Easy Ways to Defeat Your Dust Mite Allergy

Posted on August 9, 2021 by - Blog

Easy Ways to Defeat Your Dust Mite Allergy

If you are an allergy sufferer, this post is for you. After reading this blog, you’ll understand: 

  • What causes dust mite allergies
  • How to eliminate dust mites

Most people have heard of dust mites, even if they don’t know much about them. If you have these pests in your home, you won’t see bite marks like bed bugs cause, as they are not parasites. These tiny bugs don’t bite or inflict physical harm on humans at all. The reason these little creatures are undesirable is due to the allergens they produce. 

What Are Dust Mites?

Dust mites are tiny pests that are invisible to the naked eye and can be seen only under a microscope. They aren’t technically even an insect, though they look like tiny, faceless cockroaches. These creatures that look like something from a sci-fi film feed on things that are plentiful in every home, like skin cells and pet dander in pillows, carpets, rugs, couches, and bedding. The presence of dust mites doesn’t mean you don’t have a clean house, as they are in virtually every home. 

How Do They Trigger Allergies?

Like how pet allergies aren’t caused by the pet, the mites themselves don’t actually trigger dust mite allergies. Instead, they shed a protein in their skin and waste that people react to. They build up on soft surfaces and can be released into the air when you walk on floor coverings, make your bed, fluff pillows, or even sit down hard onto a soft chair or couch. Essentially everything you do daily can and will stir up the waste from the dust mites, sending it into the air and your respiratory system.

‍What Are the Symptoms of Dust Mite Allergy?

If you have seasonal allergies, you know when to expect symptoms to begin and abate. Unfortunately, with dust mite allergies, there is no season. Not only do you get year-round allergic reactions, but they can also trigger asthma symptoms. Sufferers may notice more symptoms when lying in bed or on soft surfaces infested with dust mites. 

Dust mite allergies exhibit the following symptoms:

  • Asthma attacks
  • Coughing
  • Itchy eyes
  • Nasal congestion
  • Runny nose
  • Sneezing
  • Wheezing

How To Remove Dust Mites

The first step in removing dust mites is to get rid of things in your home that invite dust mites to move in and get comfortable. Making the environment inhospitable to their survival is key. However, you have to understand that it is virtually impossible to rid a home of all dust mites. Your goal should be to reduce the number of dust mites to create a healthier home. 

Steps you can take to minimize the occurrence of dust mites and reduce allergy symptoms include:

  • Clean bedding, including the mattress, more often.
  • Dust and vacuum frequently.
  • Remove carpeting and switch to hard surfaces, if possible.
  • Use a dehumidifier.
  • Invest in at least a MERV 8 pleated air filter.

Keep Your Home’s Air Clean With Premium Air Filters Delivered on Your Schedule

Keeping your home’s air cleaner by eliminating dust mites is not that difficult when you know what to do. Even getting the right type of air filters is as easy as ordering from Crockett Filter Club. You can have premium air filters delivered right to your doorstep anywhere in the U.S. on your preferred schedule. Contact us today to get started eliminating your dust mite allergies.

Featured Image: Crevis/Shutterstock

What Is the Best Air Filter For Controlling Dust In Your Home?

Posted on July 11, 2021 by - Uncategorized

What Is the Best Air Filter For Controlling Dust In Your Home?

Every homeowner who has ever spent time sweeping, mopping, and dusting has wondered how to eliminate dust from building up. It streaks surfaces, causes allergies, and generally makes you feel like your home isn’t clean. If you want to know how to remove dust from home, it can be as simple as choosing the right HVAC filter. But before we get into the types of filters, let’s talk about why it is so hard to eliminate.

What Is Dust, Really?

Dust is a composite of many things. It comprises microscopic pieces of pet dander, mold spores, hair, skin, dust mite waste, food crumbs, pollen, and soil. Dust is insidious, settling on fabrics, flooring, hard surfaces, and electronics, and recirculated by your HVAC system if there isn’t a good filter to catch it and stop the cycle.

There are multiple causes of dust, and it is no surprise that 60% of dust comes from outside. That leaves 40% generated inside the home. This can vary depending on the personal habits of the occupants, frequency of cleaning, smoking, cooking, and the age of the home. 

How To Use MERV Ratings To Pick an Air Filter

While annoying to all, dust can also be toxic to many people. It can cause a variety of allergic reactions, such as:

  • Cough
  • Itchy throat
  • Nasal congestion
  • Runny nose
  • Sneezing
  • Watery eyes

Choosing the right HVAC filter not only keeps your home cleaner but protects your health. Getting the most effective one isn’t just a matter of finding a brand name or choosing a more expensive filter. You need to select one that is effective in trapping both large and small dust particles. The way to ensure that is to look at the MERV rating.

The Minimum Efficiency Reporting Values (MERV) rating indicates how efficiently the filter can filter and trap small particles. The scale goes from 1 to 20. The higher the MERV rating, the more effectively it filters small particulates. The smaller the rating, the more appropriate for filtering larger particles.

So, the answer is to get the highest MERV-rated filter, right? No, it’s not that simple. While a MERV 17-20 will catch a lot of dust, they are designed for cleanroom applications with commercial HVAC systems that can handle high filtration. A MERV 11-13 is the perfect balance of dust filtration, airflow, and affordability for home HVAC systems.

How You Can Get the Right Filters Delivered Directly to Your Home

Crockett Filter Club makes it easy to choose the right filter. There is no more standing in big box stores, looking at endless aisles of filters, then wrestling them home. We make it simple to choose the right MERV rating for your home:

  • Follow the easy-to-understand infographic and descriptions to pick your ideal MERV-rated filter.
  • Schedule how often you want them delivered.
  • Choose how many you want in each delivery
  • Select the sizes
  • Put them in your cart and checkout

And just like that, your perfect air filter is on its way to you. No hassle, no realizing you forgot to pick up replacement filters only to get there and forget which sizes you need. Get started purifying and simplifying your life today.

Here’s Why (and When) More Expensive Air Filters are Worth It

Posted on June 8, 2021 by - Uncategorized

What you’ll learn by reading this blog:

● There is a difference between cheap air filters and quality ones.

● How to get high-quality air filters delivered directly to your home.

Chances are, you’ve looked for air filters either online or in stores and asked yourself why they are so expensive. After all, you can get multi-packs of bargain filters for $10 or less. The best way to answer that question is with the well-used saying of buyers beware. Let’s look at some reasons why you should think twice before going for a cheap air conditioner filter.

Is There Really a Difference Between the Bargain Filters and Quality Air Filters?

The answer is an emphatic “yes!” Just like any other product, the more corners you cut, the cheaper your costs. That means that you can sell for less and still make a profit. Though the basic version of some things may be fine, that’s not true with air filters.

You may think that a cheap air conditioner filter should be fine. But that’s like saying buying a cheap car with little to no safety features is a good option to save money. The truth is, air filters are meant to protect your air quality and preserve the life and efficiency of your HVAC system. When you consider what you could spend on allergy medications, repairs, or replacement of your air conditioning system, the few extra dollars you spend to buy the best A/C filters look like a much better investment.

The Best A/C Filters Use Higher Quality Materials

There’s a reason cheap air filters are, well, cheap. They are made from spun fiberglass, which creates a loose web-like material. If you think that will work well to block dust, dirt, and other contaminants from entering your HVAC system where they can be recirculated into your home, try a little experiment. Sprinkle some chocolate powder or powdered sugar on your counter, then blow on it toward one of those cheap filters and see what happens.

Quality Air Filters Catch More Particulates

Now that you can visualize what happens with a fiberglass air filter, let’s talk about pleated and non-pleated air filters. When you have materials that actually stop the particulates from passing through the filter, the difference between a good filter and a great filter is surface area. By creating pleats, you can add more surface area without increasing the dimensions. The other

bonus is that the extra surface area means you don’t have to change the filter as often as a non-pleated one.

Thicker Air Filters Last Longer

Don’t be fooled by the myth that thicker filters will block or constrain the airflow to your A/C unit. A thin filter will clog much faster, while the thicker one will last much longer. If you still aren’t convinced, look at the manufacturer’s recommended replacement schedule. You should be able to tell that the thicker ones have a longer expected life.

Choose Quality Air Filters From Crockett Filter Club

The best A/C filters truly are a better value than a cheap air conditioner filter. They have superior materials, more surface area, and are thicker. All those factors mean you don’t have to change your air filters nearly as often. It also means you get better air quality in your home and fewer particulates in your HVAC system. Contact us today for questions or place an order to get your high-quality air filters delivered directly to your home.

5 Ways That Dirty Air Filters Can Ruin Your Life

Posted on May 11, 2021 by - Blog, Filters

As you read about the ways dirty air filters can ruin your life, you’ll begin to understand:

  • Dirty air filters are a problem for both your health and your financial situation.
  • Regularly changing your air filters is easy and something you can do for a low cost.

If you’ve ever seen a dirty air filter, you know how gross they can get. The look alone is enough to make you want to change the filter, but there are some other key facts that should make you want to change them as well. Did you know your clogged air filter could be ruining your life? Check it out!

1. Reducing Air Flow and Increasing Utility Bills

Air is supposed to be pushed through your filters to collect the dirt, dust, and dander circulating through your home. When your air filters are clogged, it’s going to be harder for the air to push its way through. With reduced airflow, your blower fan is going to work overtime trying to get the air to comply. This is only going to increase your utility bills as the system works harder than it needs to.

2. Decreasing Efficiency

To really get the most out of your HVAC system, you want it to run as efficiently as possible. With clogged air filters, that is not going to happen. While struggling to push air through your home, the system is going to work too hard. As the system works hard to get your home the air you demand, you’re not going to get that strong airflow you’re used to. Energy bills will continue to rise as this happens, so you’re going to get a lot less comfortable air for the amount of money you pay each month.

3. Worsening Air Quality

A full filter will not get rid of all the allergens in your air. Instead, anything that has been collected in the filter is going to be recirculated into your home. The air quality will then become worsened, often becoming more polluted than the air outside. If anyone in your family already has a health condition affected by air quality, those conditions could become worse. Those who do not have current conditions could end up suffering from asthma and other similar diseases. Your pets can be affected as well, and they’ll have no way to tell you they’re experiencing symptoms.

4. Growing Mold and Mildew

When the air filter is clogged or blocked, the evaporator coil could end up covered in dirt. This often results in the area growing mold, mildew, and other types of bacteria. Microorganisms are then able to multiply, causing your home to become a petri dish for dangerous mold and disease-causing bacteria.

5. Failing an Entire System

Whether as a result of all the dirty air filter symptoms previously mentioned, or even just one or two, your entire HVAC system could fail when something as simple as changing the filter is ignored. Air filters cost mere dollars, but replacing an entire system is going to cost you up into the hundreds or thousands of dollars. Regular filter replacement could prevent this issue in its entirety.

Contact Us to Order Air Filters Today

You can see the damage that dirty air filters can cause. Although you’re no HVAC repairman, you can still change the filters regularly to ensure your system is in as good of shape as possible. Contact Crockett Filter Club today at 844-401-4604, and let’s discuss the type of system you have and how often you should change the filters for optimum results.

Featured Image: Noel V. Baebler/Shutterstock

How Often Do I REALLY Need to Change My Air Filter?

Posted on April 8, 2021 by - Uncategorized

The air filters in your home should be changed every 30 to 90 days to ensure the best air quality for your family.

Air filters trap the dirt, mold spores, and other particles that pass through your HVAC system, so changing them often is essential to good health.

Change your air filters! You hear it all the time, but do you take it seriously? Your air filter is in your HVAC unit, tucked away in a dark corner of your home. How much could air filter replacement really affect your home and your family? More than you might think!

What Do Air Filters Do?

The basic function of an air filter is to clean any air that passes through it while circulating through the HVAC system. Instead of allowing the dust, dirt, pollen, mold spores, and other particles to pass through, the filter collects them and keeps them from being blown into the air you breathe. In most cases, that air has already been in your home, so when it returns, it pulls in hair, animal fur, lint, fibers, and other particles that have been floating around your home.

How Often Should I Change My Air Filters?

The recommendation to change air filters is once every 30 to 90 days, though this could vary based on a few factors. These include:

How often you run your HVAC system – If you live in an area where you don’t need to run either the air conditioner or the heater on a regular basis, your filter could last up to six months. If your HVAC system is running at full capacity all day and all night, there may be a few months that you change it after only 20 days.

How large your home is – The larger the home, the more air that’s going to be pumped through your HVAC system and your air filters. Depending on the size of your HVAC appliance, you may need to change your filters more often. If you have a larger system for a larger home, it’s possible you could stick with the 30-day recommendation.

Who lives in your home – If you have young children or elderly folks living in your home, it’s even more important that the air quality is superior. You’ll want to be sure you stick with the 30-day air filter changing schedule. If any of those in your home have severe allergies or asthma, you might change your filters on a more regular basis.

Whether you have pets – Even if your pets are non-shedding animals, they’re going to leave behind hair to some degree. Any of the hair that doesn’t get vacuumed up becomes susceptible to getting sucked down into your HVAC system. This could quickly cause your filters to fill up, making it essential you change them often. Depending on the type of pet you have, you could possibly go 60 days between changing your filters.

What Are Some Problems That Arise From Not Changing the Filters?

If you don’t change your filters as often as you should, or if you don’t get them changed at all, there are some negative consequences you might experience. This includes:

Unhealthy air circulating in your home – Especially for those with respiratory illnesses, asthma, or allergies, dirty filters could cause or exacerbate health problems for those living in the home.

Higher energy costs – When filters are clogged, dirty, and in need of a change, the HVAC system has to work harder to keep your home at a comfortable temperature. This is going to result in higher energy costs.

Higher repair costs – An inefficient HVAC system with full filters isn’t going to function as it should. That could result in parts breaking down and you have to pay for the repairs when you could have just paid for a new filter.

Getting Your Filter Delivery Scheduled

At Crockett Filter Club, we care about the air quality in your home. Contact us today at 844-401-4604 to learn more about replacing air filters or to get your delivery scheduled.

Image Credit: The Toidi/Shutterstock