How Your Furnace Can Spark Your Allergies
Have you ever felt when you turn on your heat for the first time in the fall, you’re wheezing more often? While spring allergies often get a more severe reputation, fall allergies are still very typical and many people struggle with them. For some, fall allergies can be even worse than spring brisk temperatures impairing our immune systems and from cranking up our furnaces. This might leave you considering, can furnaces make allergies worse in the U.S., or even trigger them?
While furnaces can’t cause allergies, they sometimes aggravate them. How? During the summer months, dust, dander and other debris can accumulate in heating ducts. When the cooler temperatures start and we turn our furnaces on for the first time, all those allergens are now pushed out of the ductwork and travel throughout our homes. Fortunately, there are things you can do to keep your furnace from aggravating your allergies.
How to Keep Your Furnace from Worsening Your Allergies
- Get a New HVAC Filter. Routinely replacing your filters is one of the best things you can do to minimize your allergies at any time of the year. Fresh filters are better at snagging the allergens in your residence’s air, helping to keep you in better health.
- Dust Your Air Ducts. Not only do pollutants collect in your HVAC filters, but in your ventilation as well. An air duct cleaning can help ease allergy symptoms and help your HVAC system work more efficiently. When you schedule an air duct cleaning, our experts inspect and clean components including your supply/return ducts and registers, grilles and diffusers.
- Keep Your Furnace in Good Working Order. Proper HVAC maintenance and routine tune-ups are another great way to both enhance your house’s air quality and keep your system running as efficiently as possible. Prior to flipping your heating on for the first time, it can help to have an HVAC mechanic run through a maintenance examination to verify your filters and air ducts are clean and everything else is in tip-top working order.
Allergies and continuous illness can be discouraging, and it can be difficult to pinpoint what’s creating or aggravating them. Here are some additional FAQs, including answers and tips that can help.
Is Forced Air Detrimental for Allergies?
Allergy sufferers are usually told that forced air heating can affect your allergies even more. Forced air systems can circulate allergens through the air, leading you to breathing them in more frequently than if you had a radiant heating system. While it’s correct forced air systems might make your allergies more severe, that is only if you ignore suitable care of your furnace. Other than the practices we included above, you can also:
- Dust and vacuum your house regularly. If there aren’t dust, dander or mold spore particles to collect in your air ducts, your air system can’t carry them into the air, and you can’t inhale them. Some added cleaning ideas involve:
- Confirm your vacuum has a HEPA filter.
- Dust before vacuuming.
- Clean your curtains regularly, as they are a typical hiding place of allergens.
- Make sure to clean behind and under furniture.
- Watch your residence’s moisture levels. Increased humidity levels can also lead to aggravating your allergies. Humidity enables mold growth and dust mites. Installing a dehumidifier with your HVAC system keeps moisture levels under control and your indoor air quality much better.
What is the Ideal Furnace Filter for Allergies?
Generally, HEPA filters are a great fit if you or someone in your family struggles with allergies. HEPA filters are rated to take out 99.97 to 99.99% of particles, such as dust, pollen and dirt. These filters have a MERV rating of 17-21, depending on the kind. This rating illustrates how successfully a filter can clean pollutants from the air. Because of their high-efficiency filtration construction, HEPA filters are dense and can restrict airflow. It’s helpful to talk to Service Experts Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing to make sure your heating and cooling system can run correctly with these high efficiency filters.
Can Clogged Filters or Air Ducts Make Me Sick?
Worn filters can hold on to particles and allow poor quality air to circulate. This also applies to dirty vents. If you inhale these particles it can produce sneezing, coughing or other asthma-related issues, depending on your sensitivity.
It’s recommended to replace your HVAC filter every 30-60 days, but here are some signs you might need to more regularly:
- It’s taking more time for your system to cool or heat your residence.
- You discover more dust in your home.
- Energy bills are rising with no apparent reason.
- Your allergies are getting worse.
- Signs your air ducts could use cleaning include:
- The metal is coated in dust.
- Dirty supply and return vents.
- Mold in your furnace, air conditioner, heat pump or air handler.
- Dust flowing from your vents when your HVAC system is starting.
- Your home is often dusty, in spite of constant cleaning.
Your health and comfort are our first priority at Service Experts Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing. Whether it’s furnace repair today.