Category Archives: Indoor Air Quality

Debunking Dehumidifiers: Separating Fact from Fiction

With the wet weather and hot, sunny days we’ve had throughout Chicagoland lately, most homes are more than likely feeling very muggy. Enter the solution: the whole home dehumidifier.

How Does It Work?

Whether it’s portable or connected in-line with your HVAC system, a whole house dehumidifier helps you maintain a healthy humidity level throughout all the rooms in your home. Installed to work in conjunction with your home’s heating and cooling system, a whole home dehumidifier uses its fan to draw air into the unit. The air is passed across the unit’s chilled coil. Contact with these coils causes the excess moisture to collect on them, removing moisture from the air. The air is then recirculated through the HVAC system or into the home, depending on how the dehumidifier is installed.

What Are the Benefits?

Utilizing a whole home dehumidifier offers many benefits for homeowners, including:

  • Improved Air Quality: By reducing the amount of moisture in the air, dehumidifiers improve air quality in your home. They can also lessen the concentration of allergens and other pollutants that may cause respiratory issues.
  • Energy Savings: Using a dehumidifier can help you reduce the amount of cooling energy that your home uses. And when the air in your home is less humid, it feels cooler. With whole home dehumidifiers, our customers report that they don’t need to run their air conditioners as often, allowing them to conserve energy and save money.
  • Mold Protection: Too much moisture in your home can create conditions conducive to mold growth. And, as we all know, mold in a home is just bad news, as it causes damage the structure of your home and is quite hazardous to your health. A whole home dehumidifier works to keep moisture levels throughout the home within the appropriate range to prevent mold growth.

Other Fun Facts

At Earl’s, we use Aprilaire Whole Home Commercial Grade dehumidifiers. When maintained properly, these dehumidifiers can last on average 15 years. In addition, Aprilaire systems save customers money. Check out the savings as reported by Aprilaire:

  • save approximately $190.00 per season in electrical costs versus portable dehumidifiers.
  • 15 years x $190.00 Utility savings = $2,850.00

Also, when a home is properly humidified the thermostat can be raised a few degrees and save 10% to 15% in utility costs. At Earl’s, we also appreciate the fact that there have been no Aprilaire recalls to date, the units are made in America, and they have a five year warranty.

Aprilaire whole home humidifiers are also extremely versatile and can be used as a standalone unit, plugged in and run with a drain, ducted, wired to a furnace blower system, zoned or used in conjunction with outdoor ventilation. And last but not least, you can control the unit remotely!

Give us a call at (219) 942-9023 to set up your complimentary consultation today!

Should You Have an Air Purifier Installed?

Your HVAC system comes with an air filter. Do you know its purpose? If you think it is to protect your indoor air quality, you’re only partially right. The primary function of this air filter is actually to protect the inside components of your HVAC system from dirt, debris, and other particles that can impact the performance of your system.

An electronic whole-house air purifier is what you should use if you truly want to improve and protect the quality of your indoor air. Keep reading to learn more about why we strongly recommend this indoor air quality product. Continue reading

Should You Have a Humidifier Installed This Winter?

Although weather conditions in recent weeks tell us a different story, as we edge closer to winter our climate tends to dry out, to the point that we can be pretty uncomfortable both outside and indoors.

So while you’re preparing for winter by having your heating system maintained and dragging your heavy bedding and blankets down from the attic, don’t forget another very important part of home comfort—your indoor air quality. Continue reading

Can Your HVAC System Help You Fight the Common Cold?

While the weather here may not get as bitterly cold as it does in other parts of the Midwest, that doesn’t mean we don’t get bombarded with the same health issues as the rest of the country during this time of year—that’s right, it is flu and cold season. The good news, there are steps you can take to stop illness, and your HVAC system can help!

That is, with the right indoor air quality product. Indoor air quality devices can handle germs as well as the conditions that help them reproduce. As a result, you’ll have a happier and healthier home this winter and for the years to come. Continue reading

The Advantages of Whole-House High Efficiency Air Filtration

Chances are, when you live somewhere that gets as sweltering hot in the summer as it does here, you use a central air conditioning unit. This provides a lot of relief from outdoor conditions, but can also be helping to negatively impact your indoor air quality. In fact, because houses are built so “tightly” to make our air conditioners more efficient, there often isn’t appropriate ventilation to allow for decent indoor air quality.

The thing is, when you use a whole-house air conditioner, the air blown out of your ducts stirs up pollutants and makes them airborne. You could also be experiencing duct leaks that make this problem even worse, allowing pollutants to negatively impact the ductwork itself. The good news is, there’s an answer to this problem: a whole-house high efficiency air filtration system. Continue reading

The Best Systems for Purifying Your Indoor Air

Health experts state that indoor air quality is often much worse indoors than it is outdoors. This is particularly true during this time of the year. We like to keep our houses sealed up tightly in order to run our AC systems efficiently, but this means that any contaminants in the air are then trapped within your home.

You can help clean up the air in your home by installing an air purification system, but which one is best for your home? Continue reading

The Benefits of Clean Indoor Air

Most homeowners aren’t aware that their indoor air quality can actually be worse than the quality of their outside air. This is particularly true during this time of year, when we are exposed to allergens such as dust, pollen, and even pet dander from shedding pets. The good news is that we offer quality air filtration systems to help reduce the effects of poor indoor air quality. But why is this so important? Continue reading