Breathe Better with Whole-Home Air Filtration in Hillsborough

An air filter is a crucial HVAC part for performance and comfort—but it’s regularly forgotten.

Indoor air quality can affect your family’s health, especially if there’s someone in your Hillsborough home with allergies, asthma or other respiratory concerns. Dust, pollen, pet dander and mold can aggravate symptoms, as well as volatile organic compounds. VOCs are chemicals found in everyday household items like cleaning products, furniture and flooring.

Today’s homes are more energy efficient. But they are more airtight. This means the air inside your home can be worse than outdoors—often two to five times more, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

There are ways you can take control over your home’s air quality:

• Limit pollution sources
• Ventilate with fresh air
• Use higher-quality air filters

Filtration is one of the most successful ways to clean the air that circulates through your home. It catches particles as air runs through HVAC ductwork.

There are several models of air purification systems you can install to clean the air in your home. Fras-Air/General Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning can suggest what’s right for you. And you can breathe comfortably knowing all our Expert work is backed by a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee for a year.^*

7 Signs You Need a Better Air Filtration System

There are several signs that your home could be improved by a filtration system.

1. Someone in your family has asthma or allergies.
2. Headaches, congestion or sneezing are common when you’re home.
3. Your home smells stuffy.
4. You have pets that shed.
5. Odors linger in your house.
6. Someone in your home smokes.
7. Your house is consistently dusty, despite weekly cleaning.

Which Air Filtration System is Right for My Home?

A whole-home air purification system can take care of pollution in your home’s air. And possibly provide relief to the asthma and allergy sufferers in your home.

Studies have found limiting exposure to indoor allergens and tobacco smoke could prevent 65 percent of asthma cases among elementary school-age children. And controlling biological contaminants like dust mites can also decrease childhood asthma cases by 5560 percent.

HEPA Filters

The High Efficiency Particulate Air, or HEPA, filter, was designed to keep scientists safe from radiation as they built an atomic bomb during World War II. Today these filters are frequently used in hospitals, science labs and even homes.

HEPA filters are rated to extract 99.97 to 99.99% of particles measuring 0.3 microns and larger. This includes pollen, dirt and dust. A HEPA air cleaner with activated carbon filters can catch chemicals, odors and smoke.

These filters have a MERV rating of 1721, depending on the brand. This rating shows how effectively a filter can pull out pollutants from the air.

Because of their high-efficiency filtration abilities, HEPA filters are dense and can reduce airflow. It’s important to check with Fras-Air/General Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning to make sure your heating and cooling system can work with one.

Media Filters

Media air cleaners are sturdier than regular air filters. They’re often four to five times wider—or more. This barrier attaches tightly against your HVAC unit.

Because its operational surface is usually around 10 inches, media filters are able to capture about 95 percent of particulates.

These filters work longer too, typically between three to six months.

Electrostatic Filters

There are a few electronic filtering systems you can add in your home.

An electrostatic filter uses magnetically charged material to capture. These washable filters are 97 percent effective at removing tiny particles from your home’s air. Plus, they’re also 30 times more effective than regular filters.

An electronic air cleaner uses a high-voltage magnetic charge to catch particles.

Some can remove the majority of indoor air pollutants—particles, germs, bacteria, chemical odors and vapors—by up to 99.9 percent. And reduce ozone, a known lung irritant, created elsewhere in your home.