My name is Justin Randall; I'm a Product Specialist here at Aprialire. I’m on a quest to help regular people understand the importance of indoor air quality. More importantly I aspire to educate as many people I can on how to implement effective and sustainable Indoor Air Quality solutions.
Aprilaire's newest thermostat is better then the rest! Touch screen is a popular technology because it's so easy to use; the Aprilaire 8600 provides homeowners with super-easy programming, maintenance reminders and a large easy to read back-lit display. The Model 8600 Touch Screen thermostat is the easiest most intuitive thermostat to set up and use. A truly universal thermostat, the 8600 fits nearly every application and is designed to be both installer and homeowner friendly. With an exclusive "message center" there are no codes to remember and no need to reference the manual, plus the 8600 provides valuable feedback and instructions to the homeowner like what stage the equipment is in or when the thermostat is in an equipment protection hold. The 8600 also has great IAQ features like a programmable fan and fan circulate mode which means you get more air cleaning. On top of all the great features of the Aprilaire 8600, the price is awesome too! If you're looking to upgrade to an easy to use programmable thermostat at a great price, call your local Aprilaire contractor today and get a price quote.In the summer it's often times more about the humidity then it is the heat. A common theme of summer is people unknowingly overcool there homes because even though the thermostat may read 72 degrees it's uncomfortable in the home because the humidity is 60% RH or higher. An air conditioner will dehumidify, but it is first and foremost made to cool the air. Once your air conditioner reaches its temperature set point it will shut off regardless if the humidity is uncomfortably (and unhealthily) high or not. Some of the higher end air conditioners will allow you to over shoot the set point by a couple degrees. This allows extended AC run time which removes more moisture from the air, but I've heard people complain that when the air conditioner overcools the house then feels cold and clammy. The best way to make your home as healthy and comfortable as possible is to utilize a whole home dehumidifier. What's that you say? You've never heard of a whole home dehumidifier? Don't 
worry most people haven't, a whole home dehumidifier is basically like central air but instead it is central dehumidification that runs independent of your central air to provide a constant and comfortable humidity level. Imagine this it's a cloudy but humid day so your air conditioner never comes on or runs very little the humidity in you house is going to get very high, but with an Aprilaire Central Dehumidifier the humidity is kept under control because you don't need the air conditioner to run. Further you can see energy savings because you can be comfortable at a set point of 78, 80 or sometimes even higher because the humidity level is low enough. Learn more about a whole home dehumidifier here...call your local Aprilaire dealer to find out even more.
worry most people haven't, a whole home dehumidifier is basically like central air but instead it is central dehumidification that runs independent of your central air to provide a constant and comfortable humidity level. Imagine this it's a cloudy but humid day so your air conditioner never comes on or runs very little the humidity in you house is going to get very high, but with an Aprilaire Central Dehumidifier the humidity is kept under control because you don't need the air conditioner to run. Further you can see energy savings because you can be comfortable at a set point of 78, 80 or sometimes even higher because the humidity level is low enough. Learn more about a whole home dehumidifier here...call your local Aprilaire dealer to find out even more.“There’s always ways to improve your indoor air quality”…that’s the title of this article and it’s the truth. From using non toxic cleaning agents in your house to having an Aprilaire whole home air cleaner installed and everything in between; insuring clean, healthy air in your home requires a series of simple changes, but the payoff is huge. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “The first wealth is health.”
For a home to be green and healthy not only does it have to be energy efficient, but it also NEEDS to address indoor air quality. The LEED certification, the leading green certification program in the U.S., has come under attack by industry experts who claim that getting a LEED certification doesn't ensure a healthy environment. Read the article where LEED buildings are dubbed "killing machines" due to there inadequate air quality control. Most newer houses need to have air quality products installed to insure a healthy environment; check out Aprilaire.com for more information.
A Canadian family’s poor indoor air quality almost led to tragedy. This article is prime and extreme example of how poor indoor air quality can lead to oodles of health problems not excluding death. According to the EPA “In the last several years, a growing body of scientific evidence has indicated that the air within homes and other buildings can be more seriously polluted than the outdoor air in even the largest and most industrialized cities. Other research indicates that people spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors. Thus, for many people, the risks to health may be greater due to exposure to air pollution indoors than outdoors.”
Further, there are many studies done by accredited agencies that have proven that poor indoor air quality can lead to poor health. Poor IAQ can increase the risk of developing asthma and other illnesses and diseases, especially in young and elderly people.
It is important to have the proper ventilation, air filtration and humidity in your home to make it healthy. Your local Aprilaire contractor is a great source to help you determine if your home lacks any of the above mentioned aspects of IAQ.
Further, there are many studies done by accredited agencies that have proven that poor indoor air quality can lead to poor health. Poor IAQ can increase the risk of developing asthma and other illnesses and diseases, especially in young and elderly people.
It is important to have the proper ventilation, air filtration and humidity in your home to make it healthy. Your local Aprilaire contractor is a great source to help you determine if your home lacks any of the above mentioned aspects of IAQ.
The American Lung Association released it’s annual “State of the Air” report for 2010. Although there is some good news the nation’s air is still a major health issue. The ALA states “that over 175 million people—roughly 58 percent—still suffer pollution levels that are too often dangerous to breathe”.
There are things you can do to help improve the outdoor air quality…go to the
Americans spend most of their time indoors so insuring the air in your home is clean is especially important and even more so if you live in an area with high air pollution. The best way to remove pollution from your homes air is by having an Aprilaire Whole Home Air Cleaner installed. Find out what the air is like where you live.
The importance of proper ventilation, filtration and humidification in our homes is more important then ever. The Portland Press Herald takes an interesting look at how new innovations in building materials can sometimes have serious effects on our health. A good example of this is about 100 years ago asbestos was used in building materials; another example is the use of lead paint.
Most of the innovations and improvements to building materials and process have a significantly positive effect to the comfort and efficiency of modern homes, but on the other hand there can be negative effects too. New homes are much “tighter” then older homes which means less of the hot or cold air from outside is allowed to get in subsequently reducing energy usage. On the other hand a negative to this is that the air inside can become highly polluted because there’s no fresh air, so new homes often require mechanical ventilation.
Even the newest homes can be unhealthy. The best thing to do is educate yourself about indoor air quality and take action to insure your home has proper filtration, ventilation and humidification. To learn more about IAQ go to www.Aprilaire.com and visit the EPA’s website.
Most of the innovations and improvements to building materials and process have a significantly positive effect to the comfort and efficiency of modern homes, but on the other hand there can be negative effects too. New homes are much “tighter” then older homes which means less of the hot or cold air from outside is allowed to get in subsequently reducing energy usage. On the other hand a negative to this is that the air inside can become highly polluted because there’s no fresh air, so new homes often require mechanical ventilation.
Even the newest homes can be unhealthy. The best thing to do is educate yourself about indoor air quality and take action to insure your home has proper filtration, ventilation and humidification. To learn more about IAQ go to www.Aprilaire.com and visit the EPA’s website.
If keeping your indoor air clean is important to you then upgrade your existing Aprilaire or Space-Gard air cleaner the next time you need a filter change. You can upgrade your existing air cleaner with Aprilaire's newest filtering media which goes into all of our new air cleaners. The new filtering media is better than the old for many reason's including increased particulate removal efficiency, it holds almost twice as much dust and can help reduce the energy your HVAC system uses. So next time you need a filter change ask for an upgrade. It’s inexpensive, it’s easy and it’s just plain better.
The effects of particulate matter and moisture in the air can have very serious effects. The European office of the World Health Organization recently released some very shocking data regarding the effect pollution in the air can have on people health including infants. During the early stages of life the lungs are quickly developing and are more susceptible to damage caused by particulate matter. Read the article Respiratory disease kills 1 in every 2000 babies in Europe to learn more.
The Washington Post publishes an Asthma and Allergies Guide annually. It is a good reference and offers sound advice to anyone who is interested in mitigating their asthma and allergy symptoms. The guide covers everything from food allergies to indoor air pollution and gives expert advice on how to control symptoms for a healthy lifestyle.
Take special note on the article titled “The Truth About Indoor Air Quality”. It talks about the risks associated with poor indoor air quality and the best way to improve your homes air. The expert in the article highly recommends a whole home air cleaner to remove the fine particulate from your homes air
Take special note on the article titled “The Truth About Indoor Air Quality”. It talks about the risks associated with poor indoor air quality and the best way to improve your homes air. The expert in the article highly recommends a whole home air cleaner to remove the fine particulate from your homes air
A blower door test is used to determine where a home leaks air. It can be an inexpensive way to determine where you should focus your efforts on making your home more energy efficient. In some areas you can actually get rebates on blower door tests. Read more about the technology and its benefits here.
The spring is a prime time for moisture problems in your home. The snows melting the ground is damp and it seems that somehow that moisture finds it’s way in to pretty much any home. An excessive humidity in your home can cause a whole multitude of problems ranging from property damage to comfort issues to health issues. You may not think you have excessive humidity issues, but really anything over 50-60% RH in your home can start to get into the unhealthy range. See the chart below:
Check out this article from the Cuyahoga County Board of Health. They are heading a healthy house initiative in Cleveland with a focus on moisture problems. There are problems with moisture problems in both older homes and newer homes. Older homes often have foundation issues that cause moisture leakage into the basement or crawlspace. Newer homes are often very air tight, allowing no fresh air to get into the home causing moisture and pollutants to build up. So no matter if you have a new home or old home, you should be aware of moisture issues.
Controlling moisture is important to a healthy home and an Aprilaire dehumidifier can be a great way to help you ensure your home is healthy.
* Each person inhales over 3,500 gallons of air each day. Children inhale more particles for their size then adolescents or adults.
* Polluted air causes 94% of all respiratory problems.
* More than 31 million Americans have been diagnosed with asthma, about 1/3 are children under 18.
* About 40,000 dust mites, a common household allergen, can live in one ounce of dust.
* An estimated 10-15% of the entire population may be allergic to cat or dog dander.
* A person sheds up to 700,000 skin flakes per day.
These are just a few of the reasons to make sure your home is protected by having a whole house air cleaner installed. A high efficiency whole house air cleaner from Aprilaire makes your home healthier and cleaner. The EPA states that indoor air is often times more polluted then outdoor air so cleaning the air in your home is more important then ever.
If you currently have an Aprilaire air cleaner you can upgrade it to our newest media that removes more particulate from the air. Call you local contractor and tell them you want to upgrade your Aprilaire air cleaner today. For a small investment you can improve your current air filter.
Having a programmable thermostat installed in your home is a quick, easy and inexpensive way to save energy and save money.
Some estimates predict that a programmable thermostat can save you up to 30% on your monthly energy bills. The idea behind a programmable thermostat is that you’re only heating or cooling your home when it needs to be. When you’re gone for the day at work, or sleeping you set temperature higher or lower so you’re not wasting energy conditioning an empty house. You then set it so when you return or wake up your house is comfortable.
Aprilaire’s newest programmable thermostat, the 8400 series, offers additional benefits. It has the ability to report the outdoor temperature as well as cycle your HVAC fan for air cleaning.
The best part about a programmable thermostat is that once you have it set up for your needs you really never have to mess around with it. You can set it and forget it and you will save energy automatically.
Some estimates predict that a programmable thermostat can save you up to 30% on your monthly energy bills. The idea behind a programmable thermostat is that you’re only heating or cooling your home when it needs to be. When you’re gone for the day at work, or sleeping you set temperature higher or lower so you’re not wasting energy conditioning an empty house. You then set it so when you return or wake up your house is comfortable.
Aprilaire’s newest programmable thermostat, the 8400 series, offers additional benefits. It has the ability to report the outdoor temperature as well as cycle your HVAC fan for air cleaning.
The best part about a programmable thermostat is that once you have it set up for your needs you really never have to mess around with it. You can set it and forget it and you will save energy automatically.
The EPA says indoor air can often be many times more polluted then outdoor air. Further they say we spend as much as 90% of our time indoors. In the winter when it's cold outside the percentage is probably even higher so it's important to understand what you can do to make sure your homes indoor air is clean.
There are some real basic things that can be done including use non toxic cleaners, dust often, use fans when cooking, wash your bed sheets in hot water, if you have an attached garage pull your car out right after you start it, don't smoke indoors, and the list goes on.
Despite doing the aforementioned items you're still going to end up with particulate and pollution in your homes air. Due to the fact that in the winter there is very little fresh air getting into your home that pollution can build up and cause everything from cold symptoms, sore throats, stuffed up noses, allergy symptoms to much more serious long term effects like asthma and other long term respiratory health problems.
That is why it is important to have a whole home air cleaner to remove particulate in your homes air before you breathe it. Aprilaire offers 3 different levels of air cleaning with different efficiency ratings and control options. Control is a very important part of any air cleaner; most air cleaners only run based on temperature, which doesn't make much sense...you need to clean the air when your air is dirty and that has nothing to do with when you need to change your temperature. Look for more on the importance of controlling your air cleaner from me in future blogs.
Check out this eye opening article regarding a business in California that had indoor air pollution levels "eight times the amount you'd find if you were standing along a Los Angeles freeway, during rush hour."
This type of pollution isn't just found in ice arenas or the like. Think about it...do you have an attached garage? That pollution from your car can easily make it into your home. During this time of year when it's cold outside and everything is buttoned down that pollution lingers inside your home. Add a high efficiency air cleaner to your HVAC system and you can remove that pollution before your family breathes it.
This type of pollution isn't just found in ice arenas or the like. Think about it...do you have an attached garage? That pollution from your car can easily make it into your home. During this time of year when it's cold outside and everything is buttoned down that pollution lingers inside your home. Add a high efficiency air cleaner to your HVAC system and you can remove that pollution before your family breathes it.
Indoor air quality is a topic of discussion at the Copenhagen Summit this week. One expert said up to 2 million people die each year due to poor indoor air quality. He went on to say that buildings with better indoor air quality serve to reduce the flu by up to 20%.
Indoor air quality is obviously a very important part of a greener planet and a healthier world. Make sure your family is being protected, go to Aprilaire.com to learn more about how to make your home healthy.
Indoor air quality is obviously a very important part of a greener planet and a healthier world. Make sure your family is being protected, go to Aprilaire.com to learn more about how to make your home healthy.
Do you have an Aprilaire 2200 or 2400 air cleaner? If so you’re probably familiar with the Aprilaire 201 and 401 replacement filters. The 201 and 401 filter is a great product that has been around almost 30 years; many manufacturers have tried to duplicate the performance of the 201 and 401 without much success. The numerous knock off’s are low quality, which means they have a short life, put stress on your HVAC equipment and don’t capture the amount of particulate as the original.
Recently Aprilaire came out with an upgrade to the original 201/401 media. The new MERV 13 media uses new technology that holds more dust, captures nearly twice as much particulate and restricts less airflow throughout its useful life. We use the new style media in our 2000 and 4000 series air cleaners, but the greatest thing about it is you can upgrade your current Aprilaire Air Cleaner to use the improved media without having to buy a whole new air cleaner. We have an upgrade kit that slides into your older air cleaner and allows it to accept the new media. You only need to purchase the kit once and then you just replace the new media just like you did the 201 and 401 filter. You can get the upgrade from your normal heating and air conditioning contractor; if you are interested in capturing more dust and more particulate out of your homes air just tell your contractor you want to upgrade! You can even do it yourself it takes about 2 minutes and you don't need any tools.
Recently Aprilaire came out with an upgrade to the original 201/401 media. The new MERV 13 media uses new technology that holds more dust, captures nearly twice as much particulate and restricts less airflow throughout its useful life. We use the new style media in our 2000 and 4000 series air cleaners, but the greatest thing about it is you can upgrade your current Aprilaire Air Cleaner to use the improved media without having to buy a whole new air cleaner. We have an upgrade kit that slides into your older air cleaner and allows it to accept the new media. You only need to purchase the kit once and then you just replace the new media just like you did the 201 and 401 filter. You can get the upgrade from your normal heating and air conditioning contractor; if you are interested in capturing more dust and more particulate out of your homes air just tell your contractor you want to upgrade! You can even do it yourself it takes about 2 minutes and you don't need any tools.
The cold weather has come and it’s going to continue to get colder and colder. That means your heating system is going to be running more and more. Now is the time to make sure your HVAC filters have been changed to insure your heating system runs at peak efficiency this winter, and that it’s in tip top shape when the cooling season rolls around.
It doesn’t matter if you have a 1” filter or you have an Aprilaire whole home air cleaner make sure your filter hasn’t past its useful life.
If you only use a 1” filter you should seriously consider having an Aprilaire whole home air cleaner installed. 1” filters have 3 major problems with them. First, they are either low efficiency (Meaning they don’t capture much particulate out of the air.) or they are high efficiency, but also have a high pressure drop (Meaning they restrict the air going through them. Picture a brick wall it would make a great filter, but no air could get through it.) high pressure drop wastes energy and puts more stress on your HVAC system meaning it shortens the life of your system. The final drawback to a 1” filter is cost; a $12 filter that lasts 30 days will actually cost you $144 a year. An Aprilaire replacement filter lasts 1 year and will cost you less then half the amount of replacing 1” filters plus you’re getting a better performing filtration system that requires less maintenance.
For the benefit of your HVAC system and your family’s health think about ridding your life of 1” replacement filters and make the move to an Aprilaire whole home air cleaner.
It doesn’t matter if you have a 1” filter or you have an Aprilaire whole home air cleaner make sure your filter hasn’t past its useful life.
If you only use a 1” filter you should seriously consider having an Aprilaire whole home air cleaner installed. 1” filters have 3 major problems with them. First, they are either low efficiency (Meaning they don’t capture much particulate out of the air.) or they are high efficiency, but also have a high pressure drop (Meaning they restrict the air going through them. Picture a brick wall it would make a great filter, but no air could get through it.) high pressure drop wastes energy and puts more stress on your HVAC system meaning it shortens the life of your system. The final drawback to a 1” filter is cost; a $12 filter that lasts 30 days will actually cost you $144 a year. An Aprilaire replacement filter lasts 1 year and will cost you less then half the amount of replacing 1” filters plus you’re getting a better performing filtration system that requires less maintenance. For the benefit of your HVAC system and your family’s health think about ridding your life of 1” replacement filters and make the move to an Aprilaire whole home air cleaner.
Experts agree, poor indoor air quality may create indoor allergies. But there are ways to fight indoor allergies and poor indoor air quality.
Your HVAC equipment can both help and hurt the quality of your homes air. If you take care of your equipment by having an Aprilaire Whole Home Air Cleaner installed your HVAC will help to make your home healthier. If you neglect your HVAC system it can become a breeding ground for unhealthy stuff to be spread throughout your home.
Take action now to make your home healthy. Call your local Aprialire Contractor today for solutions to improve indoor air quality.
Your HVAC equipment can both help and hurt the quality of your homes air. If you take care of your equipment by having an Aprilaire Whole Home Air Cleaner installed your HVAC will help to make your home healthier. If you neglect your HVAC system it can become a breeding ground for unhealthy stuff to be spread throughout your home.
Take action now to make your home healthy. Call your local Aprialire Contractor today for solutions to improve indoor air quality.
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