleaning.
What is Air Filtration?
Your HVAC system is equipped with an air filter that you need to change on a routine basis. If you’ve noticed debris on the dirty filters, you might think they’re also removing unhealthy contaminants from your air supply. Most of the potentially harmful particles floating in your air are too small to get trapped in a standard HVAC filter, though, so it can’t have a beneficial impact on your air quality.
The main role of your HVAC system’s filter is to catch larger particles being pulled in through the return air ducts so they can’t accumulate inside the system and erode performance and efficiency. There are filters available with higher minimum efficiency reporting values (MERV) that can trap some smaller particles, but they’ll restrict airflow through your HVAC system too much and damage the equipment.
What is Air Cleaning?
Air cleaning relies on specialized equipment to rid the air of unhealthy contaminants either through filtration or purification. Your HVAC professional can advise you on which type best suits your needs, but here’s an overview of how each works:
- Filtration units – These are installed between the HVAC equipment and the return air ducting. All the air circulating through the HVAC system gets routed through the unit’s filter, which is able to capture microscopic particles such as mold and other fungus spores, pollen, pet dander, dust mites, soil, soot, and tobacco smoke.
- Purifier units – Air purifiers use UV (ultraviolet) germicidal lamps to eradicate microorganisms like viruses and bacteria. These air cleaners are installed near the air handler unit in either a supply or return duct and run silently in tandem with the HVAC system.
To learn more about the differences between air filtration and air cleaning, contact the Lorain home comfort pros at Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Lorain, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about air filtration, air cleaning, and other HVAC topics, call us at 440-201-2959.
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Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning
1 (440) 246-5440
Serving the Lorain, OH Area