With the rapidly spreading respiratory virus, COVID-19, sweeping the nation many businesses and residential customers are taking quick action. While our team is taking the proper precautions necessary to protect our own employees and the health of our customers, we also wanted to share a few ways that you can improve your air quality and potentially filter out air-born pathogens.

Below, you’ll find a series of tips that can help you improve indoor air quality followed by some information about our Trane CleanEffects™ Air Cleaner. An ideal solution for homes and small offices preparing for the long-term battle we face to combat this air-born virus. With the capability of filtering our up to 98.98% of airborne particles, you’ll be filtering out much more than just the currently spreading virus.

Tips to improve indoor air quality

Control air pollutants at the source

Vacuum rugs, carpets, furniture, and pet bedding frequently with a HEPA-quality vacuum cleaner and use anti-dust mite covers on your mattresses, pillows and box springs. Also, wash your bedding in hot water at least once a week. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America recommends a water temperature of 130 degrees Fahrenheit or hotter, as well as drying bedding on a hot cycle to kill dust mites.

Avoid smoking inside

Choose home furnishings that limit dust collection. It’s possible to improve the indoor air quality in the living room by dusting leather or vinyl furniture and hardwood floors. Avoiding throw pillows and limit items that collect dust.

Avoid pet dander

Keep pets off the furniture, out of the bedroom, and if possible, consider taking the pet out of the home. For those who cannot live without their furry companions, consider removing all carpeting or installing a low-pile carpeting.

Use controlled ventilation

Supplying clean, fresh air to the indoor environment while exhausting stale and polluted air back outside is one of the best ways to improve IAQ when the sources can’t be fully eliminated. Simply opening up a window allows for air exchange, but keep in mind it does nothing to filter out the air and other harmful allergens or asthma triggers that could intrude into your home. The best way to ensure adequate fresh air is being supplied to the home is to keep your windows and doors shut and use a filtered mechanical ventilator to bring fresh air in and expel stale and polluted air back outside (such as an in-line ventilator like the QF130V in conjunction with a bathroom exhaust fan, or an energy recover ventilator like the Envirowise ERV which does both fresh air intake and exhausts stale air while recovering much of the energy typically lost in the process that air conditioning or heating has to make up for).

Install a whole-house air cleaner

Adding a highly effective air cleaning system to your central HVAC system can help remove airborne particles that would otherwise recirculate through the home. Because air is constantly circulating throughout the home, both through the HVAC ductwork and from room to room transfer, stand-alone air purifiers have serious limitations in a real-world environment. It is best to filter that air through a central air cleaning system connected with your HVAC ductwork to make sure that clean air is being provided to every room. But not all air cleaners or air filtration systems are created equal. Look for an air filter that has a high-efficiency removal rate (such as MERV 11 or higher), or consider the Trane CleanEffects Whole-Home Electronic Air Cleaner, which can remove up to 99.98% of all airborne particles without overly restricting airflow to your home, making it 8 times more effective than even the best HEPA room filters and up to 100 times more effective than a standard 1-inch filter. Trane CleanEffects is also certified as asthma and allergy friendly by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, and best of all it does not require any costly replacement filters and can be cleaned at home as needed.

Balance the humidity in your home

It’s important to maintain a humidity level of between 35 and 60 percent in the home to mitigate IAQ problems. Mold, dust mites, and other air pollutants tend to thrive outside of that range, and our bodies’ natural immune systems can be comprised when the air gets too dry. Air that is too dry or too wet can also cause issues for the home such as warping or cracking wood furnishing and floors. The best way to control humidity in the home is by monitoring humidity levels through a reliable HVAC thermostat that can measure the humidity level and help manage it by employing the use of a whole-home dehumidifier and/or humidifier. You can lower your home’s humidity by running your air conditioning unit, but when temperatures are mild keep in mind that your HVAC may not be running enough to actually remove moisture from the air, so you may need to install a whole-home dehumidification system in addition. In drier climates or during dry seasons, you can add humidity through the use of a whole-home evaporative or steam humidifier which ties into the HVAC ductwork system and can add the appropriate amount of moisture to maintain ideal humidity levels throughout the entire home.

The Trane CleanEffects™ Air Cleaner

Removes up to 99.98% of airborne particles

including those as small as .1 micron, which is 700 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, making CleanEffects 8 times more effective than even the best HEPA room filters and up to 100 times more effective than a standard 1-inch filter.

Small particles, large effects

Many particles like mold spores, allergens, bacteria, viruses, and some pollen are commonly .3 microns or less. Particles of that size tend to stay suspended in the air longer and can get deep into your lungs and even your bloodstream because they aren’t filtered well by your nose and throat. An effective air cleaner, such as Trane CleanEffects™, can reduce the presence of these potential triggers in your home.

Asthma & Allergy Friendly™ Certified by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America

With more than 60 million Americans suffering from asthma and allergies, this certification mark guides consumers in identifying products more suitable for people with asthma and allergies. The Asthma & Allergy Friendly® Certification Mark is awarded only to those products that are scientifically proven to reduce exposure to asthma and allergy triggers.

High efficiency

Trane CleanEffects™ Air Cleaner is able to filter the air in your home with minimal restriction on the airflow delivery rate of your HVAC system. Standard air cleaners have pleated filters that are very dense, so they stop the dust by trapping it in a porous filter media. Unfortunately, this also blocks the airflow as it collects particles and causes your HVAC system to have to work harder, resulting in higher energy bills over time, reduced comfort, and lowers the amount of clean air delivered to your home. The Trane CleanEffects™ Air Cleaner collection cells are able to capture these particles in a unique design that allows air to continue to flow freely and deliver more clean air to your home.

Verified by Harvard experts

Trane CleanEffects™ has been performance-tested by LMS Technologies and Environmental Health & Engineering, Inc. (EH&E), in an instrumented real-world home test environment, with the results verified by professors from the Harvard School of Public Health, so you know you are getting an air cleaner for your home like no other.

Low cost of ownership

There is no need to purchase costly replacement filters. With Trane CleanEffects, a simple cleaning routine can be done at home every 3-9 months (depending on how dirty the air is), and your system is ready to continue delivering cleaner air.

More details regarding the Trane CleanEffects™ Air Cleaner can be found on the official Trane website or by calling our team at 502-203-1884.

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