Enhanced comfort and energy savings is just a thermostat away.
What is the single easiest way to get higher performance from your existing HVAC system while lowering your home’s overall energy costs? Simply install an Aprilaire Programmable Thermostat. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a programmable thermostat can save you up to 30% on energy costs annually.
But if you’re interested in getting the very best in temperature control for every room in your home, the Aprilaire Zoned Comfort Control system is your answer. Instead of using just one thermostat for your entire home, the Aprilaire Zoned Comfort Control system uses multiple thermostats to ensure optimum temperature levels and total comfort in every room of your home.
Problems
- As you move from room to room in your home, you notice that certain areas are always too cold or too hot.
- Bedrooms on the second floor may be too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter.
- A finished basement room is too cold in the spring and fall.
- Heat from the sun is making one area or side of your home uncomfortably warmer than in other areas.
- The bedroom above the garage is always too hot or too cold.
What You Can Do to Treat the Symptoms
- Run your heating or cooling system blower fan constantly to reduce hot or cold spots.
- Use ceiling fans to help increase circulation (with blades moving air downward in winter, upward in summer).
- Keep heating and cooling system vents unobstructed by furniture or decorations.
- Have your heating and cooling system inspected periodically to ensure your system is working at optimum
Keeping your home’s humidity levels in check can significantly improve the healthfulness and comfort of your home.
When it comes to feeling comfortable in your home, the old saying “it’s not the heat (or cold) – it’s the humidity” rings true. Other than ambient temperature, nothing affects a body’s perception of comfort more than the humidity level. And there’s a fairly narrow range between what is considered “too much” and “too little” of it.
Industry experts state that keeping your home’s humidity between 30-60% can help reduce the effects of many unwanted conditions. Excess humidity or too little humidity can not only lead to an unhealthy home but also cause permanent damage to your home and belongings.
Too Little Humidity
- You experience chronic physical symptoms such as sore throats, dry/itchy skin, nose bleeds or sinus irritation.
- Your home’s wood floors are shrinking and cracking. Joints in wood furniture are becoming loose or failing.
- Wallpaper is peeling, while your paint or plaster is starting to crack.
- Annoying and sometimes painful static shocks are common occurrences.
- Your thermostat is cranked up, as is your energy bill, but you still feel cold.
- Your piano and other musical instruments are falling out of tune.
Too Much Humidity
- Your skin often feels clammy, sweaty or sticky.
- Musty-smelling odors are invading your living space.
- Wood floors, trim or wood furniture is warping or rotting, paint is peeling.
- Condensation, frost or ice have formed on the inside surface of your windows. Water pipes are “sweating”.
- Damp spots, or worse, mold and mildew, have formed on ceilings or walls.
- Your allergies or asthma have gotten worse due to the growth of mold, mildew and dust mites.
- Your house is a breeding ground for termites, cockroaches and other pests.
What You Can Do to Treat the Symptoms
- Use ventilation fans in kitchens and bathrooms when in use. Ensure that your fans are venting directly outside.
- Cover dirt floor crawlspaces under your house with plastic to act as a vapor barrier.
- Check to make sure your dryer is vented to the outside. Don’t dry wet clothes on drying racks in the house. Air-dry them outdoors if possible.
- Ensure air conditioning drip pans are clean and drain lines unobstructed.
- Fix any water leaks in pipes, toilets, showers, etc.
Make your home “a healthy breath of fresh air” every day of the year.
According to the EPA, concentrations of toxic pollutants can be up to one hundred times greater inside a home than outside, even in our smoggiest cities. Poor ventilation in the home can lead to stuffy air and a build-up of unpleasant odors, irritating pollutants and potentially harmful gasses such as radon or carbon monoxide. As homes are built tighter with better windows, more insulation and higher-efficiency heating and cooling systems, the need for adequate ventilation becomes even more important
Problems
- Odors – emitted from litter boxes, trash cans, dirty hampers, cooking, smoking, paints and solvents.
- Gases and vapors – emitted from new carpeting, building materials, cleaning supplies, candles, pesticides, personal care products, glues and adhesives.
- Stale and stuffy air – a result of today’s energy efficient “tight” building techniques.
What You Can Do to Treat the Symptoms
- Store volatile chemicals and cleaning products outside the home.
- Keep litter boxes away from heating and cooling system vents.
- Change your furnace filter according to manufacturer’s recommendations.
- Have your fireplace and/or wood stove periodically cleaned and inspected.
- Clean dryer vents on a regular basis.
- Open windows and doors, as weather permits, to replace indoor air with fresher, outdoor air.
- Before new carpeting is installed, ask your retailer to unroll and air out the carpet in a well-ventilated area. Open windows while carpet is being installed.
- Utilize exhaust fans in bathrooms and ventilation hoods above stove tops.
- Ventilate crawl spaces, attics, hobby and work spaces.
Removing pollutants and allergens in your home’s air can do wonders for your health, and the quality of your life.
Did you know the air inside your home could be up to 100 times more polluted than the air outside? It’s true. The air we breathe in our homes is loaded with pollutants like pollen, lung-damaging dust, pet hair, dander, dust mites, mold spores, bacteria and viruses. No wonder the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lists indoor air quality as one of the top five environmental risks to public health today. And if you think your standard 1″ throwaway furnace filter is doing the job, you couldn’t be more wrong – typical 1″ filters only trap about 5-15% of airborne particulates.
With homes being built and remodeled more insulated and tighter than ever – homes are becoming virtually draft-free. And while these changes are making homes more energy efficient, they are also creating a number of filtration problems. Particulates and pollutants become trapped and eventually build up inside your home, settling on countertops, floors and other surfaces. And with a standard throwaway furnace filter, only a small percentage of airborne pollutants are captured, with the majority of pollutants and particles being carried and re-circulated throughout your house via your air ducts and vents.
Problems
- Airborne pollutants – dust, dust mites, pet hair, dander, pollen, particulates from clothing and furniture.
- Biological contaminants – bacteria, viruses, mold spores, mildew.
- Odors and vapors – tobacco smoke, cooking grease
What You Can Do to Treat the Symptoms
- Open windows when weather and other conditions permit.
- Bathe pets regularly and keep pet beds and litter boxes away from vents.
- Change your furnace filter according to manufacturer’s recommendations.
- Run your heating and cooling system blower when vacuuming and dusting to circulate polluted air through your furnace filter.
- Keep relative humidity between 30 and 60 percent.
- Make sure kitchen, bathroom and other exhaust fans vent to the outside.
Aprilaire makes sure your home’s air is as clean, healthy and comfortable as it can be.
With all the maintenance there is to do around your house it’s easy to lose focus on the state of your home’s air. Your indoor air quality is also probably one of the last things you think about, if you think about it at all, when you’re building or remodeling your home. But in reality, few things are more important when it comes to your family’s health and comfort then your home’s air, especially considering that’s where most of us spend at least a third of our day.
Easily installed in new or existing heating and cooling systems, Aprilaire whole-house solutions work invisibly, silently and automatically to treat the air in your entire home.
Enhance your Comfort Your home’s temperature isn’t the only thing that can affect your comfort:
- Too little humidity can cause uncomfortable and even painful static shocks, sore throats and dry skin while too much humidity can make you feel sticky, and your air stuffy – robbing you of a good night’s sleep.
- Musty smells and lingering odors due to the lack of proper home ventilation can also affect you and your family’s comfort level.
- Hot and cold spots throughout your home make you uncomfortable in certain rooms or areas, such as your basement in the winter or upstairs bedrooms in the summer.
Protect Your Family’s Health
Different types of pollutants in your home can affect the health of your family including:
- Airborne, virus-sized particles and irritants such as respirable dust and pollen spores.
- Biological contaminants including mold spores, dust mites, viruses and bacteria.
- Gases, vapors and odors from gas appliances, furniture glues and finishes, new carpeting, cleaning products, pesticides, paint, perfumes and more.
Lower Energy Costs
Aprilaire whole-home products were designed with energy efficiency in mind:
- Aprilaire programmable thermostats can save you up to 30% on your heating and cooling bills a year. As part of a Zoned Comfort Control system, the savings can be even greater.
- Whole-house air cleaners by Aprilaire help maintain the efficiency of your central heating and cooling system by eliminating the build-up of dirt, dust and other pollutants. These pollutants can reduce your system’s efficiency by as much as 25%, increase maintenance calls and lead to premature failure of your heating and cooling system.
- Aprilaire humidifiers and dehumidifiers can make the air feel warmer and cooler respectively allowing you to adjust your thermostat to lower and higher settings, saving you on energy costs.
- Aprilaire sister company GeoSystems LLC manufactures geothermal heat pumps which provide sustainable, energy efficient heating and cooling. Geothermal can save you up to 70% on your heating and cooling costs. Qualified systems enjoy a 30% tax credit.
Preservation and Protection of Your Home and Your Belongings
Poor indoor air quality can cause a variety of harmful effects to both your home and belongings:
- An overly humid indoor environment can lead to the growth of biological contaminants including mildew on carpeting and draperies, wet stains on walls and ceilings, paint failure and warping woodwork.
- Too dry of an indoor environment can lead to wood shrinkage, instruments falling out of tune and cracking drywall and plaster.
- Musty smells and lingering odors can not only make you uncomfortable, they can infiltrate and “stick” to every porous surface, including your carpeting, drapery and other textiles.
Whether you’re indoor air issue is comfort, health, energy or protection and preservation related – Aprilaire has a whole-house solution that can help. Contact your local Aprilaire dealer to find out which Aprilaire product is best for your family and your home
