Your Health & Comfort Matter Most

We’re living in uniquely challenging times and we know you’re doing all you can to care for yourself and your family during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As an essential business, Summit Air Conditioning is ready to assist homeowners like you across the Brookfield area. If you find yourself needing immediate repairs, give us a call. We’re doing all we can to keep our neighbors comfortable and safe while continuing to perform these important services.

As you and your family continue to practice social distancing, your home comfort has never mattered more. As we are all spending more time indoors, the air quality, and not just the temperature, can make a difference in how you feel. Read up on simple steps you can take today to take care of your air.

1. Keep The Air Circulating in Your Home – It’s important to keep the air circulating through your home so your family is breathing fresh, clean air. To do this, turn on the circulate feature on your thermostat to keep the air moving through your filtration system. This keeps air flowing through the filter and getting cleaned more often.

If you have a smart thermostat, check your settings or owner’s guide to see how you can adjust your fan mode for continuous circulation.

2. Replace or Upgrade Your Filter – You should already change your filters on a seasonal basis to reduce the amount of dust and allergens in your air, but now is a good time to make sure your filter is clean and if not, consider an upgrade to a higher-efficiency filter. When looking at air filters, you should look at the MERV rating, or Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value. This measures how successfully it filters pollutants. The higher the MERV rating, the higher the percentage of small-sized particles that are trapped by the filter. It is these fine-sized particles (smaller than 2.5 microns) that pass through our nose unfiltered and are known to possibly cause respiratory issues.

Flat-panel fiberglass filters, or washable filters, are the most basic and economic filters, and they typically rank between 1 and 4 on the MERV register. The primary role of these filters is to protect the HVAC equipment. Pleated media filters are better and are rated between 5 and 16. We advise buying no less than a MERV 13 if the system allows for it. Keep in mind that many of the filters available in the market are very restrictive to airflow at higher efficiencies, so look for a high-efficiency media filter designed to deliver strong airflow while still capturing MERV 13 or MERV 16 levels of fine particles.

A quick note: high-efficiency MERV 16 filters often contain a glass backing and should not be used to construct a mask, respirator, or any application other than HVAC filtration.

High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters are regarded as the gold standard in air filtration, because they’re usually in use at hospitals. They’re effective at trapping 99.97–99.99% of indoor pollutants, including pollen, pet dander and smoke.

3. Get Your Best Night’s Sleep - There’s a direct correlation between your body’s temperature and sleep cycle. Research suggests that the ideal condition for sleep sits somewhere between 60 and 67 degrees. If that seems on the cool side, there’s a reason: your core body temperature drops to a lower level during sleep. An overly warm temperature interferes with your brain’s messages that it’s time to get some shut-eye.

4. Adjust Your Temperature for Your Fitness Routine – As you’re practicing social distancing, you’re likely adjusting a majority of your routines, including how and where you exercise. Practicing traditional yoga calls for a temperature between 70 and 76 degrees, but you might want to raise or lower your thermostat by a few degrees depending on your personal preference.

You also want to keep in mind your home’s humidity, airborne pollutants and even a general perception of how the air “feels.” A good HVAC system integrated with the right indoor air quality solutions lets you control all of these factors so that your workout leaves you feeling great inside and out.

5. Call the Professionals – Whether you have questions about upgrading your filter, scheduling seasonal maintenance, or repairing your system, a qualified HVAC technician can point you in the right direction. Before you try to correct a system error or make a purchase on your own, get an expert’s opinion first.

Here in North Texas, our hot, humid summers make indoor air quality even more of a factor, especially during the months when you’re running the AC nonstop. We’ve been helping families in the Brookfield area breathe easier since 2005. If you’re concerned about the air quality in your home, call Summit Air Conditioning at (555) 123-4567 and we’ll walk you through your options.

*Based on in-duct testing that shows high-efficiency media filters reduce airflow restriction. Greater restriction of airflow creates a greater load on a unit’s fan motor, increasing energy consumption.