Myth #1:  “I had my ducts cleaned and they included a furnace cleaning so my furnace is fine.”

This is a common misconception – duct cleaners will offer to clean your furnace but this is not the same as a furnace tuneup.  Duct Cleaners are  not HVAC contractors and don’t have the expertise to make sure your furnace is tuned and working properly.  They can certainly change the furnace filter and remove dust from the furnace cabinet.  However, they don’t have the tools nor the technical training to ensure your furnace is working safely, efficiently and properly. 

A qualified HVAC technician will perform a number of checks on your furnace during an annual tuneup including testing temperature rise (different for each furnace), voltage (for safety), pressure switches, flame sensors, amperage draws, blower motors and other technical issues.

Myth #2:   If a homeowner is pretty handy with equipment, they can do their own furnace tuneup. 

See response to Myth #1

Stay tuned for more posts regarding the importance of annual furnace maintenance.  Upcoming topics include the importance of annual furnace tuneups for warranties, PLUS ”Be Safe with Annual Furnace Tuneups” and ”Save Energy with Annual Furnace Tuneups”.

Headaches * Lingering Odors * Loss of Concentration * Fatigue  Sound familiar? These are just a few symptoms of poor indoor air quality.

Many people would be surprised to learn that the air quality inside their home is often up to 10 times worse than the air outside.

This problem is aggravated by the increased focus on home energy efficiency. As homeowners upgrade their windows, doors and furnaces they are basically making their homes more airtight. While this is great for energy savings it is bad for air quality. Stale, polluted air and excess humidity become trapped inside your home for you to breathe and re-breathe. It’s like living in a plastic bag.

When indoor ventilation is limited, pollution can accumulate inside, sometimes reaching higher concentrations than what we find outside. This is why it’s important for you to know something about it so you can better protect yourself.
Source: Health Canada, Indoor Pollution and Your Health. www.hc-sc.gc.ca

What can you do?

• Ventilate your home – open the windows and run exhaust fans
• Turn your furnace fan to the “on” position to circulate the air
• Add a HEPA air cleaner with a VOC canister
• Add an HRV (Heat Recovery Ventilator) or ERV (Energy Recovery Ventilator). These air exchangers expel stale polluted air and bring fresh air in from the outside. Your whole home benefits, not just one room where a window might be open.

Note: HRV’s/ERV’s qualify for a $750 ecoENERGY rebate because of their energy efficiency value.  In the summertime an ERV prevents the outside humidity and heat from entering your home but does allow fresh air to enter.  In the wintertime an HRV transfers heat from the outgoing air to the incoming air before distributing it throughout the home’s existing ductwork.  

For more information on Indoor Air Quality please visit www.MetroAir.ca
or send your questions to Valerie@metroair.ca

New Homes, great for energy efficiency, bad for air quality.

1. Running your air conditioner (did you know there’s a coil attached to your furnace that works in conjunction with the outside AC unit?)

2. Circulating the air in your home. With your furnace fan running, stale air pockets are removed. This circulation is especially important for energy efficient homes that don’t have natural drafts to move the air.

Indoor Air Quality Tip:  Set your thermostat to the “On” position instead of “Auto” or “Automatic” so your furnace fan will constantly circulate the air in your home. This is especially important if you have a central humidifier, air cleaner (i.e. HEPA) or an ERV/HRV since these units all require air circulation from the furnace fan to provide the most benefit.

MYTH #2 – Setting the thermostat to the “ON” position will waste heat. The “ON” setting turns on the furnace fan to circulate air; it does not force the heat to turn on. i.e. If your thermostat is set to 21° and it’s 24° in your home, the furnace will not generate heat. Of course if the temperature drops below your set temperature the furnace will heat your home to return it to 21°.

MYTH #3 – A furnace filter cleans the air. A furnace filter’s function is to protect your furnace from excess dust and particles. Keeping this filter clean helps ensure your furnace will operate efficiently and increase its longevity. A furnace filter is only 1″ thick and really can’t compare to proper Media Filters which are designed to clean the air.

Indoor Air Quality Tip:  Have a “Media Filter” installed by a licensed HVAC contractor for an effective and affordable way (~$500) to help clean the air in your home. The 5″ replaceable filter is available at most hardware stores and available in different densities/efficiencies (some even approach HEPA quality).

MYTH #4 – My furnace does not need regular maintenance.   A properly maintained furnace will last longer and be more energy efficient.

Indoor Air Quality Tip:  Furnaces can emit deadly carbon monoxide into the air yet still appear to be functioning properly. Most CO Detectors are designed to alarm before exposure would be hazardous to a healthy adult but babies, children, pregnant women and seniors are more sensitive to CO than healthy adults. For your whole family’s safety, book annual maintenance with a licensed HVAC contractor.

Air Pollutants

Headaches, sneezing, fatigue, itchy watery eyes and head stuffiness – sadly these are all symptoms friends and loved ones suffer from when they have air-borne allergies.  Air pollutants such as dust, ragweed, pollen, pet dander, perfumes and/or cooking gases make it difficult for many to enjoy the summer months.  Young children are particularly susceptible because their lungs are still developing but allergies can develop at any age.  

 Staying inside rarely provides relief, especially in these days of energy efficient windows and insulation.  While making your home air tight is good from an energy conservation standpoint there’s also a downside – air contaminants become trapped inside your home for you to breathe and these pollutants continually build up in your home to uncomfortable levels. 

 The HEPA unit attaches to the ductwork in your furnace room and continuously filters the air before feeding it back into your home’s air supply.  (Note: HEPA’s are also available as portable units but you’d be restricted to staying in the room where the HEPA is to get relief.)

COMMON AIR QUALITY MYTHS 

My furnace filter will clean the air – MYTH – furnace filters are designed to protect your furnace and are not dense enough to filter out the small particles that can penetrate into your lungs.

My media filter will do the job – MYTH – some filters are dense enough to filter smaller particulates but they also reduce the air flow to your furnace which, depending on the model or age of your furnace, can damage your furnace.

On the technical side, HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Arrestance) is an industry standard that specifies a filter must remove particles as small as 0.3 microns with 99.97% efficiency. Buyers must be careful that the HEPA product they purchase will provide HEPA quality efficiency.  To be sure, have an authorized HVAC contractor perform a particulate test on the air in your home and help you choose the correct HEPA.

The results were totally unexpected.

It turned out that the humidity level was perfect (so much for that theory - time to cancel that humidifier installation).   Dust levels were normal, temperatures were within range.  Everything seemed fine EXCEPT the chemical levels.  They were way too high.  The only time the levels went down was when the window was open.  The report provided by the Air Quality Analysis included an hour by hour graph of the levels, so this pattern was easy to identify.

Still, she was at a loss.  During the winter it wouldn’t make sense to keep the windows open because heat would escape and her heating bill would skyrocket.   After consultation with the same air quality contractor she found out about the benefits of an HRV to solve her problem.  An HRV (aka Heat Recovery Ventilator) is a small unit which attaches to the house ductwork – its purpose is to expel stale polluted air and bring in fresh air from the outside.  This fresh air circulates throughout the home via the existing ductwork.  An HRV qualifies for energy saving because because it utilizes the heat from the air being expelled to heat the incoming air.    The end result is that fresh air would be circulated throughout her whole home and the chemicals would be safely vented out.   She would  breathe better and so would her son. 

Sidenote:  My friend had an ecoENERGY* assessment performed on her home so her new HRV was eligible for a $600 Rebate (roughly 1/3 of the cost of her new HRV). 

*  ecoENERGY is a program run by the Federal Government to encourage homeowners to purchase energy efficient equipment for their homes.  These rebates are matched by the Ontario Government’s Home Retrofit program.  The combined rebates range from $1000 for a new furnace to $500 for a tankless water heater to $60 for replacing a door.

This may sound silly but think about it – have you ever been to a party and found the air stuffy?  started to get a headache? began to feel sleepy?  (and not from a game of charades).  How about your family – has anyone’s sinuses stuffed up?  Did they start sneezing? 

Today there’s an increased awareness of the chemical pollutants in the air and many people have increased sensitivies to elements such as dust, perfumes and cleaning products.  Consider the following pollutants that are introduced into the air when a large number of people are together:

*  Wide variety of perfumes, colognes and hair sprays
*  Cigarette smoke on clothes and in people’s hair and coats
*  Excess carbon dioxide (your guests all breathe, laugh and talk don’t they?)
*  Higher dust levels from increased foot traffic across carpets and from outdoor shoes.

And what about your home?

*  Do you put out scented candles and poutpourri for a more inviting aroma as guests arrive?
*  Is your stove and oven constantly on preparing yummy appetizers and maybe a main meal?
*  Did you buy a new printed tablecloth fresh out of the bag?
*  Is your fireplace running?

None of these items contribute to indoor air quality in any positive way at all.  Scented candles give off chemicals even when they are not lit, that new tablecloth is probably off gassing and your fireplace is also changing the quality of the air.  With people having different tolerances to chemicals, perfumes, dust and temperature swings it’s no wonder they would be experiencing discomfort in this environment.

Your home’s ventilation and heating system is designed to handle a single family.  With the added volume of people at a gathering, don’t count on it being able to automatically adjust.  So, along with your other preparations, here’s some tips to help ensure your home’s air remains as fresh and pollutant free as possible:

1. Turn your furnace fan to the “On” not the “Auto” position.  This will ensure air is being circulated constantly and filtered thus reducing particles in the air.
2. Leave your bathroom and stove fans on constantly.  This will help remove cooking gasses and odors and also create a slight negative pressure in the home which will help bring in fresh air from outside.
3. Open a few windows slightly (even more effective when your bathroom and stove fans are running)
4. Turn off your humidifier – the home will be humid enough with all the people inside
5. Turn down your thermostat
6. Turn your ERV or HRV on maximum speed to increase ventilation
7. Turn on your HEPA Air Filter to reduce the dust and dander in the air
8. Consider limiting scented candles, potpourri and other fresheners.  With all the perfumes coming in from your guests, you probably won’t miss it at all and your guests will be more comfortable.

Remember, nobody wants to leave a party early because their allergies or sinuses are acting up  but it happens all the time.  With these few simple steps you can make your party a memorable one so that your guests can enjoy the whole evening together with you.

Breathe fresh air and save energy all year – During the heating season, an ERV captures the heat from the air it is expelling to warm the fresh outside air being brought inside.  It is important to note that the two air streams do not meet but instead pass through the ERV’s unique transfer core.  During the cooling season, the ERV will use this same transfer process to cool the fresh outdoor air before bringing it indoors and circulating it throughout the home.  Excess moisture in the air from hot humid days is returned outside.   Note: An ERV is actually an advanced HRV (Heat Recovery Ventilator).  An HRV is used only during the heating season whereas an ERV can be used year round. Click here for images of the 2 systems.

Protect your health - Did you know that indoor air can be more harmful than outdoor air?  Up to 100 times more pollutants can be found indoors than outdoors.  These pollutants come from a variety of sources such as off gassing from new carpets, cabinetry and furniture, pressed wood, scented candles (even if they’re not lit), plug in air freshers, dust mites, mold, bacteria, cooking and cleaning gasses.  Click here for a list of potential indoor pollutants in your home.)  The term VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) is often used to describe some of these pollutants.

Poor Air quality can trigger health problems - Headaches, fatigue, poor concentration and respiratory ailments are common symptoms and existing health problems are also aggravated by poor air quality.  Children and  seniors are particularly susceptible.  Also, owners of newly built homes, or those who’ve had renovations completed on an older home to make them more energy efficient, are at risk.  These homes are so airtight that stale polluted air can’t escape and continually builds up in the home day after day.

Why not just open a window? - It costs money to heat and cool the air in your home – why let it escape through open windows?  With an ERV homeowners can still receive the benefit of bringing fresh outdoor air into the home to breathe without causing the furnace and/or air conditioner to work overtime and waste energy.  Additionally, an ERV systems allows fresh outdoor air to circulate throughout your whole home (not just the rooms where a window might be open).

Protect your home investment - Today’s houses are built so airtight, excess humidity also gets trapped inside.  As a result, condensation can form on windows and doors which in turn can cause moisture damage to window frames and surrounding walls.  An ERV can help expel this excess humidity as it ventilates.  For new homeowners, it’s important to note that a Tarion New Home Warranty  does not cover damage caused by excess moisture in a home.  It is the homeowner’s responsibility to ensure the home is properly ventilated.  Visit www.tarion.com for more details.

Sidenote:  Many homeowners don’t realize they are suffering from indoor air quality and that their situations can be improved through this simple process of ventilation.  It’s a good idea to have your home tested by a credited Indoor Air Quality Specialist.  The process is simple and will be very beneficial to find out what may be in the air you are breathing.  Studies have shown that we spend 90% of our time indoors so it make sense to ensure the air we’re breathing is clean.

What’s the solution?  There’s 3 things you can do:

First and foremost is try to remove the source of the pollutants.  i.e. Buy paints and household cleaners that are rated non-VOC (VOC=Volatile Organic Compounds – a fancy way of saying chemical pollutants). 

Secondly, ventilate your home.  Use the bathroom fans; leave your furnace fan at the setting “on” instead of automatic and consider investing in a Home Ventilation system.  These ventilation systems are commonly known as HRV’s (Heat Recovery Ventilators) and ERV’s (Energy Recovery Ventilators).  They attach to the ductwork in your furnace room and bring in fresh air from the outside and expel the stale air – in essence, they are the lungs for your home.  HRV’s and ERV’s are very energy efficient because, depending on the season, they will warm (or cool) the air being brought inside so you’re not having to reheat (or cool down) this new fresh air.

Your third choice is to attempt to clean the air but this is not nearly as effective as ventilation.  There are a wide variety of air cleaners on the market but homeowners must beware because some of them produce harmful ozone (ozone is only good when it’s high in the atmosphere but when it’s at ground level it can harm the delicate tissues of your lungs).  A HEPA cleaner with a VOC cannister can help remove VOC’s from the air and will not produce harmful ozone elements.  Additionally, the HEPA cleaner itself will be beneficial for removing the smaller dust particles in the air that you can’t see but can penetrate your lungs.

See the following links for more information:

Health Canada site for Indoor Air quality: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/air/in/poll/index-eng.php

Health Canada and Ozone information: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/air/in/poll/ozone/index-eng.php

To find out more about Ventilators visit: http://www.metroair.ca/products_HRV_ERV_CHOOSE.html or http://www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residential/personal/new-homes/r-2000/standard/how-hrv-works.cfm?attr=4

To find out to get a $600 rebate for the purchase of an ERV dowload the Federal Government’s program brochure here: http://www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca/publications/infosource/pub/ecoenergy-retrofit-homes/retrofit-qualify-grant.pdf:

HEPA Air Cleaners:  http://www.metroair.ca/air-cleaners.html

Air Cleaners and the Ozone: http://www.amaircare.com/Article_Air%20Purifiers_Under_01292008.shtml