How to Get Rid of All Those Spring Allergens!

If you or a family member are one of the many Albertans struggling with allergies, this is for you! As we’re heading into prime allergy season, it’s high time for you to learn what you could be doing with your HVAC system to help prevent the unpleasant itchy eyes and runny nose from spring allergies. While you might think that staying indoors will keep you safe from allergens and ease your symptoms, some allergens have particles so small that they can easily sneak into your home. Learn how your HVAC system and allergies are related, how cleaning your ducts can help remove these allergens from your home, and that changing your furnace filter can be the key to keeping the air extra clean!

What’s the Connection Between Your HVAC and Allergies?

When you’re allergic to airborne particles, like pollen or mold, your HVAC system plays a big role in making your home comfortable and allergen-free. Your HVAC system moves air through your home, so when allergens get into your HVAC equipment, they get blown throughout your house. This is especially true when you first turn on the AC in spring, since dust and pollen would have accumulated in there while it was turned off. Turning it back on will disperse all of it, causing a sudden increase in symptoms. What’s more, new allergens are being brought in from the air outside. Your HVAC system is designed to add “fresh” new air to your house, so all those pollutants are coming in and then staying in. Without proper AC maintenance, allergens get trapped in your equipment and ductwork, and build up over time.

How Could Cleaning Your Ducts Reduce Allergy Symptoms? 

As we explained earlier, dust, pollen, and other allergens that collect in your HVAC system are a cause of allergy symptoms indoors. Duct cleaning is something that should be done as part of your regular HVAC maintenance. However, it’s especially important to have your ducts cleaned before spring since dust, grime, debris, and even mold accumulate in your air ducts during winter when your AC has been turned off for several months. Cleaning your ducts will improve the air quality in your home, especially if you suffer from allergies or asthma, have recently done renovations in your home, have had rodents or insects infestation, have mold and humidity problems in your HVAC equipment, or have never had your ducts cleaned!

What You Need to Know About Air Filters and Allergies!

It might surprise you that air filters are not really designed to keep dust and allergens out of the air, but rather to keep them from entering and damaging your HVAC system. While regular air filters do help to remove some dust and debris, they do little to trap the smaller particles that cause allergy symptoms. Which is why you need to not only regularly change your filters, but get the appropriate air filters for allergies. There are special filters that are designed to stop those small particles. These special filters are called “high energy particulate air filters” or HEPA for short. Instead of the regular paper filters, HEPA filters are made of densely packed layers of glass fibers and are much more efficient at trapping the tiny pollen or dust particles. However, using the right air filters is only part of it. You need to change those filters more frequently to efficiently protect your indoor air from allergens, especially during high pollen season. It means changing them at least every other month, possibly more often if you live in a zone where there’s more pollen.

Now you know what you need to do in order to protect your home’s air from all the allergens of spring. Understanding the importance of proper HVAC maintenance is primordial. You need to know that your HVAC system, alone and as it is, won’t keep most allergens out. On the contrary, it will bring them inside and keep circulating them throughout your house. It’s essential that you have professional clean and inspect your ducts. Give our experts at Fresh Air Furnace Services a call at 403-452-9528!