Forced Heating and Allergy Sufferers: The Unlucky Bond

At first glance, it would seem like the Winter is ideal for those who suffer allergies and colds year round. After all the flowers and pollen spreaders have died out, and the bitter air helps to slow down the reproduction of cells. While this is true, most of the Winter is spent indoors, what amounts to a prison of dander, debris, and other irritants constantly wreaking havoc from being blown about by a forced heating system. While turning off the furnace and being cold isn’t a viable alternative to suffering indoor allergies, there are some ways to turn your home from a prison into a pure air playground.

Humidity

While one of the main jobs of an air-conditioner is to regulate the humidity in a room and prevent excess moisture, forced heating systems have a love/hate relationship with the H-word as well. Too much moisture in a house can lead to mold and mildew formation that is one of Allergy and even non-allergy sufferers biggest nightmares. Low humidity is also bad though as it leads to difficulty breathing as well as cracked skin. Make sure to buy a furnace that is the correct size for the space needing heat and supplement with a humidifier if the problem continues.

Dirty Filters

Leaving a filter to collect dust and debris for months or even years at a time drives up your energy bills and puts an unneeded stress on your HVAC system. Heating systems with dirty filters also wreak havoc on allergy suffers as well though. Old filters form holes that allow more and more dirt to escape which then gets cycled through the duct work and out the registers almost directly into the lungs. Now to go along with an excessive heating bill you also have a persistent cough all due to a $10 replacement item.

Forced Air Heating Systems As a Whole

Even if you change your filter persistently or purchase a special HEPA filter that attracts even more particles, if you suffer from allergies, you face too difficulties simply because the HVAC is a forced heating system. There are just too many obstacles to overcome as the forced air heating system warms the air and distributes the warm air via the duct system until being blown out dirty registers and into a room. Those with an extra special sensitivity to dust and dander could benefit with radiant heating systems instead. Radiant heat transfers energy instead of air and something like in-floor heating lifts up the warmth through the entire room without any physical disruption.

Allergies can be bad enough without a forced heating system. With proper care and product selection heating systems don’t have to be a contributor and homeowners don’t have to make the decision between air and warmth.