Healthy Home | AprilAire Partners

Corbett Lunsford from Home Diagnosis On IAQ

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Lunsford’s Advice For Creating A Healthy Home

 

We talked about creating a healthy home and much more with Corbett Lunsford, co-host of the public television series ‘Home Diagnosis,’ which focuses on the science of homes.

 

This article serves a great resource to inform your customer’s on the importance of reducing chemicals in the home. The challenges will be different depending on the age of the home. 

 

While buying an older, existing home presents its own air quality challenges, building a new home provides your customers with a chance to create their own unique space. 

 

Modern building techniques and materials make construction more efficient and less expensive, but some of them can emit pollutants into the air and introduce other potential air quality issues.

 

Lunsford and the zero-VOC home

 

“Every home is a chemical experiment at work,” said Corbett Lunsford. “Think of the home as a planet, with millions of microorganisms, an ecosystem that evolves as more things are added to it. Try to avoid bringing reactive things into the house and things that will “off-gas” over the long-term, like insulation or materials with flame retardants.” 

 

Lunsford reminds us that despite your customer’s best efforts, it is impossible to have a zero-VOC home. 

 

“We’re always bringing chemicals and VOCs into the house with everyday activities like cooking and cleaning and breathing.”

 

Using the AprilAire Healthy Air System™ helps keep those VOCs that Lunsford mentioned from accumulating in the customer’s homes. This multi-prong approach helps reduce the proliferation of VOCs, airborne viruses, odors, and other pollutants that can wreak havoc on a home’s indoor air quality. This approach uses humidity control, air filtration, and fresh air ventilation to address the multitude of problems faced by homeowners. 

 

Lunsford details all of the important steps homeowners can take, with your help, to keep their home’s ecosystem balanced. We detail the ways that AprilAire can address those concerns presented by homeowners in both new and older homes. 

 

‘You Should Have A Dehumidifier’

 

  • “You should have a dehumidifier, even if you have a humidifier for the winter. What you want to do is control the humidity so you don’t grow mold.”

 

Controlling humidity is a crucial component for controlling indoor air quality. ASHRAE recommends keeping a home’s humidity between 30-60 percent to the proliferation of a majority of issues like airborne viruses, pests, and mold. AprilAire Humidifiers and Dehumidifiers feature an easy display panel to keep your  customer’s home comfortable. A humidifier and dehumidifier will also help protect important furnishings in the home from warping and rotting. This is especially key for older homes. 

 

Lunsford says Ventilation is Key

 

  • “If you have an outdoor air system that works, then things like chemicals and humidity won’t be as big of an issue.”

 

With newer homes, ventilation is key. Newer built homes are built tighter which is great for energy-efficiency, but the home traps in moisture and chemicals. An AprilAire Ventilation system works to remove that moisture and chemical-filled air and replace it with fresh air from the outside. Our ventilation system filters and humidifies the outdoor air that it brings in too. 

 

Lunsford’s Healthy Home Advice for Kids

 

Keeping the air healthy is especially important for kids’ developing lungs. 

 

“If you’re seeking healthier indoor air, especially for developing kids, you need a MERV 13 filter,” Lunsford said. 

 

Constant exposure to air pollution can cause respiratory issues like asthma. 

 

“Carpets hold onto a lot of particles. Children spend the most time next to that flooring that may have harmful chemicals in it,” according to Lunsford.

 

Lunsford recommends using an air purifier to filter out those harmful particulates and replace those particulates with healthy air. Those particulates include asthma and allergy triggers, radon, and odors. 

 

While Lunsford recommends a MERV 13 Filter, AprilAire offers a MERV 16 Filter which can be paired with several of our air purifiers to filter out those harmful particulates even better. Our Model 5000 Air purifier paired with our MERV 16 Air Filter offers superior protection to your customer’s HVAC system and filters out 98% of airborne particulates that trigger asthma. 

 

As Lunsford said, a home’s ecosystem is a balance. Provide resources below to your customers and let them know that AprilAire has a multitude of products to help combat indoor air quality regardless of whether it’s a new home or an existing home. 

 

Corbett Lunsford’s Recommended Resources

The HOMEChem Experiment

A deep exploration into how indoor air chemical compounds interact and transform throughout a normal day of activities.

Six Classes Approach

Information on household chemicals.

Toxic Chemicals and Home Performance

Biophysical chemist Arlene Blum talks with Corbett Lunsford and Grace (hosts of Home Diagnosis) to talk about the “Six Classes” of harmful chemicals.

Home Performance YouTube Channel

Over 500 educational videos on the science of homes.

Healthy Fresh Air | Healthy Clean Air

The Growing Need for HVAC Solutions in the Face of Allergy Season

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As an HVAC contractor, you’re no stranger to the challenges posed by seasonal allergies for your homeowners. However, what you may not realize is that the worsening allergy season is not just a personal inconvenience but a symptom of a larger issue—climate change.

 

With temperatures rising consistently year after year, pollen seasons are becoming longer and more intense. Recent studies indicate a significant shift in the duration and intensity of allergy seasons, with pollen counts soaring to record levels.

 

Amidst these changing environmental conditions, homeowners are seeking relief. As an HVAC contractor, you can offer solutions beyond conventional symptom management. By providing tailored HVAC systems and services, you can help homeowners adapt their indoor environment to minimize the impact of allergens.

 

Addressing the Root Cause

While medications offer temporary relief, they fail to address the underlying issue of Indoor Air Quality. You can implement solutions that tackle the root cause of allergies—poor IAQ.

 

Temporary allergy relief is neither sustainable nor cost-effective for homeowners – spending up to $16,000 on treatments in their lifetime, there’s a clear need to shift focus toward addressing the root cause. By advocating for proactive solutions like Healthy Air, homeowners can invest in long-term relief from allergy symptoms while ensuring the health and productivity of everyone in the home, all while avoiding the financial strain of continuous temporary treatment.

 

Ready to Deliver Healthy Air?

What key steps can you take to reduce seasonal allergy symptoms for homeowners and protect them from the dangers of poor Indoor Air Quality? Discover our top Healthy Air solutions:

 

AprilAire Whole-House Fresh Air Ventilation

Indoor air is often five times more polluted than the air outside. With an AprilAire Whole-House Fresh Air Ventilation System, airborne contaminants in the home can be diluted as it brings fresh air into the home.

 

AprilAire Whole-House Air Purification

Designed to trap and eliminate common airborne pollutants, like pollen and dust, an AprilAire Whole-House Air Purifier protects the home while extending the life of their current HVAC system.

 

AprilAire MERV 16 Air Filters

Install the gold standard of air filters! AprilAire MERV 16 Air Filters clear the air by capturing up to 99%* of allergy and asthma triggers.

 

AprilAire is Healthy Air

As HVAC contractors, you’re on the front lines of ensuring our homes are havens of clean air. With longer and stronger allergy seasons predicted, the American Lung Association emphasizes that climate change is a significant health emergency. Not only are allergy seasons getting worse, but wildfires and flooding are making it even more difficult to maintain clean air indoors.

 

Despite these challenges, you can help homeowners take crucial steps to protect their homes, families, and budgets. AprilAire whole-house Healthy Air solutions not only enhance Indoor Air Quality but also offer these transformative benefits:

 

  • Better sleep
  • Reduced illness
  • Alleviated allergies
  • Increased home value
  • Improved energy efficiency

 

Contact your local AprilAire distributor to order AprilAire Healthy Air solutions. Need help locating your AprilAire distributor? Visit our distributor locator.

 

*Contaminants removed based on air passing through the filtering system.

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AprilAire, the Leader in Healthy Air Solutions, Reduces by 66% Environmental Impact of Dehumidifiers

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MADISON, Wis. (March 25, 2024) – AprilAire, the leader in whole-house Healthy Air solutions, announces it is once again advancing its Dehumidifier lineup to be more intuitive, easy to connect, simple to use and maintain, and environmentally friendly.

 

Customers fuel the AprilAire passion to continually raise the bar. In 2024, AprilAire is excited to phase in the following new features and benefits to its market-leading Dehumidifier product offering:

 

First, and most significantly, AprilAire is upgrading the refrigerant in its Dehumidifiers to reduce by 66% the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of all the models in its lineup. The transition to R32 is underway and projected to wrap up across the full product line by year-end.

 

Look for this seal on AprilAire Dehumidifier packaging to indicate the product is more environmentally friendly and contains the refrigerant R32.

 

 

In addition, AprilAire continues to make its Dehumidifiers easier to use and maintain by eliminating the On/Off switch in non-hardwired models, as well as introducing a new, tool-less filter door in the E080 and E100 models.

 

“Customers will continue to experience the same superior product performance and reliability they have come to expect from AprilAire Dehumidifiers. By providing a more environmentally friendly product, we strengthen our brand leverage in the whole-home category and retain our position as the leader in delivering best-in-class Healthy Air solutions to dehumidify homes,” said Katie Zagorski, AprilAire Senior Product Manager, Dehumidification.

 

About AprilAire

 

AprilAire is on a mission to make homes healthy. We believe everyone deserves Healthy Air and envision a future with Healthy Air in every home. Headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin since 1954, AprilAire has been creating and delivering Healthy Air solutions to manage air purity, humidity, fresh air supply, temperature, and mitigate radon and viruses in all types of homes, and all environments. We have an unparalleled reputation as the brand of choice among tens of thousands of professional contractors and make a Healthy Air difference in the lives of the millions of families who rely on our products every day. To learn how to turn a house into a Healthy Home with the AprilAire Healthy Air System® visit www.aprilaire.com.

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An Update on Indoor Air Quality from the Project Sustainability Podcast

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As a contractor, you know that Indoor Air Quality is a hot topic these days. With more and more people spending time indoors, it is becoming increasingly important to ensure that the air inside homes and businesses for your customers is as clean as possible. The Project Sustainability Podcast is here to help.

 

Hosted by a team of experts in sustainability and environmentalism, the Project Sustainability Podcast aims to educate and entertain listeners about a wide range of topics related to the environment. Their episode, “An Update on Indoor Air Quality,” features AprilAire Senior Training and Development Manager of AprilAire Academy Chris Howells participating in a discussion on the many factors that can affect the air quality inside our homes and buildings.

 

From volatile organic compounds to particulate matter to the impact of the air in the home on your customers’ pets, Chris and Project Sustainability’s Peggy Smedley cover a broad range of information and provide an engaging, enjoyable conversation on environmental issues and Indoor Air Quality.

 

This episode offers valuable insights into how you can continue to improve the air quality in your customers’ homes as well as practical tips for choosing the right air cleaner for different spaces and advice on how to improve ventilation and humidity control. Chris also emphasizes the importance of taking a holistic approach to Indoor Air Quality—there is no one-size-fits-all solution, and a combination of different strategies may be needed depending on the specific circumstances of the home and its location. For contractors, this is an important reminder that improving Indoor Air Quality requires a nuanced understanding of the unique needs of each client.

 

Tune in for a resource to stay informed on the latest trends and best practices in Indoor Air Quality plus the impact on the HVAC industry. If you are looking to stay ahead of the curve and provide the best possible service to your clients, give the Project Sustainability Podcast a listen today.