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Is your Environment Contaminated?
Everyone lives in a contaminated environment. It is impossible not to be affected by the dirt, pollen, and general unknown material that floats in the air that we breathe. There are many ways to minimize the contaminants in your residence. The key component in this scenario is your air conditioning system.
The standard air filter sold in the store has an efficiency of less than 5%. This means 95% of the dirt goes right through the filter into your return air. This can be observed by examining the return air duct system. Most of this dirt is circulated back into the house. The dirt that is stopped by the wet cooling coil helps to plug up the drain and also inhibit the heat transfer to the conditioned air. This will shorten the life of the compressor while raising the cost of operation.
The common practice of doctors is to treat allergies with medication. Doctors do not examine your home, they treat your condition. In the mean time, some homeowners are growing mold in their duct systems and have poor air filtration. They are resolved to the fact that allergies are caused by some factor beyond their control. This may truly be the case, but it is rare that cleaning up the air conditioning system does not improve the allergy situation for the suffering human. Why breathe poor quality air and then take medication to clear up your problem? Clean up your environment! It will be cost effective. A clean system operates for less money and provides quality comfort with breathable quality air.
The best filter to use is a pleated disposable filter. This will cost about 2-3 dollars more per month than a standard filter once you are set up to accommodate the filtration system. You must have about 1.3-1.5 square feet per ton of return air filtration to use a pleated filter. The reason for this is you need extended surface area to use a pleated filter. These filters are 40% efficient and arrest the major dust contaminants in your home. You change them every 2-3 months depending on the severity of dust in your home. Once you switch over, your ducts will stay clean, the coil will not build up dirt, and the drain will not stop up as easily. The added cost will save you more in the long run.
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