Replacing your A/C filter helps protect from germs circulating in your home

Your A/C may be playing a bigger part than you think in protecting your family inside your home from COVID-19.

A quick search online brings up hundreds of options, from cheap paper filters too expensive carbon options, but which one offers you the most protection?

Most homes have a filter called a pleated filter and they range from about $10 to $15. One A/C contractor says as long as you replace it every 60 to 90 days, it’ll help keep the air in your home clean.

He says it’s also equally important to regularly maintain your A/C unit.

“All the air that goes through your house, whatever has come through, any kind of a cold or the flu or anything like that, that can fester in the air handler in the ductwork So if you don’t have a cleaned once in a while, it’s just sitting there recycling back into your house,” said Nick Plano, Marketing Director at Action Cooling and Heating.

The bottom line is you don’t have to spend more money to maintain clean air.

There are thicker filter options that can last between 12 and 18 months.

But if you haven’t previously used them in your A/C unit it does require someone to redo the ductwork throughout your house and can make your A/C system run harder to cool your home.

Within the last 30 years, HVAC companies have incorporated UV technology. Those lights can halt the reproduction of different bacteria.

“UV technology actually scrambles the DNA of microorganisms and eliminates their ability to reproduce. Viruses, in particular, are pretty wimpy when it comes to that, so UV is very effective,” Plano said.

To promote further air quality inside your home the EPA posted a list of its own recommendations, which include running your system’s fan continuously and opening the outside air intake if you have one.