Don’t let the cold weather of fall and winter here in Springfield negatively affect your indoor air quality. It’s important to think about your indoor air quality especially during these dry, cold months in Oregon. You may not realize how much these weather conditions exacerbate existing respiratory problems and cold or flu symptoms. There are simple steps you can take to increase your comfort. If you want to improve your indoor air quality this season, you might want to consider a humidifier for your Springfield, OR home. We ensure that all our service technicians are educated and equipped to handle all types of indoor air quality issues.
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Archive for the ‘Indoor Air Quality’ Category
Why Cold Weather is Hard on Indoor Air Quality
Monday, October 15th, 2018Is Duct Cleaning Actually Beneficial?
Monday, May 14th, 2018
If you’ve looked around our website at the many residential services we offer our customers, you may have noticed that you can schedule duct cleaning in Eugene, OR, or elsewhere in our service area for your home’s ventilation system. A common reaction people have to seeing this service is to wonder if it’s useful at all.
We understand why homeowners may be skeptical. For one thing, ducts are out of sight—and that often means they’re out of mind. People rarely give much thought to what’s inside their ducts. There are also a number of non-professionals who offer duct cleaning at suspiciously low costs. “Suspiciously” is right: these aren’t real duct cleaning, only a quick vacuum job that doesn’t do much good.
Thorough duct cleaning from professionals using the finest equipment can provide a home with many benefits. Here are some of the ways regular duct cleaning (done every 3 to 5 years) with our pros is beneficial:
Will Air Filters Create Trouble for My Air Conditioner?
Monday, October 16th, 2017
You may have heard about the problems of low indoor air quality in many homes. These aren’t alarmist warnings: the EPA has determined that poor IAQ in buildings is a significant health hazard across the country. In fact, the air inside a building—and this includes your cozy, happy home—can be as much as three to four times worse than the air outside.
One of the basic solutions to poor IAQ for a home is to remove harmful particles moving through the ventilation system with a set of air filters. It takes special filters dedicated to air quality improvements for this job. But this raises a concern that the filters may end up making the air conditioner’s job harder (and eventually the heater’s job). Is there any truth to this?
Get a Head Start on Flu Season This Fall with a UV Air Purifier
Monday, September 4th, 2017
Even in the last days of summer, it’s hard to get our minds away from the warm weather and think about the cold season that’s soon coming our way. It’s also difficult to think about the flu and other illnesses that start to peak during the winter and which can make life miserable. According to the Center for Disease Control, flu activity starts to pick up in October and builds to a peak in February. (And once that’s over, it’s the start of allergy season, which is a whole other story.)
People often armor themselves against getting sick with flu shots during the fall. This is an effective precaution, but it’s only one step you can take. During this autumn, we recommend you armor up your house against the flu and other microbes (as well as molds and bacteria) by arranging to have a special type of air purifier installed: a UV air purifier.
Duct Sealing: It’s Not a Job for Duct Tape!
Monday, May 1st, 2017
Everyone is getting ready for the coming of summer weather around here, and that means taking care of air conditioning maintenance jobs, both for homes and businesses. Maintaining your air conditioner with the help of our skilled technicians is the best way to ensure an AC that works without fault over the summer and won’t cost more to run than it should.
But there’s more to keeping your AC energy efficient than seeing it’s properly maintained. One of the big “energy thieves” in homes comes from leaks in the ductwork, and it’s something that people often don’t think about. Proper duct sealing from ventilation professionals can stop your HVAC system from losing from 20% to 30% of the air moving through it. Think about what that means: that’s air you pay to cool in the summer (or heat during the winter) that simply goes to waste. With the ducts sealed up, you’ll see significant savings on your monthly energy bills.
Air Filters vs. Air Cleaners: Which Should You Get?
Monday, January 16th, 2017There are different ways to remove unwanted particles from circulating around your home, creating discomfort and health troubles. The two broadest categories are mechanical air filters and electronic air cleaners. If you want better air for your household, you might wonder which of the two is the best to have installed.
Why Indoor Air Quality Is Crucial During the Winter
Monday, November 21st, 2016Poor indoor air quality in a home can be a problem any time of the year. A fact of modern homes is that they are built to be more airtight than ever before, which makes them easier to efficiently heat and cool. There’s little chance for heat to escape during cold weather or for it slip in during hot weather. But this sealing means less fresh air moving through the rooms, and subsequently a drop in indoor quality.
You Have Leaky Air Ducts! Here’s How You Can Tell…
Monday, August 22nd, 2016Ventilation ducts with air leaks are a major source of air conditioning and heating inefficiency in homes. In fact, the ductwork can lose up to 30% of the air moving through it due to small gaps and holes. If your ducts are suffering from air leaks, you’ll want to have professionals seal them up and restore the HVAC system to full efficiency. (Yes, you must have professionals handle this job; store-bought duct tape will not take care of it!)
Does Professional Duct Cleaning Really Make a Difference?
Monday, July 25th, 2016Homeowners are often curious about regular duct cleaning. Is it really necessary, and does it make that much of a difference for a home?
The answer to that is a qualified “yes.” The qualification is that you must have experienced professionals with the best tools handle this job. Relying on someone who makes a suspiciously low offer to clean your ducts will usually result in nothing more than a superficial cleaning that doesn’t offer you any benefits. Make sure that when you schedule regular duct cleaning (every 3 to 5 years) that you go to experienced ventilation experts like those on our team.
Is the Air Filter on My AC Enough for Good Air Quality?
Monday, June 20th, 2016We write often about the importance of the air filter in your HVAC system. It protects both the air conditioner and the furnace from damage due to dust, dirt, and other debris that may flow through the return air ducts. Changing this filter regularly is an essential part of maintenance.
