Fall is a pretty season—but I’ll admit most of my bias toward the fall is that I love running into big piles of leaves! So much fun.
But I’m talking about being indoors during the fall right now, and when you’re inside your home in the fall, you may run into some indoor air quality issues that can make everything a bit more, well, sneezy. I’m going to look at some of what might be in store for your home’s air this autumn and what you can do about it.
A Dusty Heating System Means Dusty Air
I’ve said it many times before, and I’ll say it again: maintenance is the most important service we offer. And maintenance has benefits for your indoor air quality as well—it’s not just about making sure your heating system runs efficiently and safely. (Although that’s certainly more than enough to make maintenance essential!)
I’ve talked before about how dust and dirt are the big enemies of your HVAC system, causing it to wear down rapidly. A dusty and dirty furnace is also bad news for air quality since it means blowing all of that debris around the house. If you’re noticing dusty odors from the vents when the heater’s on, it’s probably because you haven’t gotten maintenance yet!
Dry Air? That May Be the Furnace
Dry air can be a problem in homes starting in winter. Although you can have a whole-house humidifier installed, there are other possibilities to look to find out why you’ve got dry air in the first place. One place to look is the furnace.
A gas furnace doesn’t actually “dry out” a home’s air, despite what you may have heard. But if you have an atmospheric combustion furnace in your house—a furnace that draws on the surrounding air for combustion—it can allow dry air from outdoor to get indoors. It pulls out air from your home, leaving an air deficit for the outdoor air to flood into the house. If you have an old atmospheric furnace, you can replace it with a sealed combustion furnace that doesn’t create these troubles.
Terrible Air Circulation
You’ll hear a lot about how you can improve indoor air quality with various doodads, but when it comes down to it, most air quality problems are due to bad air circulation from the HVAC system. If your HVAC system isn’t properly sized for your home, or it has a malfunctioning air handler or some other repair need, parts of the house won’t be getting the air they require. The air in the house in general will get stale and filled with dust. If you think your air feels just “icky” and dusty, we can check on what the HVAC system needs to work right.
Our whole team is ready to help with better indoor air quality in Maryville, TN. Simply give us a call! Whether we work to control the dry air or improve your HVAC system, we’ve got answers.
Stay cool and dust-free,
Olive