For those with seasonal allergies, pollen season in Champaign can be especially frustrating. From itchy eyes and runny noses to constant sneezing, living with allergy symptoms inside your home isn’t something you have to keep putting up with. There are various strategies you can implement to reduce the amount of pollen in your home and, in turn, your allergy symptoms. These include using high-efficiency air filters, sealing off air leaks, duct cleaning, and even considering UV air purification.
Why Pollen Season Hits Hard in Champaign
Champaign is particularly susceptible to high concentrations of pollen due to the area’s large amount of trees, farmland, and grasses. Throughout the spring and summer months, all of these release high levels of pollen into the air. During windy conditions, that pollen can spread throughout the community very quickly. Add in the combination of humidity and warmer temperatures, and many allergy sufferers in the area struggle.
How Pollen Gets Into Your Home and Circulates
During seasonal weather changes when pollen season is at its peak, it can easily enter your home through several different ways. Many homeowners know to keep doors and windows closed during peak pollen season. However, if you have any air leaks or other openings around your home, they could unintentionally allow unwanted pollen inside. Being able to identify the sources of pollen infiltration at your home can help you to be more proactive in preventing it from coming in initially.
Air Leaks and Openings Around the Home
On the exterior walls of your home, there are windows, doors, and vents. Over time, the caulking and sealant for these can start to wear away and allow air leaks to open up. Even tiny openings around all of these locations can allow air with high concentrations of pollen to enter your home when the wind blows. Once pollutants get into your home, they can easily settle on your furniture, bedding, carpeting, and flooring.
HVAC Systems Pulling in Outdoor Air
Your HVAC system can contribute to indoor pollen circulation as it naturally moves air throughout your home to cool it. Pollen particles may flow right through your air filter if it’s not specifically designed to catch them. This kicks up pollen into the air that you’re breathing, making your allergy symptoms more frequent.
Pollen Settling in Ductwork and Re-Circulating
Over time, dust and pollen particles can actually settle inside your ductwork. Every time your HVAC system is running, it can kick up those allergens and circulate them throughout your home. This can create an ongoing indoor allergy issue for you and other members of your family. This can be particularly frustrating when you’ve cleaned your entire home and weren’t experiencing allergy symptoms until your HVAC system kicked on.
How High-Efficiency Filters Help Capture Pollen
One of the absolute best ways to capture unwanted pollen in your home is with a high-efficiency AC filter. High-efficiency filters are specifically designed to capture smaller airborne particles, like pollen. For most residential cooling systems, this means purchasing a filter that has a MERV rating between 11 and 13. If you have a newer AC unit, it may be able to accommodate an even higher-rated filter.
It’s always a good idea to check with your HVAC provider or the owner’s manual for your unit to determine the highest-rated filter your system can handle. If you purchase a filter with a MERV rating that’s too high for your system, it will cause massive inefficiency and greatly reduce the lifespan of your air conditioner.
Trapping Fine Particles From Agricultural and Tree Sources
While having the right air filter is important for trapping pollen from Champaign’s surrounding farmland and tree populations, it’s not a single solution on its own. Rather, you need to keep up with routine air filter changes for this to be effective.
We recommend pulling out your air filter at least once a month. You should hold it up to a light and look through it. If you can’t see through the filter any longer, it’s time to replace it with a new one.
Reducing Airborne Allergens During Peak Season
When you first start looking at high-efficiency air filters, you may notice that their price is significantly above that of just standard filters. Ideally, it’s a good idea to run high-efficiency filters throughout the entire year if you can afford it. However, if you want a more cost-effective approach, you can opt for running high-efficiency filters during peak spring and fall seasons when pollen levels are high.
Limitations of Standard vs High-MERV Filters
Standard HVAC fiberglass filters are primarily designed to protect the components inside your HVAC system. They’re not really meant to enhance indoor air quality. Higher-rated filters are meant to provide a combination of protecting your HVAC equipment and boosting your air quality. Consulting one of our HVAC technicians to determine the best filter option for your unique situation can be ideal.
What UV Air Purifiers Actually Do
A really hot topic in the indoor air quality world is UV air purification systems. Unfortunately, many people misunderstand exactly what these systems are and how they work. Understanding their key function and what they can do for your home can help you make a better-informed purchasing decision if one is right for you.
Sanitizing Biological Contaminants on Airborne Particles
UV air purifiers basically have an ultraviolet light that targets biological contaminants. These include things like mold spores, viruses, and bacteria. UV air purification systems are installed near your HVAC coils or directly inside your ducting, depending on the specific style that you get. As the UVC germicidal light shines on these biological contaminants, it disrupts their DNA. This renders them unable to reproduce and causes them to die off.
Supporting Reduction of Mold, Bacteria, and Dust Mite Byproducts
A key benefit of UV systems is that they can control biological growth around your damp HVAC components. By reducing mold spores in your air, you’ll experience fewer allergy symptoms. Combining UV air purifiers with proper filtration and humidity control creates a unified way to enhance your indoor air quality.
Why UV Systems Don’t Physically Remove Pollen
It’s important to know that UV air purifiers only sanitize certain biological contaminants and don’t physically remove pollen from the air. Far too often, homeowners expect UV systems to completely solve their allergy problems. Because they don’t treat pollen particles, they’re not an effective solution on their own to eliminate your indoor allergy symptoms.
Why Duct Cleaning Matters Before Summer
Opting to schedule duct cleaning before springtime allergy season arrives can sometimes help reduce indoor allergen buildup. If your ductwork has a lot of restrictions due to things like pet hair, debris, dust, and pollen accumulation, cleaning it could enhance your indoor air quality by boosting airflow. Duct cleaning tends to be more beneficial after remodeling projects, if you have a pest infestation, smoke damage, or after many years of neglecting your HVAC maintenance.
What These Systems Can and Can’t Do for Allergy Relief
Dealing with indoor allergies requires a multi-pronged approach during Champaign’s peak allergy season. Realize that no one approach on its own will handle all of your allergy symptoms.
Breathe Easier During Champaign’s Peak Allergy Season
Omni Home Comfort offers expert indoor air quality solutions for Champaign and the surrounding communities. We’re your one-stop shop for all of your UV air purification, duct cleaning, and HVAC maintenance needs. Simply contact Omni Home Comfort to get top-quality indoor air quality solutions in Champaign, IL today!
