Wildfires and Your Home’s HVAC: Your Air Filter Can Protect Your Family

It’s become an unfortunate pattern throughout the past few summers, and this year is no exception: wildfires out west and in Canada produce alarming amounts of smoke that inundate areas across North America. Here in Cincinnati, we’ve suffered from it too — outdoor air quality in the poor and unhealthy ranges during parts of the summer, mostly due to Canadian wildfires.

And unfortunately, it looks like these patterns will most likely persist in the coming years, too.

We all know that we have to take it easy outdoors when the air quality is poor, but how does your home’s HVAC system interact with wildfire smoke outdoors in the atmosphere?

Your HVAC System Protects Your Home

Your home’s heating and cooling system is equipped with an air filter that serves two purposes. First, the air filter removes dust, debris, allergens, pet dander and other particulates from your home’s air, catching these tiny pollutants as they move through your home’s HVAC system. This helps to improve your indoor air quality, making it easier for everyone to breathe and reducing airborne irritants. And that filter will block some elements that are present in smoke, including wildfire smoke. But standard home HVAC air filters don’t block all of the pollutants and particulates present in wildfire smoke — for a filter that removes smoke, you’ll need to choose a specific type of filter that blocks even smaller particles. (Not all HVAC systems can accommodate the kinds of filters that remove smoke from indoor air — if you’re not sure about yours, you can ask your trusted, local HVAC company for advice on the best filter for your situation.)

You Need to Protect Your HVAC System

While your HVAC system is protecting your family, you also need to protect your heating and cooling system. The second purpose of your HVAC air filter is to prevent these particulates and debris from getting into the sensitive equipment in the inner workings of your heating and cooling system. When this extra dust, dirt, pet hair, etc., get into the inner parts of the system, they can cause extra friction and wear and tear, shortening the lifespan of your HVAC system. You need to check your HVAC air filter regularly (more often during times of extra pollution, smoke, or poor air quality) and replace it promptly, allowing air to flow freely into and through the system.

The Best Air Filter Practices for Wildfire Season

Although we’re lucky (so far!) here across Cincinnati to not have to confront actual wildfires, we can still help prepare our homes for wildfire season, and take steps to protect our families and sensitive equipment in our homes’ heating and cooling systems from wildfire smoke. Not all indoor air filters are rated to be able to filter out smoke (though most will effectively deal with ash or other airborne debris that comes from wildfires). So if you have family members that are very sensitive to smoke, or you want to go the extra mile to pull any smoke out of your indoor air, you’ll want to be sure you’re selecting an air filter that is rated to remove smoke. If your home’s heating and cooling system can handle it, a filter with an MERV 13 rating is your best bet (if your system can’t take the airflow restriction of an MERV 13 filter, you can try an MERV 11 filter instead). You’ll also want to take extra steps to protect your home’s heating and cooling system during wildfire season. Start by keeping your windows closed when the smoke is around — whether you can smell it or see it. This helps to keep this dirtier air out of your home and away from your HVAC equipment entirely. And then, you’ll want to make sure you’re checking and replacing the air filter more frequently during wildfire season, especially if you’ve opted for a high-efficiency filter specifically to remove the smoke. If it’s catching the tiny smoke particulates, it’s doing its job, but then it will “fill up” and need to be replaced more often. This is a good thing — it means it’s taking these yucky elements out of your household air, and keeping them from gunking up the inner workings of your heating and cooling system, as well. You’ll want to keep up with your twice-yearly service appointments for your HVAC system during and after wildfire season, as well — this will allow your heating and cooling technician to clean and inspect any components that might be affected by the additional air pollutants.

If you have questions or concerns about your HVAC system or your home’s indoor air quality, give us a call here at Jansen Heating & Cooling. We’ve taken care of Cincinnati’s homes and HVAC systems for decades, and we’re well prepared to protect your home, as well. We can help you find the right air filter to fit your system, and let you know how your indoor air quality is holding up while the outdoor air quality is lousy. We’re here to help you breathe a little easier — literally!