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Indoor Air Quality is a topic that more and more people are paying attention to. With remote employment becoming more popular, and people spending more time in their homes, people want to know how good the air in their home is and how it affects their health. Achieving great indoor air quality is not hard but needs to be planned out accordingly. It’s much more than buying a higher MERV filter or installing an electronic air cleaner. Below
we will talk about what the foundations of indoor air quality is, what can be harmful or uncomfortable, and what options are available to improve the quality of air in peoples’ homes.
Indoor Air Quality Issues
o Bacteria/Viruses – Bacteria and airborne viruses can be circulated through the house by the HVAC system. A high MERV filter can help remove bacteria and viruses from the air, keeping you and your family healthier.
o Dust & Particles – Particles are measured in a unit called microns. Very small particles ranging from 10 microns down to .1 microns. These small particles can be breathed in and absorbed into the blood stream through the lungs and can be a source of health issues.
o VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) – released by cleaning supplies, candles, fragrance dispensers, and other household materials.
What can improve indoor air quality?
o Filtration – The original design for filtration was to protect the evaporator from debris impacting the evaporator. Over the years, filter manufacturers developed high MERV filters that have the capability to reduce indoor air contaminates (virus, dust, VOC’s, particles). The higher the MERV rating the better the filter is at removing fine particles, however a high MERV rated filter needs to be designed to work with the HVAC system. Switching to a store bought 1” high MERV rated filter can often be too dense and can be harmful to the reliability of the HVAC equipment and its ability to condition the home properly.
o Ventilation – New homes are built tighter, trapping in odors, particles, and gases. C02 can be an issue in tightly built homes. Older homes leak and pull in outside air from unwanted spaces (leaking windows, electrical penetrations, attic penetrations and air that passes through the fiberglass insulation). Ventilation is the ability to bring in and replace the air inside the home, reducing the concentration of unwanted air pollutants. Bring in air from a designed source and filter that air before it enters the conditioned space.
o Dehumidification – humidity can be very harmful. Humidity too high can create an environment that promotes viruses, bacteria, mold, and mildew. Humidity too low can cause skin irritation, and the promotion of viruses and bacteria. There is a sweet spot to control and maintain humidity at the 50% range. At that humidity level, it promotes the best comfort and health benefits.
o Electronic Air Cleaners – UV lights, Active air purifiers, Passive air purifiers can add benefits to the home. Electronic air cleaners are supplements to improving indoor air quality. At times can be a great solution, other homes may need to improve the fundamentals of good indoor air quality (filtration, ventilation, dehumidification) to achieve the desired effect.
Designing for great indoor air quality – first step is to consult a knowledgeable HVAC contractor to evaluate current conditions and provide options to improve.
o Filtration – 3 steps to designing the proper filtration for your home. 1) Decide what MERV rating filter is needed to remove the desired indoor air contaminants. 2) Air changes per hour – the indoor air needs to be cleaned frequently. The most basic systems that achieve good indoor air quality have the volume of air inside the home being processed by a filter four times per hour (the HVAC industry refers to this process measured in air changes per hour). 3) Select a product that can pair with the HVAC system – high MERV 1” pleated filters are often too restrictive for the HVAC system leading to reliability and performance issues in conditioning the home. A high media filter can often be paired with the HVAC equipment to provide the desired level of filtration without taxing the system. Stand-alone filtration can also be a solution, the benefit of these stand-alone machines is that they run constantly and are always filtering the air in your home. The downside is that the amount of air they can process is limited and multiple stand-alone machines may be needed to achieve the desired filtration for the home.
o Ventilation – A HVAC contractor can input the correct information into a formula to determine the necessary outside air that needs to be brought into the home (cubic feet of air per minute). Outside air has great benefits of reducing the concentration of harmful air pollutants. However, ideally outside air should be processed through a filter and conditioned before introducing the outside air into the conditioned space.
o Dehumidification – The HVAC system contributes to removing humidity from the home. However, the HVAC system is controlled by temperature primarily (some systems will read humidity and operate differently to attempt to remove humidity without drastically overcooling the home). Some of the highest humidity in our territory is not during the summer, it is in the winter when we have cooler rainy or muggy days. Indoor humidity can spike without raising temperature in the home, creating uncomfortable conditions that the HVAC system cannot solve because of the temperature in the home. A ventilating dehumidifier is a great option for any home. An independent dehumidifier can remove humidity regardless of the temperature in the home, while introducing outside air into the home (after filtering and conditioning the outside air). Many ventilating dehumidifiers can be paired to operate with the HVAC system and depending on the thermostat, it can control both pieces of equipment allowing to control temperature and humidity inside the home regardless of outside air temperature or humidity.