Install MERV #13+ and activated-carbon filters in your HVAC intakes, and ensure the fan runs even when the heat or a/c doesn't.
You don't need HEPA filters if the air circulates, because what doesn't get caught on one round probably gets caught on the next. Five rounds at 75% is as good as 99.9% once.
Placing tight filtration on the HVAC system can substantially reduce airflow over the coils and/or heat tubes, decreasing efficiency and possibly causing the system to malfunction.
The HVAC system just needs enough filtering to avoid impacting its operation. Any additional air particulate removal should be done separately.
Also a lot of particulate air pollution is generated inside the home. I bought a few sensors, and was quite astonished how loudly they all complained when I, for instance, fried bacon or cleaned the shower with off-the-shelf cleaning chemicals.
Not so big a difference as you might expect: bacon fat particles can be very small, and those that reach your alveolae are quite harmful, cumulatively.
Benzene you breathe enters your bloodstream, for a different sort of harm. You need a carbon filter to remove that from your air.
Comments
Install MERV #13+ and activated-carbon filters in your HVAC intakes, and ensure the fan runs even when the heat or a/c doesn't.
You don't need HEPA filters if the air circulates, because what doesn't get caught on one round probably gets caught on the next. Five rounds at 75% is as good as 99.9% once.
Placing tight filtration on the HVAC system can substantially reduce airflow over the coils and/or heat tubes, decreasing efficiency and possibly causing the system to malfunction.
The HVAC system just needs enough filtering to avoid impacting its operation. Any additional air particulate removal should be done separately.
Also a lot of particulate air pollution is generated inside the home. I bought a few sensors, and was quite astonished how loudly they all complained when I, for instance, fried bacon or cleaned the shower with off-the-shelf cleaning chemicals.
Are these household VOCs actually harmful, though? I get that VOCs from car exhaust or a factory are terrible, but is it true also for cooking bacon?
Some are, sure, but to the point I believe you're considering there's a big difference between benzene and bacon fat.
Not so big a difference as you might expect: bacon fat particles can be very small, and those that reach your alveolae are quite harmful, cumulatively.
Benzene you breathe enters your bloodstream, for a different sort of harm. You need a carbon filter to remove that from your air.