Contents

1. Why is filtration so important?
2. Who's at risk?
3. Household Pollutants?
4. A word about dust and airborne particles!
5. What to do?
6. What are my filtration options?
7. Maintenance - Just clean it!
8. Be cautious of disposable filters!

1. Why Filtration is So Important?

While we can't do much about the pollution outside, but we can do something about the pollution inside, where we spend 90% of our time. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), indoor pollution levels can be 2 to 5 times more polluted than outdoor air.

In fact, according to a recent CMHC study, 1 in 4 Canadian households has someone with allergies or a breathing problem. Health problems such as asthma, allergies, and recurring respiratory ailments are becoming commonplace.

Ironically, in an effort to seal our homes more tightly in order to reduce energy consumption, we lock in and recirculate pollen, mold, fungi, bacteria, viruses, dust and mites. We even add to the problem by contributing tobacco, wood or cooking smoke, pet dander, insecticides, toxins emitted from air fresheners, carpets, glues, household cleaners, paints, varnishes, press board furniture and lots more.

Without a properly installed and maintained ventilation and filtration system, these pollutants are not exhausted from the house.

These airborne contaminants adversely affect our health, comfort and productivity, as they lodge themselves in our mucous membranes and our lungs. Their symptoms can be short or long-ranging, from itchy eyes, sneezing, runny nose, headache, fatigue, tightness of chest, shortness of breath, epidemics of colds or flu, and may even lead to allergy, asthma and respiratory illness.

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2. Who's At Risk?

The people most vulnerable to indoor pollutants are those whose natural defenses are weak or compromised, especially if they spend a lot of time in the home. They include:

• Infants and young children
• Elderly people
• Pregnant women
• People with respiratory ailments such as asthma
• People with medical disorders or chronic illness
• People with allergies
• Smokers
• People with nutritional deficiencies
• People who are heavy users of drugs and alcohol

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3. Household Pollutants

Household pollution is a health concern because of its cumulative effect. The average household contains gases and particles from several different sources. While researchers may know what effect a certain chemical might have, less is known about the effects of different chemicals in combination with others, or the effects of long-term exposure.

There are more than 60,000 commercial chemicals in use today that were unknown 40 years ago, and many of them end up in our houses. Chemicals are found in soaps and cleaners, and in the composite and synthetic materials commonly used in some furnishings and building materials.

More than likely, we all have a room or cabinet filled with paints, solvents, clearners, glues, and other household products containing a variety of chemicals. And there may be pollutants in our homes that we may not even suspect.

These include:

• Formaldehyde Gas
• Combustions Gases
• VOC's (Volatile Organic Compounds)
• Molds
• Excess Moisture
• Dust & Airborne Particles
• Cigarette Smoke
• Radon
• Soil Gases

And particularly for older homes:

• Asbestos
• Lead

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4. A Word About Dust and Airborne Particles

Common household dust can include microscopic particles from fabrics, soil, plants, insulation, human and animal dander, food, dirt, paint, plastic, soot, and cigarette smoke. Also included are plant pollen and spores from molds and yeast.

The particles themselves can carry harmful chemicals, as well as dust mites. Many of these things are biological allergens that can cause reactions ranging from sneezing and running eyes to palpitations, internal pains, and loss of muscle control in some people.

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5. What To Do?

What you need to do, of course, depends on a number of things including examining your living and cleaning habits in the home, and more specifically, the home itself. Many houses, especially those built in the last 20 years, need a mechanical ventilation system to provide adequate fresh air. If your house is older however, you may have a problem with emissions from your old furnace or hot water tank, or molds growing in the basement or wall cavities.

Generally, there are three main strategies for dealing with a health problem in a house:

ELIMINATE

The first and best way to deal with a contaminant or source of contaminants is to eliminate it.

SEPARATE

If you can't get rid of it, the next best thing is to separate it from the rest of the house.

VENTILATE

Whatever irritants remain in the house will affect you less if they are exhausted to the outside instead of being allowed to build up, and if they are diluted by a constant supply of fresh outside air.

For really effective air exchange, you need a balanced ventilation system that brings in fresh air from outside to offset the amount of air you're venting. This also avoids creating negative indoor air pressure and problems like backdrafting and combustion spillage. The ideal solution is an HRV (Heat Recovery Ventilator).

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6. What Are My Filtration Options?

One problem associated with forced-air heating and ventilation systems is the load of dust, mold spores, and other irritants often carried in the air circulating around your house. Using filters can reduce this load.

Most filters on forced-air heating systems are designed to remove only the larger particles from your household air. They are designed to protect the furnace, not your health! However, you can cut down the number of particles in the air by installing a more effective filter in your air distribution system. There are medium-efficiency cotton or synthetic filters, electronic filters that use a high-voltage screen to polarize dust particles and electrostatic filters that extract dust particles by ionizing them or giving them an electric charge.

For an even bigger improvement, there are also high-efficiency air cleaners that use several filters, or a complex air flow system, to remove a high percentage of particles. The most effective is the high-efficiency particulate arresting (HEPA) filter, which can remove 99.9 per cent of the dust from the air. And there are filters that use activated charcoal or a combination of chemicals to take some of the chemical pollutants out of the air (regular air filters are incapable of capturing chemical vapours).

If you have a forced-air heating system, you may be able to replace your old filter with a thicker, medium-efficiency filter without doing any real modifications. However, many of these filters and systems are installed by cutting a slot in the duct system at or near the furnace. A professional installer must do this. Fresh air intakes should also include a filter to prevent more dust, pollen, insects and other out door contaminates from coming into the house.

Higher-efficiency filters can be worthwhile, but they often put extra demands on your forced-air system. They can slow down the air flow, in some cases enough to make your furnace overheat. This problem makes it difficult to use HEPA filter in home heating systems. To counter this, your installer may have to modify your system; in some cases the furnace's air flow can be increased. Even with these modifications, higher-efficiency filters must be cleaned regularly to avoid problems. Electronic air cleaners can produce ozone if they are not cleaned regularly.

Using a more efficient air filter can add very little to your costs if your heating system is configured so it can be installed easily. The more complicated, high-efficiency systems involve a significant cost and require professional installation. However, if you have health concerns in your household or the indoor air quality is affecting your well being this is the only effective solution. You can't put a price tag on your health!

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7. Maintenance - Just Clean It!

As you've just read, all high performance filters require regular maintenance. Typically:

• Electrostatic Filters require monthly washing
• Electronic Air Cleaner cells (EAC's) require monthly washing
• Media Cartridges (4-6" wide type) require media replacement seasonally
• HEPA Filters require media replacement according to the manufacturer's schedule
• UV Light systems require bulb replacement

If you make the decision to invest in high efficiency filtration, we believe you've made a smart decision. But do your family and your furnace a favour...Don't bother throwing your money away if you're too lazy to maintain it regularly!

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8. Be Cautious of Disposable Filters

It is our opinion that disposable filters are little more than a band aid solution. As mentioned earlier, they are designed to protect your equipment, and not the health of the occupants inside the home. And frankly, for the most part, they don't do a very good job of protecting your equipment either.

Most manufacturers recommend that their disposable filters should be changed every four to six weeks, when your furnace is operating, or if conditions exist in your geographic region require regular inspection of the filter. Needless to say, this is an attractive business from the perspective of selling consumable items.

It is our goal here at Cool Estate to educate all visitors as to what is really in their best interests. We're not suggesting for a minute that every household install an expensive HEPA filtration system. Not at all. We're simply making an ethical stand; one that we believe serves consumers' interests ahead of all others.

We believe the best value lies in selecting a filtration system that effectively satisfies both needs:

Like the commercial says, "Save your money..."

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