What are airborne contaminates and what can we do to prevent them?

Most people would be surprised to learn that some everyday household items contaminate the air we breathe. These items include: pollen and spores, pet dander, human skin flakes, candle soot, infiltrating dust, viruses, bacteria, and fungi, radon gas, tobacco or wood smoke, cooking smoke and airborne grease and various chemical fumes.  With every breathe we breath, millions of airborne particles are taken in. And believe it or not, the smallest of particles are the one that cause the most concern. Viruses, bacteria, smoke and grease are at the top of the list of these small indoor contaminates that can do the most damage to our health and home.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the demand for cleaner air in our homes has been on the rise.  The effectiveness of the filtration process depends on the type of air cleaner used, and the number and size of the particles in the air. When visiting our customers, we often learn that they are not aware that the basic throw away fiberglass filters collect as little as 3% compared with more effective HEPA filters that capture approximately 99.9% of airborne particles.

These are some of the main air cleaners and filters and how they are categorized:

Basic Filters, which come standard with most HVAC systems. These filters do very little in preventing the small particles and are primarily useful in collecting the large dust that can clog your equipment.

Media Filters, which filter the air using webs of polypropylene fibers. These are the least used filters amongst residential consumers although they are probably among the best available when it comes to efficiency and cost.

Electronic Air Cleaners, Electronic air cleaners draw air through an ionization section where particles obtain an electrical charge. The charged particles then accumulate on a series of flat plates. Ion generators disperse charged ions into the air, similar to the electronic air cleaners but without a collector. The more effective electronic air cleaners capture up to 99.9% of airborne particles.

High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) Filters are composed of a mat of randomly arranged fibers, generally made of fiberglass. They are designed to block pollutants and particles by trapping airborne particles to the filter fibers using one of three techniques: interception HEPA filters, impaction HEPA filters and diffusion HEPA filters.

All furnaces on sale, we will beat the competitor by 5%.

We have a sale on maintenance agreements! $159.00 gets you 1 maintenance check up, no overtime charges and 15 % on parts and priority service. Call today (780)458-0706 or www.comfortablehome.ca

-Reduce dishwashing, using your stove until evening on a hot days.-Try not to use a dehumidifier while the air conditioner is operating.  The dehumidifier will increase the cooling load and makes the air conditioner to work harder.-Clean you indoor and outdoor AC/Heating coils constantly to avoid dirt build up.  The air conditioner requires more power to perform when coil is fill with dirt and dust.-Try to keep your windows and door close during hot season to avoid unwanted heat and humidity.  If necessary, ventilate by opening the window at night.-Set your thermostat between 72°F~78°F.  Your energy consumption will increase by 8% for every degree below 78°Fl -Make sure the refrigerant charge is not overcharge or undercharge.Room Air Conditioning Units
-Don’t place electronic or lamps near your thermostat because the thermostat can sense the heat from these appliances and can cause the air conditioner to use more power then necessary.
-Set the fan speed on high when humidity day, and set the fan speed low for more comfort when the humidity is high.  The low speed can cool your home better on a humidity day and remove the moisture from the air.-Set your air conditioner’s thermostat as high as possible  in the summer.  Your overall cooling bill will be lower if there is less difference between the indoor and outdoor temperatures.  Try not to set your thermostat at a slighter setting than normal because that requires longer cooling time which is unnecessary expense.

Lastly, proper maintenance on your air conditioner will also save your energy.  Here are several tips below.-when you start using your air conditioner at the start of the cooling season, inspect the seal and make sure your air conditioner and the window frame are in contact with the unit’s metal case.  Moisture can damage the seal and cool air can escape from your house. -Check your filter every months and make sure they are clean.  A nice filter can reduce the energy consumption by 5% to 15%.-Cover the air conditioner or store it during winter season.

Comfortable Home Systems has more than 28 years experience in the heating and cooling business. We are currently looking for new HVAC personel apprentices and journeyman.

If you are interested, please contact us.

On February 22, we launched our the new look of our website. We made the change so we can better serve you, our customers. We will have a resource archive for people to do thorough research.

We’ve organized the site to highlight the important products people search for – Furnaces & Air Conditioners. We present the products in a Best – Better – Good format highlighting the important features and our recommendations based on years of experience.

If you have any questions at all, please contact us.

Below are sites we have negotiated link-exchange agreements with:

• 977Music
• Edmonton Web
• CounterDeal
• Canada Listing Online
• Home Reno
• The Open Directory
• Global Web Directory
• Ft8 Web Directory
• Eubc – Submit Your Site – Internet Directory