Fall weather is perfect for enjoying outdoor activities like apple picking and hay rides. Unfortunately, the season also brings plenty of allergens to irritate the systems of millions of people per year. The condition of your home HVAC system plays a large role in the allergy season symptoms you experience when you retreat into the sanctuary of your home. Routine maintenance throughout autumn can help you manage your allergy season symptoms like runny noses and itchy eyes.
Fall Allergies
Much like the spring, the fall brings an abundance of seasonal blooms releasing pollen into the air. The last of the year’s grass pollen mixes with ragweed, one of the single biggest causes of fall allergy symptoms. Even mold spores get involved until the coldest winter temperatures finally wipe them out. Your immune system is also under greater stress as temperatures drop, aggravating your response to allergens and leaving you feeling fatigued.
How Your HVAC System May be Partly to Blame
Central heating and air systems can do a lot to support your other ragweed allergy treatment efforts because of the sheer volume of air they move. However, this means that dusty and dirty ducts also have the potential to exacerbate your symptoms. HVAC systems can trigger allergies due to:
- Mold growth inside of ducts without insulation, which results in moisture accumulation during cold weather
- Clogged and dirty air filters that add dust to the air supply rather than removing it
- Recirculation of indoor pollutants like cigarette smoke, soot, and pet dander
- Cracked and broken ducts that are sucking dusty air in from an attic or basement space
- Lack of ventilation, improper fresh air register placements, or a lack of humidifier during dry winter weather.
What You Can Do
You have many options for cleaning and optimizing your HVAC system so it minimizes your fall allergy symptoms.
- Replace all of the air filters, preferably with HEPA filters that capture up to 99% of all common household allergens
- Clean the ducts, or at the very least inspect them for dust and mold
- Buy a humidifier or add a whole-house humidification unit to balance out the drying effect of your heating equipment, which worsens allergy symptoms
- Clean the fans and blowers on your heating equipment
- Install high efficiency air cleaners that integrate into your existing HVAC system, which are much more effective than any freestanding unit.
Working with an HVAC specialist can also help you pinpoint specific fall allergens and how they’re entering your home. Discuss your HVAC system with our specialists here.
Ready to upgrade your HVAC system for more control over your fall allergy symptoms? Let us help by installing at least one of the following helpful projects to improve your indoor air quality all year round.
ComfortNet™ CTK04 – Temperature Control Thermostat
Our advanced control thermostat puts you in charge of the exact humidity level of your home.
Add air moisture in the fall and winter for fewer allergy symptoms, then keep the air dry in the summer to feel cooler regardless of the temperature.
HE Line of Evaporative Humidifiers
Regardless of the square footage of your home, we have an efficient evaporative humidifier to match.
Don’t let dry winter air cause sinus pain or sniffles. Restore the normal balance of humidity to your indoor air with one of our HE12A to HE18FM humidifiers.
AMHP-320-D Duct Mounted HEPA Air Cleaner
Go one step beyond the usual media air cleaner with this HEPA unit.
As a duct-mounted air cleaner, the AMHP-320-D cleans the air traveling through your ducts of all particles 0.3 microns or larger. Enjoy fewer allergy symptoms as pollen and pet dander becomes trapped in this unit instead.
With all of these tricks for improving indoor air quality in the fall, many homeowners have successfully improved their HVAC system performance in time for winter. Many scientific studies have shown surprising improvements in children with severe asthma with just the use of more efficient air filters alone. Imagine how much you can reduce your fall allergy symptoms just by making a few simple improvements to the heating and cooling equipment in your home.
