How Furnace Replacement Improves Indoor Air Quality
Furnace replacement can lower your home energy bills, increase your home comfort, and boost your indoor air quality (IAQ). Of the three, improved IAQ is often the most exciting.
With a new furnace, everyone in your household can breathe easier, sleep well, and enjoy better health. At Bradenton One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating, we’re sharing how furnace replacement can benefit IAQ.
What Is Indoor Air Quality?
Indoor air quality refers to the quality of air within a building based on its:
- Concentrations of gaseous chemical contaminants
- Airborne particulate matter
- Airborne pathogens
- Ventilation
- Natural air exchange
In every home, there are building materials, furnishings, and other elements that constantly offgas volatile organic compounds (VOCs). From flooring materials and flooring adhesives to unsealed particle board and interior paint, lots of things add VOCs to your indoor air. Indoor cooking projects, room freshening sprays, and chemical-laden cleaning solutions release VOCs as well.
Mold, mildew, and the aerosols from errant coughs and sneezes introduce pathogens. Along with VOCs, these germs pass right through standard HVAC air filters. As long as your home stays sealed up tight, these pollutants will circulate indefinitely. This is also true for all dust, dirt, dander, and pollen that isn’t captured by air filters.
Why IAQ Matters
IAQ has a direct impact on the health, moods, and productivity of building residents. With poor IAQ, residents might contend with chronically low energy, depression, and malaise. Low IAQ can also disrupt sleep stages and diminish sleep quality.
Worse still, it can trigger many annoying and persistent symptoms, including:
- Shortness of breath
- Itchy, irritated eyes
- Skin rashes
- Headaches
- Coughing, sneezing, and wheezing
- Nasal congestion
- Sinus irritation
Poor IAQ due to old, outdated furnaces can be especially problematic for aging adults, infants, and those with terminal illnesses or chronic respiratory ailments.
Get Rid of Trapped Contaminants
So, how can furnace replacement boost your IAQ? To start, it will eliminate all the trapped allergens and contaminants in your current heating equipment. Even with professional tune-up service and thorough cleaning, aging furnaces collect and retain particulate matter over time. These tough, tacky buildups inhibit airflow. During heating cycles, trapped particulates can also break free and reenter the indoor air.
New furnaces don’t have these buildups on their internal components. As a result, they offer even and consistent air distribution, and they distribute cleaner air.
Improved Air Circulation
Improved airflow from a new furnace will eliminate hot and cold spots throughout your home and create a steady, uniform temperature. With more air entering rooms, you’ll also have more stale, stagnant air flowing into your HVAC system and passing through its filter. With enhanced air circulation, you’ll get noticeably better air filtration.
Upgrade Your HVAC Air Filter
Upgrading your furnace is a chance to upgrade its air filter as well. Many modern furnaces can accommodate filters with higher maximum efficiency reporting value (MERV) ratings. Filters with higher MERV ratings can collect and retain more micro-fine allergens and contaminants.
With a MERV rating of 13, your furnace filter will extract dust mites, mold spores, and bacteria. Some of the top furnace models also accommodate high-performing electrostatic or carbon air filters.
Support Healthy Air Exchange
High-efficiency furnaces, or furnaces with annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) ratings of 90% or higher, often have integrated fresh-air ventilation. These furnaces bring filtered outdoor air in while moving pollutant-addled indoor air out.
In their efforts to create ultra-tight home envelopes, many homeowners have inadvertently lowered their IAQ. By sealing up air leaks in building materials, beefing up insulation, and adding weatherstripping, they’ve closed off openings that allow for natural air exchange. Integrated fresh-air ventilation can effectively replace the natural air exchange that many homes with airtight envelopes are missing.
The “V” in HVAC is the most overlooked component in indoor climate control. Without proper ventilation, IAQ suffers. You can certainly add additional mechanical ventilation to your home and proactively maintain the mechanical ventilation you already have. But integrated fresh-air ventilation from a new furnace will give your IAQ the greatest boost in winter.
Limit or Eliminate Residual Emissions
If you have an older gas furnace, you can consider installing a gas furnace with cleaner combustion. There’s a reason why carbon monoxide (CO) detectors must be at least 10 feet away from fuel-combusting appliances. Although exhaust vents route most emissions outdoors, there are always residual contaminants around these appliances during combustion.
While concentrations of residual CO aren’t high enough to cause carbon monoxide poisoning, they still take a toll on your IAQ. With a high-efficiency furnace, you’ll cut your heating costs, lower your carbon footprint, and breathe a bit easier.
Address HVAC Air Duct Leaks
An important part of furnace replacement is replacing or refining existing ductwork to suit new installations. This allows our team to spot and resolve HVAC air duct leaks. We’ll also look for trapped debris behind HVAC air vent covers, damaged duct dampers, and other duct-related issues that impact furnace performance and IAQ.
Make Way for Integrated IAQ Accessories
Even if you don’t choose a furnace with an upgraded filter or a higher AFUE rating, furnace replacement still allows for proactive IAQ improvements. When choosing and installing your new furnace and refining your ductwork, we can test your IAQ and determine your need for additional support. We can also streamline your installation to accommodate an integrated IAQ accessory, such as a whole-house air purifier, UV sanitizing lights, or a whole-home dehumidifier.
Bradenton One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating is a top choice for furnace replacement and integrated IAQ accessories. We offer quality products, upfront pricing, and solid guarantees. Best of all, we’re on time or you don’t pay a dime. To learn more about improving your IAQ with a new furnace, give us a call today!
