Brand Name Filters For Brand Name Equipment

It is often assumed by those who have no reason to know otherwise that brand specific furnace filters are required for HVAC equipment. For example a Lennox furnace filter is required for Lennox equipment and Trane furnace filters are required for Trane equipment. I just wanted to point out that this is not the case. You can use any brand of filter that you want as long it will fit in the same opening as the original.

Here are some informative articles about furnace filter selection and maintenance. I hope you enjoy.

Selecting A Furnace Filter For Home Use
When selecting an air filter for home use it is important to determine what your objectives are. There are many different types of home furnace filters to choose from. Some air filters are very efficient and stop the smallest of particles while others are very inefficient and are a total waste of your hard earned money.

Trane Furnace Filters

Does Brand Really Matter? Requirements for Trane Air Conditioning and Heat Pump Equipment

When preparing to change Trane furnace filters many people feel they can’t replace Trane furnace filters with another brand. This is absolutely not the case. When shopping for a replacement furnace filter for your HVAC equipment you can use any brand that you want.

Central Air Conditioning Maintenance
There is nothing wrong with changing your air conditioner filter too often but not changing it often enough can cost you in many ways. You have several options when selecting which type of furnace filters to use.

Brand Name Filters For Brand Name Equipment

It is often assumed by those who have no reason to know otherwise that brand specific furnace filters are required for HVAC equipment. For example a Lennox furnace filter is required for Lennox equipment and Trane furnace filters are required for Trane equipment. I just wanted to point out that this is not the case. You can use any brand of filter that you want as long it will fit in the same opening as the original.

Here are some informative articles about furnace filter selection and maintenance. I hope you enjoy.

Selecting A Furnace Filter For Home Use

When selecting an air filter for home use it is important to determine what your objectives are. There are many different types of home furnace filters to choose from. Some air filters are very efficient and stop the smallest of particles while others are very inefficient and are a total waste of your hard earned money.

Trane Furnace Filters - Does Brand Really Matter? Requirements for Trane Air Conditioning and Heat Pump Equipment

When preparing to change Trane furnace filters many people feel they can’t replace Trane furnace filters with another brand. This is absolutely not the case. When shopping for a replacement furnace filter for your HVAC equipment you can use any brand that you want.

Central Air Conditioning Maintenance
There is nothing wrong with changing your air conditioner filter too often but not changing it often enough can cost you in many ways. You have several options when selecting which type of furnace filters to use.

Heating And Air Conditioning Definitions

To research some of your options when selecting heating and air conditioning equipment it is sometimes helpful to have a resource for common and some not so common heating and air conditioning terms. This link is to a growing resource of heating and air conditioning definitions that you may find useful in your research.

Air Purification Solutions

There are almost as many types of air pollution as there are potential solutions. No matter what type of air purification system you're looking for, you should know that there is not one product on the market today that can solve every problem.

The best approach to figuring out what type of air purification solution is going to be best for you, is to first understand the different types of pollution.

For example, these are the five major types of air pollution:

1. Odor Causing Pollution. Odor comes from many different places - food, animals, human bodies, cigarettes, cigars and pipe smoke, sports shoes, clothing and equipment, etc. Although not necessarily dangerous, if you've ever walked into your teenage son's room after he's come back from a football game and taken a deep breath - you know it can be very unpleasant!

Recommended Solution: Currently, the best solutions on the market for this type of pollution are odor sponges, ozone and oxidation.

2. Particulate Causing Pollution. Particulates are those little floating things you see when the sun comes shining in through your windows, and include dust, dust mites, dust mite feces, pet dander, skin flakes (what dust mites eat), pollen, smoke particles and allergens.

Recommended Solution: Currently the best solutions on the market for this type of pollution are infiltration and negative ions.

3. Microbial Causing Pollution. Microbials are microscopic bacteria, fungi, mycotoxins created by a fungus, mildew, mold spores and viruses. They can be as small as .001 microns. Microbials love to live in warm, damp places, or under your carpet, in your walls and in heating and air conditioning ducts.

Recommended Solution: Currently the best solutions on the market for this type of pollution are those that produce oxidation, which kills microbials.

4. Chemical Fumes and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC). This type of pollution comes from chemicals like benzene and formaldehyde, the chemical fumes that are constantly seeping from carpets, upholstery, furniture, draperies, household cleaning products, beauty products such as nail polish, removers, etc. They also come from cigarette, cigar and pipe smoke, building construction, etc. Many of these chemicals have been identified as carcinogens.

Recommended Solution: Currently the best solution on the market for this type of pollution are products that produce catalytic oxidation.

5. Radon Gas Pollution: Radon is a completely odorless, tasteless and colorless gas, and is the heaviest of all known gasses. It is caused by the radioactive breakdown of uranium inside the earth. When radon is cooled below freezing, it turns a brilliant phosphorescent shade of yellow, which turns orange-red as it gets colder. Radon is also the second leading cause of lung cancer. Smoking exacerbates the affects of radon. Radon is found all around us, in our homes, our yards and the world around us.

Recommended Solution: The best solution to this form of pollution is to first of all test your home (a simple test is available at most hardware stores) and then to seal all cracks and openings in your home's foundation. If the problem merits it, you may need to have a certified contractor install a ventilation system inside your home.

With this basic understanding about pollution you are now ready to make that all important decision about which system is going to be best for you. The choice is yours!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

James Louis writes about things that impact our society. One of his pet peeves is home air pollution. To get more information about how you can solve your home pollution problems visit: Air Purifiers

How Important Is Your Air Conditioner Filter?

When most people think about an air conditioner filter, it is in terms of how efficient they are and how much dust they will stop. These are important things and should be considered when replacing or upgrading your air conditioner filter.

There is another very important job that your air conditioner filter does. It helps to keep dust from collecting on the evaporator coil of your air conditioning system. The evaporator is located inside the air handler and is one of the four main components of any air conditioning system. The air filter is usually located somewhere just before the evaporator coil.

Everyone knows that any dust that passes through the filter ends up back in your living space and can be very irritating to allergy sufferers and anyone else who is sensitive to dust and airborne contaminants.

What most people don’t realize is that your air conditioner filter also serves another important purpose. It also prevents the evaporator coil from becoming plugged with dust and reducing the efficiency of the equipment.

This evaporator coil is constructed very similar to the radiator in a car. Like your car radiator, it will not be able to do its job without proper airflow. I am comparing the evaporator coil to a car radiator because most of us know what a radiator looks like, but an evaporator coil works to cool air as it passes through.

Over time dust collects between the fins of the evaporator coil and can even form a layer on the surface of the evaporator coil fins (like a blanket). This happens over a period of time and can take months and even years to happen.

If you have your air conditioner serviced regularly, the technician will check this and advise you when it needs to be cleaned. As airflow through the evaporator coil becomes more and more restricted the equipment efficiency begins to decline. This can even cause equipment failure and lead to expensive repairs.

So, cleaner air is not the only benefit you will get from using an efficient air conditioner filter. You will also save money because your air conditioning equipment will perform at a higher efficiency.

More information about furnace filters

Some interesting links to solar energy articles

This site has a new directory of solar related articles. For anyone curious about solar energy this may be a good place to start.

Solar Energy Resources

Which Is More Efficient Central Air-Conditioning Or A Heat Pump?

This Question Was Posted Below By Anonymous 1/13/2005 09:46:25 AM

===================================
Here it is...which is more efficient central air-conditioning or a heat pump? I live in Tucson, Arizona so heating is really not a big issue. I think I have turned the furnace on twice since October. But hey AC is a biggie. I am looking at a 2300 sq ft home with R-19 for walls and R-50 in the roof. I am trying to figure out the most efficient way to cool it. Any thoughts?
===================================

The Department of Energy requires that all air conditioning and heating equipment manufacturers rate the efficiency of their equipment. These ratings are known as SEER or Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating for air conditioning and HSPF or Heating Seasonal Performance Factor for heat pumps. Heat pumps use both ratings because they heat in winter and cool in the summer.

A heat pump is basically an air conditioning system with a few components added to enable it to change the way that refrigerant is pumped through the system.

To put in the simplest terms, the indoor section (air handler) removes heat from the air in the building as the air passes over the evaporator which is located inside the air handler. The outside section (condensing unit) rejects this heat from the building in summer.

One of the extra components that a heat pump has is a reversing valve and this valve changes the flow of the refrigerant through the system so that the outside section becomes the evaporator and the indoor section becomes the condensor.

Which is more efficient central air-conditioning or a heat pump?

A heat pump with a rating of 10 SEER would operate with the same efficiency as an air conditioner with a 10 SEER rating. The higher the SEER rating, the more efficient the air conditioning system will be.

I would have to say that I don't think you need a heat pump for your particular situation. You can have electric heat installed in the air handler which will easily meet your needs. If you required heat on a regular basis, then I would reccomend a heat pump.

Based on prices where I live if you choose to go with a heat pump your initial investment will be about 30% more for a heat pump than a central air conditioning system of equal capacity. Considering the amount of time you actually require heat, the cost of using electric heat would be very small. I don't know energy costs for Tuson but I would expect that it would take at least ten years to recover the extra expense of selecting a heat pump over an air conditioning system.

In a nutshell a heat pump with a 10 SEER rating and an air conditioner with a 10 SEER rating will do the exact same job. Since you are interested in air conditioning, a heat pump would not be the best choice for you.

A Tip For Selecting A Contractor

One of the biggest problems people encounter when purchasing air conditioning or heating equipment is their contractor doesn’t do an accurate load calculation.

If you get three quotes and each estimates that you need a different size system (3.5 Ton, 4 Ton, 4.5Ton). The person who gathers the most information about your home, such as R-value of insulation in your walls and attic, is probably more conscientious and accurate in his assessment.

If a contractor comes to look at your home and in five minutes tells you what size system you require try to get another price. To do an accurate load calculation takes more than a five minute walk through. From what I have seen far too many contractors use this inaccurate method.