Indoor Air Quality in MIlwaukee

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Indoor air quality plays a vital role on our well-being. Poor indoor air quality can cause a number of issues that impact your heath, such as having a constant sore throat, frequently getting headaches, and noticing an increase in fatigue and lethargy.

It can be especially bothersome to those who suffer from seasonal/indoor allergies or asthma. Thankfully, you can improve the quality of air inside your home when you partner with Burant Heating & Air Conditioning, LLC. We proudly provide indoor air quality testing and services in Milwaukee and the surrounding areas.

Air Filters & Air Purification Systems

There are three main kinds of air filters: pleated, fiberglass, and media filters.

1. Pleated Air Filters: Typically, a MERV 6 or higher (MERV = quality of filter) has better air flow allowance for your furnace or AC unit.
2. Fiberglass Filters: These keep the “big” stuff away and out of your furnace. However, the way they were made doesn’t do much for smaller particles. They also have a low MERV rating, which means they do a decent job but are not as good as pleated filters.
3. Media Filters: These filters are pleated but are 4” thick or more. These have those lines you see on your filters but they are thicker than the average pleated 1” filter. So, they do an even better job of keeping animal hair or dust bunnies away.

Air filters need to be changed on a regular basis. Not only is this extremely important for the efficiency and longevity of your HVAC system, dirty filters can also contribute to poor indoor air quality.

Electronic Options

We also have something called an Electronic Air Cleaner. When the air passes through and collects all the particles in the air, it sends them through an electric field that is about 10,000 volts. They get a positive charge, and once they get to the filter that acts like a grounding mechanism they cling to it and won’t go any further.

Then there is an Electronic Media Filter which is pretty much the same as the air cleaner but the Media filter has 4” grounding strips attached to the filter, which is a larger area to work with to make sure those particles are being grounded and kept out of the furnace or AC.

Whole-Home Purification

Whole-home purification consists of three main components:

1. A MERV 16 media filter which collects airborne particles
2. A UV light system (non-ozone producing) which takes care of the VOC (volatile organic compound) gases that may be in your home air
3. A charcoal-style filter that eliminates unpleasant odors in the home

You can also take the UV light system and connect it externally to your furnace system. This will kill any mold or bacteria, and it takes care of other irritants that some of us have to deal with as far as allergies go.

Humidifiers (Add Humidity)

Dry indoor air is a common problem in the winter when we have our furnaces running all the time. The heat feels nice, but the resulting dryness and itchiness of your skin, eyes, nose, and throat can become a real problem. Adding a whole home humidifier can make you feel more comfortable.

There are a few different types of humidifiers that can be used in the home:

1. Bypass humidifier: This type of humidifier mounts onto the furnace and a duct runs from the humidifier, attaching to the return. When the system calls for humidity, the humidifier will turn on and operate. This system is best used with a single-stage furnace because, with the two-stage or modulating furnaces, the blower motor does not have enough power to blow the heat and water through the humidifier pad equally. With the single-stage furnace, the motor constantly runs equally, allowing for water at the top of the humidifier tray to run through the pad and blow out of it equally in the ducts.
2. Power humidifier: Power humidifiers mount on the furnace and has the same pad system as the bypass. This humidifier has a built-in fan, which allows the unit to work with all types of furnaces. The tray is on top of the humidifier, allowing water to be distributed through the pad and into the air when the fan kicks on. This unit needs to be in the heating mode for it to operate properly, and the fan needs to be running.
3. Steam humidifier: Steam humidifiers can mount anywhere in the home where the unit can be connected to the ductwork. It can even operate in homes that do not have ductwork and can instead just go onto the fan coil of the furnace. This unit, by far, creates the most humidity in the home.

Dehumidifiers (Remove Humidity)

You may be experiencing the opposite humidity problem in the summer, where the air inside of your home feels too moist for comfort. In situations where your regular AC cycle is not enough to dehumidify the air, you may wish to consider adding either a freestanding dehumidifier or one that attaches to your HVAC system. Dehumidifiers remove humidity and are considered to be self-contained air purification systems. All dehumidifiers are either low-ambient control or non-low ambient control.

There are a couple different types of dehumidifiers that can be used in the homes:

1. Freestanding dehumidifiers: can go anywhere on the floor, and do not have to be ducted into anything to operate.
2. Ducted dehumidifiers: work for the whole home, but need to be connected to the furnace system with the special control. Fan and dehumidifier turn on with the click of a button.