Preparing for Asthma Peak Week

Asthma episodes and attacks peak in September. We’re focused on prevention - work to identify and solve the problem rather than treating symptoms. Here are a few notes to help lessen the impact of asthma as we approach the annual peak of irritation and attacks.

"Sillouette of Asthma" by KristyFaith is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Asthma Peak Week

There are many articles about hospital visits and stays due to asthma increasing in September of each year. The third week of September is typically referred to as “peak week” for asthma because it has the highest level of asthma attacks and hospitalizations all year.

An article from The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America notes September is the “perfect storm” for asthma and allergy triggers because ragweed pollen (a common trigger) peaks in September along with mold counts in falling leaves and exposure to respiratory illnesses as children return to school.

What’s Often Omitted

The effect of shoulder seasons on indoor air quality is something articles seem to omit. Shoulder seasons fall between winter/spring and summer/fall when outdoor temperatures are more moderate so your heating/cooling systems don’t need to run as much.

The result in less run time from your heating/cooling systems is typically less air filtration. Many homes rely on the filter in the air handler to remove irritants from the air and improve indoor air quality. That only happens when the blower in the heating/cooling system is running.

You may be getting little to no air filtration indoors when the temperature is moderate enough that the thermostat doesn’t call for heating or cooling. For example, this happens toward the end of summer when you leave your system in cooling mode yet the indoor temperature only rises enough for cooling in the late afternoon. Even then you may not get much run time.

This happens again at the end of the summer/fall shoulder season when you switch to heating mode to take the chill out of cold overnight temps yet don’t switch back to cooling mode during the day. Both conditions can allow airborne irritants and triggers of asthma and allergies to build up in a home because the indoor air isn’t moving through the filter.

We spend an enormous amount of time indoors. We’re typically sleeping during a third of that time so we’re not able to make adjustments to improve indoor conditions - we’re just subjected to them.

Asthma and allergy triggers in a home come from normal conditions. Cooking can release fine particulates and cleaning can release volatile organic compounds (VOCs). There are other concerns like off gassing from carpets, furniture and soft goods.

A leaky house (poor air sealing) can contribute to poor indoor air quality and high levels of humidity. High indoor humidity levels encourage the growth of mildew, mold and dust mites.

Operating the Fan in Your Air Handler Manually

Using your heating/cooling system to filter air in your home is likely going to be the most effective way to reduce airborne irritants and triggers. The system should be designed to handle an entire home or a zone within a home. That’s generally much more effective than a small. portable filter that doesn’t move enough air to have a significant impact on air quality.

What if you don’t need to run the system for heating or cooling yet you still want filtration? You can change the fan setting on the thermostat from “auto” to “on”. This should turn on the fan (the blower in the air handler) to move air through the system (which includes moving it through the filter) without starting your air conditioner or furnace.

Setting your fan to “on” can be a challenge because you’re switching to a manual mode - the fan won’t stop running until you turn it off by switching it back to “auto”. Running the fan can use a significant amount of energy so you may not want to leave it on all night, especially if you have a poor filter or leaky duct work.

When Not to Operate the Fan in Your Air Handler Manually

Don’t use the manual controls if you have a more advanced system. For example, a variable-speed system that controls temperature and humidity may run at a lower speed to control humidity even if it’s not cooling. That’s also providing some air filtration. There are also demand control systems that sense the need for ventilation through monitoring equipment and operate the system in response.

If you’re not sure, have a discussion with your heating/cooling system contractor. They should be very familiar with your system and its controls. They should also be able to show you how to use them… with an explanation in simple terms.

Your Indoor Air Quality is Directly Related to Your Construction Quality

In our education courses, we talk about the importance of air sealing homes. Many houses, especially older homes, have a significant amount of leaks. If you were to add them up, it might be the equivalent of leaving a window partially open.

Air sealing separates indoors from outdoors and presents the chance to do a good job of exhausting, ventilating and filtering air to remove airborne irritants and triggers. That can be successful if you have a decent filter in your heating/cooling system.

Let’s assume any filtration is better than no filtration. Still, there’s a threshold we’d like to reach - it’s a MERV-13 filter. MERV is an acronym for minimum efficiency reporting value. It’s a measurement of filtration that allows us to understand what a filter can remove from the air circulated through it.

Don’t Upgrade Your Filter Without Planning Ahead

Why not just upgrade your filter? A better filter means better filtration, right? Not necessarily.

Your heating/cooling system was designed with a particular filter so don’t just jam a more efficient filter into your filter box. A more efficient filter can cause less air flow through your system resulting in lower performance, higher bills and potential damage to the system.

If you want to upgrade your filter, it’s a good idea to determine if your duct work system is leaky. It doesn’t make much sense to upgrade your filter if your duct work is leaking - allow unfiltered air and humidity from your basement and/or crawl space into the duct work.

Getting your system sealed up and upgrading your filter can result in a marked improvement in indoor air quality.

Soft Costs Associated with Asthma and Allergies

It’s not just the cost of treating asthma and allergies that’s of concern. It’s the stress of having a difficult condition, time lost in treatment and taking medications when there may be one-time improvements to your home that could significantly lessen these soft costs.

Health care systems are beginning to appreciate the impact of improving indoor conditions at home, especially for children. The cost of improving a home to improve the indoor air quality may be significantly less cost than providing repeated medical treatment in a hospital or urgent care facility. That’s solving the problem rather than treating the symptoms.

Leave a comment below to let us know how you’re dealing with allergies and asthma - what advice would you give? Have you thought about being proactive through exhaust, ventilation and filtration techniques?

Thanks for sharing and being in touch with us!