Your home is your castle. But how good is the quality of the air inside your home? Many homeowners that are concerned about the effects of airborne contaminants and pollution want to take steps to purify the air that comes into their homes. This is especially the case when someone elderly or with a chronic ailment is living with you, including those with breathing disorders such as asthma or emphysema.

While you don’t want to try to put price tag on your family’s health, it does make sense to keep tabs on how much you will have to spend on disposable air filters every month. Read on for some insight into whether bargain air filters will make a difference in air quality.

The Importance of Maintaining Good Indoor Air Quality

Good air quality control is necessary to keep dust, pollen, pollution and other contaminants from making people sneeze, wheeze or succumb to asthma attacks at home. In addition to the pollution from outside, there are contaminants that come from inside the house that you need to filter out as well. Dust, animal dander and smoke are major examples of internal pollution that you will want to scrub from the air.

Generic air filters will usually be the least efficient you can purchase, and this is for a good reason. The least expensive units typically will filter at a 20% to 50% efficiency rate. 

Families dealing with major health concerns will want to choose a High Efficiency Particulate or HEPA filter, which can capture very small particles (0.3 micrometers in diameter).

You can expect that bargain air filters will not be able to deliver the full cleaning capacity of their more expensive competitors. With air filters as is with most everything else, you tend to get what you pay for. If an air filter seems too inexpensive to be truly useful, trust your instincts and investigate reviews of higher-costing brands.

Comparing Air Filters

You can’t necessarily judge an air filter by its packaging alone. Read the specifications of different manufacturer’s air filters to get a sense of what is available. If you have friends, relatives or coworkers with air filtration systems at home, ask them what filter brands they use.

A good way to proceed is to check online reviews from reputable publications, including non-profit testing services that publish results without advertising support. That way, you won’t be confined to choosing from brands that only have been commented on in forums.

Your HVAC System Must Be Maintained and Cleaned

The fanciest air filtration system in the world will not do your family much good if the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system is not operating at full capacity. Your equipment needs to be inspected, cleaned and maintained with annual visits from a reputable HVAC technician. 

Otherwise, its coil will become covered with dust and other debris, lowering its efficiency. If the air is not blowing efficiently, you will not be getting as much air filtration as you expected. What’s more, a poorly performing HVAC system will cost more to run, leading to higher utility bills as well as the real danger of damaging the system.

When your home is in a location that has a great deal of dust, airborne debris or pollution, you undoubtedly will have some concerns about the quality of the air you and your family are breathing once indoors. 

If you do not have an air filter system set up in your home yet or the system you have is inadequate, the team at David Gray Heating & Air is standing by to help. We can assist you in selecting the perfect air filter system for your dwelling as well as determine the best type of disposable air filters to meet your particular needs. For more information on indoor air quality and air filtration or to make an appointment to consult with us, please call David Gray Heating & Air at your earliest convenience.