Pets provide joy and love for their forever families. Their role in homeowners’ lives is undeniable, and they’re a vitally important part of many families in the Phoenix metro area. Yet, your pets can also impact your home’s indoor air quality (IAQ).

Most pet owners think that animal allergies are triggered by pet hair. Yet, the culprit almost always is dander. Dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, and other household pets produce dander which consists of tiny particles that drop from your pet’s skin and fur. To keep dander under control in a home, it’s important to prevent its buildup and to focus on maintaining your indoor air quality. These indoor air quality tips will help keep your IAQ sniffles and coughs to a minimum so that you can share a healthier, happier household with your furry companions.

Pet Bathing and Grooming

Cleaning your pet can help keep dander in check. This means regular brushing and bathing are in order. Follow recommendations from your veterinarian on the optimal schedule for grooming. Of course, most often, cats don’t like bathing. There are other options including specialized pet wipes and higher quality brushes available as alternate ways to help keep your pet dander-free.

Food

High quality food and plenty of fresh water are very important for minimizing dander. A healthy coat and skin start with a proper diet.

Air Filter

Expect to change your indoor air filters more often with pets. Ideally, these should be changed once a month or according to the manufacturer’s recommendation. Check your filter on a regular basis and change or clean it if it looks dirty. Consider upgrading to a HEPA filter for your vacuum and a higher numbered MERV HVAC filter to catch more dander and fur that is being generated from your pets and circulated in your indoor air.

Whole Home Air Purifier

Even with diligent grooming, plenty of good food, and clean air filters, your home’s air can still have plenty of sneeze-inducing allergens caused by pets. If you have a family that suffers from allergies, asthma, or other health issues, a whole-house air purifier is a smart solution.

What’s the story with UV lights helping to clean your home’s indoor air? UV (ultraviolet) lights have frequently been in the news during the COVID pandemic. This light, invisible to the human eye, is responsible for creating summer sunburns. It’s also remarkably effective battling certain types of bacteria found in our homes. Like your AC air filter, UV light systems can help reduce indoor air pollution.

Mold, viruses, fungi, and bacteria can circulate throughout an HVAC system. These can pose serious health threats like breathing issues such as asthma or COPD. UV lights at certain frequencies can kill these microbes and inhibit their growth inside an HVAC system. UV radiation has been used for decades in hospitals, factories, and buildings to disinfect air, water, and nonporous surfaces to reduce the spread of bacteria.

There are two types of UV lights manufactured for sanitizing your HVAC system—air sanitizing lights and coil sanitizing lights. The type of system to add depends on your home’s HVAC system.

UV Air Sanitizing Lights

This type of system is installed in your home’s ductwork to kill airborne mold, fungi, and germs along with eliminating odors. HVAC air sanitizing lights must be hardwired and sometimes are timed to turn on and off when the blower motor does.

UV Coil Sanitizing Lights

Coil sanitizing lights sterilize the coils when you have central air conditioning. Coils condense moisture from the air to dehumidify your indoor air. A perfect setting for mold and bacteria growth spreading throughout your house. Coil UV lights are installed to generate UV spectrum light on the surface of the coil.

UV Light Installation Systems

Installing a UV system can help reduce the harmful effects that microbes have on your breathing and overall health with the added benefit of controlling odors. UV lights must be installed properly due to safety risks for people, animals, and objects. If these lights are not installed correctly, there can be eye injury, burn-like skin reactions, and damage to materials, such as plastics and dyed textiles.

Call Bruce’s today for more information on UV systems at 480-968-5652.

With spring just around the corner, it’s a smart time to replace one of the most essential components of your HVAC system – the air filter. An HVAC filters most basic function is to remove impurities from the air within your home and protect your HVAC system from damage. But there is more than one option when it comes to choosing a filter.

Fiberglass

These are the most common and inexpensive filters. Fiberglass air filters are effective in trapping large air particles, but they’re not the best choice for catching dust and other pollutants like pet dander from indoor air. If you have allergies or other common respiratory problems, you should consider using a higher-grade filter.

Pleated

Pleated filters are remarkably effective at trapping small particles and provide better filtration than fiberglass, as they’re made from dense screens of cotton or polyester. The pleats provide more surface area for filtration and allow for more air contaminates to be trapped. Both fiberglass and pleated filters should be changed out at least once every three months.

Washable (Reusable)

Washable, reusable air filters can save you money in the long run even though they cost more than disposable fiberglass or pleated filters. They can be easily cleaned by hosing them down or vacuumed to remove particle buildup. In other words, you don’t need to replace them. But, it’s important to clean them according to the recommended schedule provided by the manufacturer. You’ll want to ensure the filter is completely dry before using it to prevent mold and bacteria growth.

Electrostatic

Electrostatic air filters trap more particles, including smoke, dust, and pollen particulates through electrostatic charge. This type of filter prevents these particulates from entering your home. Electrostatic filters can be one-time disposable use or washable. The washable electrostatic air filters are eco-friendly but can lose their electrostatic charge over time resulting in decreased ability to catch small particles.

HEPA

High efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters are a great choice for homeowners with allergies, respiratory issues, or compromised immune systems. They consistently remove up to 99.97% of household contaminants 0.3 microns or larger in size. The US Department of Energy recommends this type of filter in homes and businesses.

UV

UV filters eliminate microscopic elements by using ultraviolet light to kill viruses, bacteria, or mold that can be harmful. This type of filter has become more popular during COVID-19 and can kill microorganisms that other filters cannot. However, it’s important to note that UV filters will not remove dust or most allergens. The best way to clean your home air is a system using both a UV filter and a standard air filter.

Bruce’s Air Conditioning & Heating is your go-to HVAC service company for all your home’s heating and air conditioning needs. Schedule a visit by one of our experts today.

Air quality continues to be a newsworthy topic. More than ever, it’s important to ensure your air is clean, and not triggering respiratory issues like allergies and asthma, as well as spreading other illnesses.

While there is a variety of indoor air quality products that can improve the quality of your home’s air, it’s essential to first test the air to determine if anything is needed at all. You can schedule a convenient time for one of our air quality testing experts to evaluate the quality of your indoor air by calling 480-968-5652.

For many of our customers, the right choice for improving indoor air quality is a whole house air cleaner that significantly reduces allergens and airborne particulates, like dust mites, dander, mildew and bacteria. The American Standard air cleaner that we recommend removes nearly 100 times the amount of airborne allergens indoors than a standard 1-inch air filter does.

Often, we replace the thermostat at the same time that we install an air cleaner. This is because today’s advanced thermostats are designed to optimize heating and cooling, as well as monitor indoor relative humidity. This means it works with your HVAC system and air cleaner to promote clean air.

Of course, regular HVAC maintenance is also important when it comes to indoor air quality. Routine cleaning, inspection and refrigerant checks can help keep your system running optimally while enhancing air quality. And you can do your part by regularly changing your AC filter.

Want to learn more about improving your indoor air quality? The experts at Bruce’s Air Conditioning & Heating are happy to answer your questions and to set up an appointment with an air quality testing expert. Whether you’re in Chandler, Scottsdale, Phoenix or any other city within the greater Phoenix area, call us at 480-968-5652.