John Maher: Hi, I am John Maher and I’m here today with Dan Zamagni, General Manager of New England Ductless, specializing in residential and commercial ductless heat pumps and air conditioning in Massachusetts. Today our topic is get a cleaner, healthier home with ductless. Welcome, Dan.
Dan Zamagni: Thanks, John. Thanks for having me today. Looking forward to connecting on this topic.
Causes of Dust in a Home
John: Sure. So Dan, what are some of the causes of dust and particles in a home?
Dan: Yeah, John, it’s a great question. I think the biggest thing for dust and dust particles is just, it’s a little bit of everything. It’s skin cells and different things that kind of find their ways to flat surfaces and find buildup over time.
At the end of the day, it’s increasing the issues for respiratory problems, asthma, allergies, and all that. So we’re taking special consideration into indoor air quality as we look at the design for these systems, making sure that we’re understanding the current conditions of the homes while we’re going into it, what the needs are.
If there’s any sort of family members that really have any issues with respiratory problems and their health concerns, we want to make sure we’re listening to that and applying what we have available on the market for products to ensure that they’re having a happier, healthier home and really focusing around indoor air quality as it pertains to the homeowner’s health as well.
How Do Ductless Systems Reduce Dust?
John: So how can a ductless heating and cooling system help to cut down on those dust and allergens in the house?
Dan: Sure. I think one of the biggest things is that people find themselves with older duct systems that have years of dust buildup in them just naturally. If there’s been any sort of construction in the home, that just adds and exacerbates to the problem that exists.
As the air passes over that dust, it does get kind of dispersed throughout and can create problems and issues. People don’t always find themselves paying as close to attention to filter changes, and filter cleanings and replacements as they should.
But there’s so many opportunities in the market to really capture that and rectify those issues. Indoor air quality has become increasingly more popular, especially since the whole COVID outbreak a few years back. It’s something that’s been kind of top of mind for everybody.
With a ductless system, there’s not that air distribution chamber that has the ability to hold the same amount of dust. It’s an individual unit in each room that has its own special unique filter and there’s also these great add-ons that we usually offer to homeowners that really are excited to talk about indoor air quality options.
That they’re killing bacteria and killing all the contaminants that find themselves in the air so that the air that you are breathing after it’s been heated or cooled is the most clean air that can possibly come from one of these units.
Special Filters to Reduce Dust
John: Yeah. So talk a little bit more about that. Are there any sort of special filters that you need in a ductless heating and cooling system to help to cut down on dust and allergens?
Dan: There’s a unique filter for each ductless unit that already comes built into it. It’s one of those things too is its maintenance on these and it requires regular preventative maintenance and cleaning of these and paying special attention to it. It’s a nice and easy way to make sure that you’re staying on top of the system maintenance. It’s a washable filter. It’s very easily obtained, and removed, and cleaned and reinstalled.
It’s a service that we offer on a professional level that we highly recommend that folks are paying attention to the cleaning of their indoor and outdoor systems. A lot of times they’ll install it and they’ll forget about it a bit, and as long as it’s doing its job or so to speak, they kind of leave it alone. There is attention that needs to be paid, especially to how we kind of handle the cleaning of these to make sure that they’re taking care of indoor air quality.
But also its efficiency too. If you have a filter that’s clogged up, it’s reducing the ability to perform its job without reduction in efficiency and then increased energy usage. So it absolutely should be top of line for our homeowners to make sure that we’re cleaning it on a frequent basis. I think every situation is a bit different, but I’d say on a quarterly basis, these filters should be addressed and cleaned and reinstalled and making sure that there’s no buildup.
Consult us as a professional service and consider having us come out there just to make sure that the system’s operating at peak efficiency at all times so that you’re not jeopardizing the life expectancy of your system. Make sure that it kind of runs for years to come and there’s no problems or equipment warranty voiding in the meantime.
How Often Should You Clean Air Filters?
John: So should a homeowner clean their own filters once a quarter and then maybe call you to come out once a year to do this maintenance where they’re cleaning the indoor and the outdoor units? Or what’s the sort of cleaning schedule that you recommend?
Dan: Yeah, we recommend if the homeowner’s fairly handy and wants to get involved in it, it’s fairly easy to kind of take care of it. On a quarterly basis, if they’re taking care of their filters on that frequency level, it makes best sense for themselves for, again, indoor air quality and life expectancy of their system.
But it’s absolutely recommended that on an annual basis, we’re doing a full cleaning of all indoor and outdoor coils because there is more to just filter maintenance with these. There’s very sensitive heat exchangers that they’re basically taking the heating and cooling and allowing the air to blow across it effectively. If it’s got any sort of bacteria buildup or something similar, it’s just kind of a recipe for disaster.
So having these systems addressed at least on an annual basis by a service professional like ourselves or others is something that we absolutely recommend. We kind of talk about that on the initial onset of the installation of the system as well.
Contact New England Ductless to Improve Your Indoor Air Quality
John: All right. Well, that’s really great information, Dan. Thanks again for speaking with me today.
Dan: Absolutely. Thank you, John. Appreciate you having me.
John: And for more information, you can visit the website at newenglandductless.com or call (617) 915-2803.