Take care of the air quality of your home
Billions of people all over the world happily own pets. Whether their furry friend is large or small they love you unconditionally and provide lots of comfort. Whenever you play with your pets, they also leave huge amounts of pet hair in your home. Whenever you clean your pet’s sleep area or cage, their hair and dander become airborne. All of this debris lands on your furniture and curtains and a layer of dust accumulates on surfaces. The particles get disturbed whenever you move around and once again become airborne and end up in your HVAC system eventually.
This is a major problem especially if any of your household members have allergies. There is pet dander all over the air and vacuuming does not get rid of it. The HVAC system does help to capture contaminated air and filtered air is returned. However, the large volume of shedding that your pets do means you need to be very diligent about caring for your HVAC system properly so it will continue well in terms of improving the air quality in your home.
Below are some useful tips on how to take care of the air quality of your home, your HVAC system, and your pet all at once.
Brush Your Pet on A Regular Basis
Most experts agree that brushing your pet often is the most effective thing you can do to minimize the amount of pet hair that gets into your ventilation system. Brushing your pet’s hair can be a very enjoyable way to bond and spend time with your pet. The hair is caught by the brush or discarded onto the floor that can then be vacuumed up. Small amounts of hair may still become airborne. However, it is a lot less than what is shed by your cat or dog whenever they are moving around your house. The more brushing you do, the more loose strands of hair you can collect and throw away. This results in less fur getting into your vents and the air in your home.
To groom your pet, choose an area where there is a hard floor or go out on the porch with your pet. As you are brushing, you will the fur falling onto the ground. It is very easy to clean fur debris up from hard surfaces. Also, grooming your pet outside will result in the loose fur floating away in the wind instead of being trapped inside your home.
Pet dander and hair can accumulate inside your filters and quickly clog them up. Therefore, pet owners need to change their air filters more often than homes without pets. Air filter recommendations recommend how often your air filters should be changed. However, that is normally for regular interior environments without any additional contaminants such as pet dander and fur. As a general rule, people who own pets need to replace their filters a few weeks sooner than what is recommended. Visually check your filters on a regular basis. If it is covered in pet hair, replace it, and write down the date. After a couple of changes, you will get a good idea of when the filters need to be changed in your house.
Replace Your HVAC Filters On a Regular Basis
Adjust the Frequency of Your Filter Changes Based on the Amount of Shedding
Pets commonly shed more during the spring since that is when animals shed their winter coats naturally. This means your filters will need to be changed more frequently in the spring. Note the amount of fur that is coming off whenever you brush your pet’s hair. During the spring, you will need to have more frequent and longer brushing sessions to collect all of your pet’s loose fur.
Upgrade Your Home’s Air Filters
Pet dander is the most common allergen found in the air. Out of all of the individuals with allergies, pet dander affects 20% of them. Those individuals need to have air filters that have higher MERV ratings.
MERV stands for Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value. It measures how efficient your air filter is. Air filters with high ratings provide better filtration. Filters for standard homes have 5 to 8 MERV ratings. If you would like a filter that captures allergens, buy filters with 10 to 12 ratings. Higher quality filters can capture tiny particulates such as pet dander and hold them so they are not able to re-circulate as dust back into the air.
Thoroughly Vacuum Your House On A Regular Basis
HVAC systems come with intake vents that suck the air in from inside your home and filter out particulates, hair, dust, and allergens, and then return clean air. However, their filters can become clogged quite fast. Vacuum up as much pet hair as you can from the HVAC vents to extend the life of the filters. Each time you brush your pet, dander and fur float into the air and end up on your carpet and furniture. You need to thoroughly vacuum after brushing your pet so that the dander and fur that landed on the carpet and furniture don’t accumulate and become airborne once again when you start moving around the area.
Pay close attention to the corners and edges of every room since the rollers on the vacuum cannot reach these areas. Use the edge tool that comes with your vacuum to reach the nooks and crannies. Vacuum under the furniture using an extension. The more thoroughly you vacuum your home, the less debris will become airborne and get inside the HVAC system. This will also prolong your filter’s life.
Schedule Regular HVAC Maintenance
Your pets play a very important role in your family and household. However, they can also cause problems for the HVAC system. When an HVAC maintenance check is scheduled every 12 months it will help to ensure that your system continues to run efficiently. The HVAC technician will inspect your system and perform any tune-ups that are necessary. When the HVAC technician comes to your home for the first time, be sure to tell him that you have a pet so he can check to see if your system has any excessive pet hair.
Both the outside AC unit and the interior system will be inspected by the technician. They will make any necessary adjustments and clean the parts. They will make recommendations on what needs to be done so pet hair is prevented from becoming a large problem or reaffirm that what you have been doing is keeping your HVAC system in good condition.
Your pets do not have to be a hazard to the HVAC system as long as your vacuum and brush your pet frequently, change the filters on a regular basis, and properly maintain the system. Don’t allow pet dander and loose fur to spoil being able to enjoy your pets. When you pay close attention to the upkeep of your HVAC system and schedule regular maintenance appointments, you will be able to enjoy the clean air in your home and your pets.
Contact us today for more advice and tips on effective air filtration methods for your house or to get your HVAC maintenance appointment scheduled.
