Physical Wellness

Can Air Filters Protect You From Diseases?

By Eric Hamilton | Update Date: Aug 04, 2020 11:51 AM EDT
Can Air Filters Protect You From Diseases?

(Photo : Can Air Filters Protect You From Diseases?)

The air surrounding a home is filled with pollutants and pathogens that get sucked up by your air system. There is no real way for a system to know whether the air coming in is dirt or not so it's all drawn in. But, there is a reason why you do not have to be constantly worried about the air throughout your home. The filters in a home HVAC system exist for the simple purpose of cleaning up incoming airflow. As air is brought in, it is cleaned before being dispersed and letting you breathe cleanly and easily. You need air filters in your air systems, or you risk all kinds of problems. 

How Air Filters Work

The air filters you put into an air system consist of a tight mesh weaving made up of multiple materials like fiberglass, paper, or cloth. Combined, these materials remain loose enough to allow the system to pump air through the system easily enough. However, larger particles like dust, mites, and other airborne issues are trapped in the mesh weaving. This process is constant and air filters will process all incoming airflow keeping the inside of your home free from airborne issues. 

Your air filters are capable of cleaning up incoming airflow and their ability to do so is rated on the MERV rating chart. The higher up on this rating scale a filter is, the better it is at cleaning up the air passing through. But, higher rater filters are more expensive and are generally supposed to be used for more powerful air systems. Lower powered HVAC systems will be forced to use more energy in order to push air through the filters. This not only strains the systems but also cause your energy billing to rise. It's best to find a happy middle ground when it comes to your filters capabilities and the savings will help you replace them consistently. 

Why Get New Air Filters?

Air filters in a system do not last forever, they grow dirtier and less effective over time as they continue to capture airborne particles. This keeps the air from coming in which is good for keeping our harmful particles but bad for your system overall. Your air systems will keep trying to pump the air which means that it will increase energy usage and possibly even lead to the system becoming damaged. It's important to keep air coming in clean but you're better off in the long run consistently replacing old filters with new ones from sellers like Filter King to keep airflow in your home circulating without issue. 

This works both ways too, with the air inside of a home being as blocked from leaving as the air outside is blocked from coming in. This is a big issue since that means that particles that originate from inside a home end up staying there. Dust, smoke, and other particles land on any open surface they can. And when breathed in, these particles can cause as many issues for your breathing as the particles coming in from outside. Keep your air filters clean and replace them often to keep the air in your home free of disease and other threats to your breathing. 

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