Clean Air in Your Home: Can Your Furnace Filter Really Help?

One of the last things that you would want is for the air quality in your home to be compromised in any way and for it affect any of your family.

This is a fundamental reason why it is considered to be important that you try and ensure that your furnace filter is clean enough to be able to do its job properly and allow you the opportunity to enjoy as clean air as possible in your home.

Indoor pollutants

We all know that the air quality outside can be extremely variable and with things like engine exhaust fumes and pollen accumulating in the atmosphere, this can create some potential health problems.

Whilst we can’t really control the outdoor environment ourselves, we can take steps to make sure that indoor pollutants do not add to your air quality issues.

Contaminants from outside can be introduced into your home as air infiltrates in and then there is of course some indoor pollutants that we have to think about. Fumes created by solvents, household cleaning products and pet dander, together with dust and even mold amongst other things, can all combine to create indoor air pollution that is beyond an acceptable level.

Improving your air quality

You might decide that using someone like Bass Air Conditioning to maintain and service your unit and filters will help keep your air quality in check, and there is also action you can take yourself to improve the indoor air quality.

You can find some useful advice issued by the United States EPA for homeowners on how to improve your indoor air quality and they suggest following some key steps so that you can achieve cleaner air in your home.

These include providing adequate ventilation in the house and trying to control pollution by eliminating individual sources or at least taking steps to reduce their emissions.

As well as avoiding introducing tobacco smoke into your home and cleaning and dusting regularly, it also suggests that change your air filters on a regular basis.

Changing your air filter

Your air filter is quite simply one of the best defenses against the pollutants that can infiltrate your air system and create potential health problems.

Your central heating and air conditioning system pull air through these filters that are designed to capture as much dust as possible and if they are not changed regularly, they will be unable to do their job effectively.

If you want to change the filter yourself, check the owner’s manual for your system and find out where your filter is located and how to remove it safely.

You will need to check if you have a disposable filter or a reusable filter, as the disposable version will simply be replaced by a new one but the reusable filter will need to be cleaned properly.

Cleaning a reusable filter will involve vacuuming the filter to remove the large pieces of dust that may have accumulated and then washing it carefully so that you do not cause any damage to the screen.

Having a clean air filter will definitely help towards keeping the air in your home as clean as clean as possible, and you should aim to check it every month and probably change it every third month. Howard C. Miller is a respiratory specialist. He likes to share his insights on better breathing. His articles appear on many home improvement and health sites.