Changing Air Filters: An Important Part of Office Maintenance

When considering effective ways to ensure a clean and safe work environment, indoor air pollution is an important situation. Office spaces are often cramped, and public places are ideal environments for bacteria and allergens to take hold. One effective method of combating airborne particles and dust is to purchase and install high quality air filters for your office, and make sure to change them out on a regular basis.

Health Benefits of High Quality Air Conditioner Filters
According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), 60 million Americans suffer from allergies or asthma. Chances are that someone in your office has allergies and every extra step you can take to have a cleaner air space could improve productivity, and even give your office the advantage in hiring top-level employees. Everyone deserves to breathe better. The chances of being exposed to dangerous pollutants is high enough when people are commuting and outside, choosing a quality air conditioner filter is a small, but highly effective, step to ensure their air inside is your office as clean as possible.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 90 percent of Americans spend most of their time in an office environment, and that air pollutants can be much worse than outside. Choosing an efficient and strong air filter will greatly reduce the pollutants to which office workers are exposed. High quality filters will filter out animal dander, dust pollen and dust mites and the best ones will even capture hazardous chemical vapors, bacteria, and viruses and prevent them from reentering the air in an office.

High quality air filters also have the ability to filter out airborne dust, bacteria and viruses. This is exceptionally important in public places like offices where if one person is sick, the entire office can quickly become sick and bacteria and viruses can resurface and re-infect. Utilizing high quality, multi-layered air filters helps to comb allergens from the air can make a working environment much more habitable and pleasant for those that suffer from seasonal and indoor allergies.

Financial Benefits of Proper Air Filter Maintenance
In addition to health benefits, there are financial benefits to having high quality filters and changing them regularly. Time lost to breathing problems and sickness can be decreased, and if people breathe better, they generally feel better.

Choosing the Best Air Filters for Your Office
High quality air filters capable of reducing most asthma and allergy triggers are at least MERV 11. MERV stands for Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value. Carbon filters are also very effective in capturing smoke and further controlling odors and vapors that can irritate those with asthma. The best filters are multi-layered, offering several stages to combat pollutants and vapors. The most layers a filter has, the better the protection it offers.

Practical Solution to Improve Office Air Quality
You should change air filters on a regular basis and according to specifications to allow heating and air-conditioning units to work more efficiently than if they are not changed properly. Clogged filters will force units to work harder and therefore drain more energy, and units with weak or ineffective filters will allow dust and dirt to pass through to the motor of the heating and air unit and can damage the unit and shorten its lifespan. Signing up for an automatic filter replacement program is a great way to keep up with changing the air filters in your office on a regular basis.