All central air systems come with an air filter that needs to be changed periodically. It traps contaminants in the air, which helps to keep the air in your home free from dust, pollen, and other allergens. Unfortunately, many homeowners find that the air quality in their home is still quite low even when they use an expensive, high-quality air filter in their HVAC system.
Unfortunately, air conditioners and furnaces often don't do a great job filtering air on their own. If you want to truly keep the air inside your home clean, you'll need to add a whole-home air filtration system alongside your existing HVAC unit. Read on to learn how one of these systems can help keep your air much cleaner than is possible when using your HVAC system alone.
Most HVAC Systems Can't Handle High-Efficiency Particulate Filters
The primary reason why many homeowners see unsatisfactory performance from the air filter on their HVAC unit is that HVAC units can rarely use true high-efficiency air filters. Particulate air filters have tiny holes in them, which prevents large particles in the air from passing through. As the size of the holes decreases, more particulates will be trapped in the filter.
Unfortunately, smaller openings also make it more difficult to move air through the filter. Most central air systems aren't designed to use high-efficiency filters, and using one in a central air system can damage it — it's too difficult to move air past the filter, which puts a substantial amount of stress on the motor in the blower fan. As a result, they're limited to particulate filters with large openings that don't do a very good job of trapping contaminants in the air.
Adding a whole-home filtration system solves this problem because they're designed with high-efficiency air filters in mind. These systems have their own fans that are capable of forcing air through the tiny openings in high-efficiency filters without being damaged. Using high-efficiency filters will remove more contaminants from the air than your HVAC system is capable of on its own.
A Whole-Home Air Filtration System Boosts Air Circulation
The air filter in an HVAC system is located just past the blower fan. It's designed to catch particles in the air before the conditioned air enters your home. This isn't the most effective way to filter the air in your home, since many contaminants (like dust and pet dander) are generated in the rooms of your home. While the air entering into the room may be clean, the contaminants that are already inside the room will simply circulate around the room without being filtered.
Adding a whole-home air filtration system to your HVAC system helps keep the air in your home clean by boosting air circulation. These systems are typically installed in the return air duct leading to your HVAC system. The fans in the air filtration system are designed to suction room air into your air ducts where it can be filtered, which means that all of the contaminants that are generated inside of your home will be caught and eliminated rather than allowed to recirculate in the room.
Air Filtration Systems Offer Additional Filtration Options, Allowing Them to Remove More Contaminants
Finally, whole-home air filtration systems can do more than simply filter large particles out of the air. When you install a whole-home air filtration system, you'll be able to select from many different filter types. HVAC systems are limited to only filtering out particulates.
A whole-home filtration system can be installed with an ultraviolet filter to destroy pathogens like germs and viruses circulating around in the air, and it can also be installed with an activated charcoal filter that traps odor-causing organic compounds. Neither of these are possible when you're limited to using a particulate filter.
If the air in your home isn't as clean as you would like regardless of the filter that you're using in your HVAC system, consider adding a whole-home air filtration system to it. They're better at circulating air, and they can trap more pollutants than an HVAC air filter alone. When you want the cleanest air possible inside your home, relying on your HVAC system won't work — you'll need to install a dedicated air filtration system.
Reach out to an air filtration service to learn more.
