Indoor air quality - electronic air cleaner
 

New House - Wife goes into coughing fits - today when it started to storm, normally at night. Just a dry cough like you get when you;ve breathed in some batt insulation, if you;ve ever had the mis-fortune.

Understand the cons of cleaning ducts ..

Has anyone actually had the air quality tested by a professional outfit not looking to sell something ? if so, who does that ?

What about an electronic air cleaner ? Carrier, Honeywell and Aprilaire all make them. Anyone install one ? Notice any difference ? Who did it ?

Ever here of a REME / Air Knight UV cleaner ?

Thanks

You can buy an air quality tester on Amazon and do it yourself. If the house is very new, there may be some construction dust still circulating. I would buy a few MERV 13 filters and replace them monthly for a few months. The electrostatic air filters will work, but you probably don't need one. But, if you do buy one, I think the best kind are the ones that you can remove and clean yourself. They work by creating an electric charge that attracts small particles and removes them from the air.

I bought a Germguardian with a HEPA filter and it did reduce my allergies. Also bought a test kit I mailed away to a lab to check for pollutants and allergens.
Florida is bad for those with allergies. Suggest a high performance filter for your AC blower. Vacuum regularly too.

Be careful about changing the MERV rating on your A/C filter as this can alter the airflow. As for testing, I had this done back up North on a house with a crawlspace, cost was about $400, results were I needed an EPA level cleaning of this area. The new owners got a really expensive certificate of how clean it was when the guts in the moon suits left!! This was a mid 60's house located in an area that really should not have had a crawlspace vented to the outside. I would expect similar costs here, and the testing company should provide specific information on remediation if necessary. I can not provide any references in the villages area for this type of work.

I agree that a high MERV rated filter can reduce your furnace airflow. I use a MERV 8. But, if a new house has construction dust from drywall cutting and other construction work, using a MERV 13 filter temporarily may be an inexpensive way to clean it out. I would buy a few of them and replace them frequently and check them for dust. Even when using a MERV 8 filter, I don't agree with the standard recommendation that the filter should last a year. I replace mine at least every 6 months.

Consumer Reports tests reveal that a top MERV 13 filter is much more effective than a MERV 8, which is what I’ve been using. However, the filters with the highest ratings won’t work in my heating and air-conditioning system because the slot where the filter slides in is too narrow. To use a recommended filter, I’d need to have an HVAC guy come out and rebuild the opening and move the ductwork a bit. This would probably cost several hundred dollars. Of course, a good portable filter unit costs about the same.
Air Filter Ratings & Reliability

We put in a Carrier Infinity Filter. It's not just a filter you put in the A/C, it's a separate unit. It's MERV 15. It helped my wife's allergies a lot.

Had my ac check yesterday and the technician was selling (just a pamphlet ) an ionic filter setup that goes in the ac return air line. Simple electric hookup. He said that quite a few Villagers have bought it and have had good results. It is called iwave. Has anyone had experience with one of these..Pros and cons??

It looks like a bogus product to me. I would ask for the names and phone numbers of some Villagers who have them. But, if you really need a better filter than the standard type, I would buy an electrostatic filter to replace the throw away filters. It would need to be installed by an HVAC contractor who would modify your air handling unit to accomodate the electrostatic filter. I think the best kind are the ones where you can remove the filter part and clean it yourself.

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had an Aprilaire elec air cleaner installed by Munns 4 years ago into our Carrier AC. I have allegies & asthma - and was so tired of the dust buildup in the house the first 2 years in TV. All subjective re health etc. I believe the air is much cleaner for us. And the dust build is NO LONGER an issue. So IMO, were are very pleased and a fine addition to enhance our home and life.
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I also have issues with bad air quality. Went with a "BlueAir" portable air filter that can be equipped with a charcoal filter when dealing with off gassing that may be part of being in a new home, or plain Hepa filter for regular everyday filtering. Very effective.

Thanks to All.. I did not like the idea of the ionic cleaner .. Nor the clean "smell" that it would emit. I went with the conventional air cleaner. My wife's breathing has already improved..

Our Carrier system about 11yrs old uses a 16.5 x 21.5 x 1 "coil air filter." This is the recommended model in the literature. (Best Carrier 1" Fan Coil Air & Furnace Filter Replacements | Filter Buy) I've tried the "standard" 16 x 20 x 1 and they pretty much get sucked up into the system. This is the original unit in the home (we're 2nd owners) and is around 11yrs old. Very strange size for a "standard" system installed here in T.V. Can't find them locally anywhere.