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Sears Home Services blogshs blog
Thursday Mar 03, 2011
Air Quality & Humidity with Heating & Cooling Units
Our heating and cooling unit broke down this winter. The house was new (for us) so we didn’t know if it was a problem that the previous owner didn’t tell us about—or we just weren’t using the system right. It was a very chilly 18 hours until we had the problem resolved. Living in Florida—summers would be very uncomfortable without air conditioning, and at times during the winter, when the temperatures drops—I am very thankful for the invention of heating and cooling units. It’s said that central heating may have dated back to ancient Greece. It is believed that in 350 B.C., the Great Temple of Ephesus was warmed by heated air that was circulated through flues laid in the floor. Today, with forced-air systems that usually travel through ductwork from the furnace to the rooms in your home, nearly 35 million American homes have central heating.
The Sears Home Services heating and cooling repair team often get reports from homeowners who have problems with their heating and cooling units. Some of the more common problems that we hear about is that a company has installed a unit that is either too big or too small for their home (and either over or under compensates), the installer placed a new unit without addressing other concerns such as poor ductwork design, indoor air quality problems, moisture damage/mold concerns, and reduced comfort such as uneven heating or cooling throughout the home.
Just a little education about heating and cooling units can help a lot! Let’s talk a bit about the air that we breathe, inside our home. We take over 20,000 breaths each day. According to the EPA, each day, a person breathes in 2 teaspoons of pollutants! EPA studies have also shown that the air inside of our homes and workplaces is 10-100 times more polluted than outside air! What we need is a healthy home solution to focus on providing your family with a cleaner home environment by improving air quality. Some indoor air quality issues can be improved by simply controlling humidity since to low or too high humidity can cause a increase in certain organisms.
Speaking of humidity—when your home comfort is affected, variable airflow can help by balancing the temperature within a room, between rooms in your home, and between floors. Variable air flow also dehumidifies your home during the summer to improve comfort and increases humidity levels with a humidifier during the winter. It also affects the temperature in your home. When the relative humidity is 10% and the ambient temperature is 72 degrees—it actually feels like 67 degrees. When the relative humidity is 80%, and ambient is 74 degrees, it actually feels like 78 degrees!
I think that’s enough about heating and cooling for this article. We’ll talk more about the size of heating & cooling units, ductwork, gas or oil furnaces, forced air and more in a future article.
For more information about heating and air units, check us out at:
http://www.searshomeservices.com/central-heating-air/improve
Andrea | Sr. Manager/General Manager
Sears Home ServicesPosted at 09:15AM Mar 03, 2011 by Jon B in General | Comments[5]
Clean environments aid in less pollutants and i wonder how long it will be until we remove the blower from a central unit like those impressive pedestal fans without a blade. Maybe, the best way to rid your concern for bacteria is to ensure you have a filter with a high M.E.R.V. and anticipate the usage. Demand cycles can be authorized through a central thermostat or you can manually choose the time of operation. As far as getting into poor contractors.... Why is Sears getting complaint's like that? Make sure you always match the equipment when building your system. A lot of contractors will want to up the A-coil size because it can dehumidify the area due to an expanded surface coverage. Although this is true, it is not what is engineered. What works on paper has been thought out so trust an informed decision. Outside air intake is critical for control of air quality, and if you use a humidifier change the water and use distilled water. The drain pan is your enemy.
Posted by 903278 on April 16, 2011 at 05:05 PM CDT #
I recently purchased a PlasmaWave True HEPA air cleaner model 85150. Our room is less than 150 sq. ft. I could not find much in the use and care guide on operation, except which buttons to press. Could you please answer my questions?
1. We use a steam humidifier at night which puts about 3/4 gallon of moisture in the air. Will this impede the use of the air cleaner system? It sits about 4' from the air cleaner.
2. Does the air cleaner have to be on all day and night? We do not spend much time in the bedroom during the day. Could we just turn it on at bedtime or an hour before to clean the air.
3. Does the door to the room need to be closed during the operation of the air cleaner?
Posted by Sylvia Kallin on January 17, 2012 at 02:23 PM CST #
Hi Sylvia Kallin. I'm Korinna with the Sears Blue Service Crew. I understand your need for this information, regarding your air cleaner and I'm happy to help you today. It is not recommended to use the unit in an area where steam may be present, such as a bathroom. This is because the steam can get into the electronics area and begin to cause issues. If you are using a humidifier, I recommend keeping the air cleaner at least 6-8 feet away from the humidifier. Air purifiers/cleaners are designed to optimally clean a specific square footage of area. If you run it with the windows/doors open, the unit will still clean, but its cleaning power is diminished. You don't have to run the unit all day long. You can run the air purifier an hour before bed time on the highest speed. Be sure to keep all windows and doors closed during this time.
I really hope this information helps you today Sylvia. If you have any other questions or concerns, contact us here at Sears Home Services directly at 1-800-424-2047.
Posted by Korinna S. on January 17, 2012 at 06:12 PM CST #
I have a model #37250 (Hunter care free humidifier plus) portable humidifier on the floor of our house,and I am trying to locate a filter for this unit with no success. Please help
Hunter does sell a newer humidifier that looks very similar to my older model,and while searching on line for a filter,their newer filter looks identicle to my old filter.I want to know if this new filter will fit my older humidifier.Thanks
Posted by jim on January 18, 2012 at 01:15 PM CST #
Hello Jim, this is Jon from the Sears Blue Service Crew. I understand the importance of having the right filter for your humidifier. For information on this part I'd recommend contacting the Sears Parts Direct team. You may visit the website at www.SearsPartsDirect.com with the full model number. There is also a talk and chat option for your convenience. I hope this helps.
Posted by Jon B. on January 19, 2012 at 10:30 AM CST #