Q & A.Q: How often should I change the filter on my heater? Are some filters better than others and how do I decide which one is best for me? A: You should only change your filter when it's dirty. How long it takes to get dirty will be different for each and every system, as there are many things that affect this timing. I've heard more than one homeowner say that it seems like their filter takes forever to get dirty. While this may seem like a good thing (less money spent on filter replacement), it also means that the filter you do have is not doing anything to help you clean the air within your home. A common Cause of the "forever-clean filter syndrome" is that the filter is either being. bypassed or the air handier is pulling its air from somewhere other than the return grille grille, in architecture, a system of bars, usually of decorative metalwork, forming an openwork barrier or enclosure. In its usual materials of wrought iron or bronze, it has been favored for decorative treatment in all periods. . If the air handier is not pulling in air through the return grille and filter, where is it coming from? The space where the ducts are located. So, if you have a return grille in the floor of your home, the return air is being sucked into your house from the basement This article is about the section of a building. For the foundation, see Basement rock. A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor. Slab-on-grade buildings do not have basements. , crawlspace crawl·space or crawl space n. A low or narrow space, such as one beneath the upper or lower story of a building, that gives workers access to plumbing or wiring equipment. Noun 1. , or attic. So, if you have a forever-clean filter then you need to seal the ductwork duct·work n. A group or system of ducts: installed new ductwork in the building. , plain and simple. There are a few main types of filters; fiberglass fiberglass, thread made from glass. It is made by forcing molten glass through a kind of sieve, thereby spinning it into threads. Fiberglass is strong, durable, and impervious to many caustics and to extreme temperatures. filters, pleated media filters, and electrostatic Stationary electrical charges in which no current flows. For example, laser printers and copier machines place a positive charge of the image on a drum, and negatively charged toner is attracted onto the drum. The toner is then transferred to positively charged paper and fused to the paper by heat. filters. The one-inch see-through fiberglass filters are designed to keep rocks and sticks out of the ductwork--mainly to protect the system itself, not your lungs. The pleated media filters are non see-through filters that have a zigzag pattern, which allows more surface area of filter to be squeezed into a smaller package. These filters do a great job of trapping trapping, most broadly, the use of mechanical or deceptive devices to capture, kill, or injure animals. It may be applied to the practice of using birdlime to capture birds, lobster pots to trap lobsters, and seines to catch fish. the majority of dust, dirt, and animal hair typically found in a house. The dirtier they get, the more efficient they become at filtering the air. Be warned! This "clogging" of the filter also restricts the flow of air, which can have a negative effect on the performance of the system and decrease the life of the machinery itself. Check the filter on a normal basis initially to see how long it takes to get dirty. Then, set your maintenance schedule based on this timing. The third type of filter is the electrostatic filter, which is efficient when clean but less efficient as it becomes dirty. This type of filter requires relentless maintenance. If you want to play it safe, go with a media filter. Before running out to buy a better filter for your home, please understand that this simple act of wanting cleaner air could produce some negative side-effects. When your HVAC (Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning) In the home or small office with a handful of computers, HVAC is more for human comfort than the machines. In large datacenters, a humidity-free room with a steady, cool temperature is essential for the trouble-free system's ductwork was designed and installed, it was likely sized around the restriction of a one-inch fiberglass filter. If you replace this filter with a better one, it will change the way the system performs. It may reduce the amount of air that is able to flow through the air handier, it may cause the motor on your HVAC system to burn out earlier than it otherwise would, and it may cause the HVAC system to suck more air in through the holes in the ductwork that it used to. So, make sure your ductwork is sized properly to accommodate for a better filter before making any changes. Talk to your HVAC contractor or building performance contractor. If your concern is air quality, the most significant action you can take is to seal the ductwork itself. By eliminating this leakage LEAKAGE. The waste which has taken place in liquids, by their escaping out of the casks or vessels in which they were kept. By the act of March 2, 1799, s. 59, 1 Story's L. U. S, 625, it is provided that there be an allowance of two per cent for leakage, on the quantity which shall appear , air quality should improve drastically dras·tic adj. 1. Severe or radical in nature; extreme: the drastic measure of amputating the entire leg; drastic social change brought about by the French Revolution. 2. . But again, changing the way air moves through the ductwork will affect other aspects of the system as well. So, be prepared to do your homework before starting, or hire a professional. Isaac Savage is president of Home Energy Partners, a Building Performance Contracting firm that is located in Asheville, NC. He can be reached at 828-350-1155 or on the web at www.HomeEnergyPartners.com. |
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