It’s that time of year: Southwest Florida’s hot, sticky summertime means we spend the bulk of our days inside. Whether you’re at home or in an office, indoor air quality matters most this time of year. You’re going to be spending much of the next few months smelling and breathing air that’s been processed by and circulated through an air conditioning system. What kind of air will you be surrounded by?

Here’s how your AC unit affects your summertime air quality.

Filtration

First and foremost, you don’t want particulates floating around in your air. That means ensuring that you have a clean, effective filter in your AC unit. The best AC filters can remove the bulk of the dust and dirt from your air without hindering air flow.

When your filter gets too dirty, two things happen: 1) Your AC unit has to work harder to push the air through the filter, making it much less efficient. 2) Your filter stops being able to catch particles, and the ones it’s already trapped can come loose and enter your breathing space.

Decontamination

Some floating contaminants are too small to be trapped by filters. These tiny particles include viruses and bacteria. If they’re not eliminated, you either breathe them in yourself, or they can land on surfaces that you might come into contact with.

This is where decontamination systems, including UV lamps, come in. These systems take advantage of your air circulation to neutralize the viruses and bacteria as they pass through your AC system. That way you’re not spending your summertime immersed in air that can make you sick.

AC Unit Functionality

In some cases, your AC unit itself can be the source of poor air quality. Neglected AC systems can introduce mold and mildew, or sometimes even chemicals, into your air.

A clean, efficiently running AC system should be able to circulate your air without adding anything to it.

Clean Ducts

Properly filtered and decontaminated air is only as fresh as the ducts it flows through. Over the years, your ductwork will accumulate loads of dust. You might also have mold, mildew and even debris from insects or pests lurking in your air ducts.

As your AC unit pushes the air throughout your home or office, it’s stirring all of this stuff up, too. Obviously, you don’t want to spend the summer having all of this junk floating around you.

A full ductwork cleaning service can remove all of this detritus in one fell swoop. Your air will immediately be cleaner, fresher, and better to breathe.

Ultimately, with a properly cleaned and serviced AC system, the air you breathe this summer should be at least as fresh as the outdoors—if not more so. Call Air America today to up your indoor air quality today: 941-779-2445