Do Pets Affect Your HVAC Performance?

May 20, 2022

Curious whether your pets do indeed affect your HVAC system’s ability to perform? There are a few ways your furry pals can influence your system, including their shedding of hair and dander and the tracking in of outside dirt and debris. Our pets are, without a doubt, furry family members, and our staff at New Albany Heating & Cooling wants to inform you on how to maintain your pets’ welfare while simultaneously sustaining an efficiently operating HVAC system.

Why is it Important to Change/Clean Your Air Filter with Pets Living in the Home?

Air filters catch unwelcome air particles from gaining access to your ventilation, heating, and cooling unit. We classify air filters by their power to catch tainted air particles. Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, or MERV, is a measurement scale conveying this ability. The lower the MERV, the more inexpensive the filter. Still, we encourage pet owners to invest in a filter with the MERV rating of at least 9-12 because anything less cannot catch and contain allergens such as pet dander. Even with a high-ranking air filter, maintaining a clean filter is essential for conserving healthy and desirable indoor air quality.

What Are the Perks of Media and HEPA Filters?

If you have pets in your home, we urge you to invest in indoor air quality products such as media and Hepa filters. Unless you are employed in the HVAC field, you may have never knowingly encountered these devices, so let me speak more about them. Media filters halt the dust, dirt, and other particles within the air from slipping through your home’s HVAC system. Media filters are loved for being low maintenance, simply needing to be replaced once or twice a year. Their surface area is excellent for filtering and trapping pollutants efficiently. But, HEPA filters produce the highest safeguard for your animal-adoring home! By eradicating at least 99.97% of airborne allergens and pollutants, HEPA filters respectfully earn a MERV rating of approximately 16! Their grand structure is impressive for catching more substantial contaminants like pet dander. They only need to be swapped out every few years, making this filter an even more effective investment!

How Does Keeping Up With the Grooming of Pets Influence Your HVAC System’s Efficiency?

Keeping your beloved pets well-groomed will help preserve your HVAC system considerably. Both long-haired and short-haired critters often experience frequent shedding of fur and dander. To avoid any build-up of unwanted hair from laying around the home, keep your pets’ coats well-groomed. Holding up these standards is essential for you, your family, and your fur babies’ health. Shiny, healthy coats shed a lot less compared to ignored coats. Pet dander and foul aromas can fill your ducts, obstruct your system, and begin to reek within your home if not kept clean. Consequently, the integrity of the air that you breathe every day will diminish, setting you up for the development of irritating allergies. So while you may not be able to be entirely free of all shedding and dander, being persistent and proactive with your animals’ grooming will help decrease it and keep your loved ones happy and healthy!

No matter what filter you choose to establish within your home, it would be best if you did what you could to protect against excess pet shedding and dander within your home. You and your family’s health are at risk! It is consistently a good course of action to first consult with an HVAC professional before making any purchases to guarantee you get the devices most prosperous to you physically and financially! We are pleased to continue this discussion and give our honest opinion to help you and your pets live comfortably! Call New Albany Heating & Cooling today at (614) 636-5002, or schedule an appointment online now by clicking here!