Maintenance agreements keep your home comfortable and your bills low, but they can also have a marked impact on your health. How? Heating and cooling equipment circulates air throughout your home; if that air isn’t clean, it can mean health problems down the road. Take the following three steps to ensure that it’s clean:

1. Upgrade Your Air Filter

The majority of homeowners buy the cheapest filters available in hardware stores. The problem is that these filters don't do much good. They only filter out the largest particles from the air, and sometimes, they struggle to do that decently.

Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) ratings help you determine how effective a filter is for cleaning the air. Your filter should be a MERV 8 or higher to filter pollen, pet dander and other common allergens from the air. A MERV 11 filter will also remove mold spores and traffic pollution from the indoor air.

In certain environments, like hospitals, techs use heavy-duty filters rated MERV 13 and above. While these are overkill in most residential environments, they can take care of many types of bacteria and viruses. Obviously, a better air filter can keep you healthy and keep allergens at bay.

2. Change Your Filter Regularly

Homeowners can avoid many common HVAC problems by changing air filters on schedule. How often you should change a filter depends on the brand, the MERV rating and the environment in your home. For many residences, it's sufficient to replace your filter every three months.

3. Take Advantage of Seasonal Cleanings

Maintenance plan inspections include a moderate amount of cleaning the typical homeowner doesn't normally do on their own. Cleaning out your drain pan and drain line prevents building up of mildew and mold. Clearing out excess dust and debris prevents it from moving from room to room.

Keep hay fever at bay by enrolling in one of Morelli HVAC’s convenient maintenance agreements. Call us at 843.554.8600 and secure your benefits today.