Water & Air – Filter Systems News

Are you tired of looking at the cord spaghetti that grows out of your computer or entertainment center? Now you can hide that mess of cords and cables under your computer desk. With Command Cord Clips, there is a solution to this unsightly and ungainly tangled clutter.

These clips hold cables and cords firmly in place, allowing you to not only neatly organize your cords, but also hide them, too. Just stick them on the underside of your computer desk, for example, and your cords are neatly out of sight. Cord Clips stick to a wide variety of surfaces, and most importantly, they are easy to remove and leave no marks or stains if you ever need to take them down or move them.

Command Cord Clips are perfect for organizing your holiday lights, especially behind the Christmas tree. Whether you need to organize your cords along the ground, going up the wall to an outlet, or wherever, you can rest easy knowing that when the season is over you can safely remove the clips and there will be no sign of their use anywhere.

Use Cord Clips all over your home and office, wherever your cord spaghetti may grow.

image source: oilchangexpress.com

Did you know that most cars made after 2000 have a cabin air filter? (CAF) A lot of people don’t, but not changing yours regularly can result in health problems for you and your passengers, and extra wear and maintenance for your car’s HVAC system.  For the majority of cars built after 2000, CAFs are either standard equipment, or are included as an option. If you’re not sure if your car has a CAF, consult your owner’s manual. Many CAFs are located either beneath the hood or under the dashboard, often behind the glove compartment. Changing your car’s CAF is usually a simple and easy proposition often taking less than 10 minutes to undertake. Most can be changed with simple hand tools, or simply by hand.

The importance of keeping a clean CAF in your car can’t be overstated. When the CAF becomes clogged and dirty, those inside the car start to breathe the outside air which is often polluted with contaminants and noxious gases. Also, your car’s HVAC will start to be taxed and have to work harder than it has to if the CAF isn’t changed regularly. Recommendations call for the CAF to be changed every year or 10,000 to 15,000 miles.

Most CAFs are composed of three layer of filter media: two outer layers that capture larger particles  such as pollen, dust, mold spores, soot, and smog, and an inner layer made of activated charcoal or electrostatically charged to remove gases and odors from the air entering your car’s interior. Filters Fast offers a wide selection of CAFs for many different makes and models of cars. To see if we carry your car’s CAF, simply go to www.filtersfast.com and type your car’s make and model into our search bar. Changing your CAF regularly can save your health, and extend your car’s life.

November is National Flu Awareness Month. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC) each year at least 200,000 people are hospitalized for complications due to the flu, and 36,000 people die from the flu each year.  Also, anywhere from 10 to 20% of the US population is infected with the flu virus each year. As the cold and flu season gears up again this year, it is important to protect yourself and your family from the flu. Here are some tips that can help you avoid catching the flu:

• Avoid contact with those infected with the flu

The flu is a virus, and as such it is spread from one person to another. Sneezing, coughing, and shaking hands are all ways that the flu can be transmitted. By limiting exposure to people who have been infected with the flu, you reduce your chances of catching the flu.

• Wash your hands thoroughly

Keeping your hands clean will limit your exposure to the flu virus.

• Get a flu shot

The CDC recommends all persons over the age of 6 months should be vaccinated against the flu annually. This is perhaps your best defense against the flu.

Filters Fast offers many products that can help you through cold and flu season, including the Crane EE-8064 Digital Germ Defense Humidifier,  the Honeywell UV Surface Treatment System UV100A1059, the Filtrete Ultra Allergen Air Filter, the Filtrete Advanced Allergen Air Filters, the Honeywell UV Air Treatment System UV100E1043, and our line of Crane Cool Mist and Warm Mist Humidifiers.

Protecting yourself and your family against the flu keeps everyone healthy and happy. Join us in raising the awareness of the dangers of the flu, and how to prevent it.

The term “Daylight Savings Time” is generally understood to mean the time when we either set our clocks forward or back one hour, and the 6 month period of time in between these points. Although this term is widely used, the correct term is Daylight Saving Time, and the actual period that is Daylight Saving Time lasts from spring until fall. The period from fall to spring is actually referred to as Standard Time. So as the time approaches for us to fall back to Standard Time on Sunday, November 6, at 2 am, this is a good way to remind ourselves to do some yearly maintenance around the home, such as changing batteries in smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, and changing the filters in our furnaces and air conditioning systems, as well as any other filters around the home, such as water filters.

We offered many of these suggestions and tips in our October 24th and November 1st blogs. Some of these bear repeating, such as changing smoke alarm batteries. Changing furnace and air conditioning filters is a good way to ensure the air in your home stays clean and fresh, that your heating or cooling system doesn’t use excess energy, and to extend the life of your heating or cooling system. Filters Fast offers a wide selection of furnace filters and air conditioning filters for your home.  We also offer water filters for your water purification system, refrigerator, and ice maker.

The approaching time change reminds us all to do those household maintenance tasks that might otherwise go undone. This is also a good time to prepare our homes for the coming winter months. Winterizing is a simple yet effective way to ensure that energy isn’t lost through cracks and other escape routes in the home. As Benjamin Franklin said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Taking this time now to ensure our homes are safe, clean, and energy efficient will keep winter outside where it belongs.

Itchy nose, watery eyes, frequent sneezing, scratchy throat—these are all too familiar allergy symptoms to the over 40 million allergy sufferers out there. And often it seems to those affected by indoor/ outdoor allergies that they are at the mercy of Mother Nature. But there are many things you can do to make your home less likely to trigger allergies, mostly by enacting a course of action that involves cleaning up and reducing the number of hiding places for indoor allergens.

According to an Infographic on the website allergybegone.com, many common indoor allergens can be reduced by taking simple steps to make your home less friendly to these allergens. Common indoor allergens include:

• Dust
• Dust Mites
• Pet Dander
• Pollen
• Cockroaches
• Mold
• Endotoxins

Treatment for dust includes mopping and vacuuming with a vacuum cleaner that has a HEPA filter in it. Also adding an air cleaner with a HEPA or electrostatic filter can keep dust to a minimum.

Dust mites are often found in mattresses and bedding. By cleaning bedding every 7 to 10 days in hot water , and not using mattress pads these allergy triggers can be somewhat controlled.

Bathing your pets often and using an air cleaner can help to keep pet dander at bay.

Pollen in the home can be reduced by keeping doors and windows closed and using an air conditioner. Also showering or bathing before bed can help keep pollen at a minimum in your home.

Cockroach debris is another allergen found in indoor air. By following common cockroach control practices— keeping all food sealed, not keeping pet food out for extended periods of time, keeping all cracks and holes sealed— this allergen can be lessened.

Mold loves to grow in bathrooms. By regularly cleaning bathroom surfaces with bleach and water, removing houseplants, not carpeting bathrooms, and using mold-proof paint, mold can be kept to a minimum.

The same control methods for dust and mold helps reduce endotoxins, bacteria that can live in dust.

Keeping your home clean and reducing hiding places for allergens by eliminating carpeting and bulky drapes and furniture where possible helps make your indoor air friendly to allergy sufferers.

According to the Mayo Clinic website, “The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that parents avoid using cough and cold medicines to treat children younger than age 2.” Potential drawbacks to using these medicines include possible side effects such as rapid heart rate and convulsions, and the fact that cold medicines mask present symptoms. Also, cold medicines don’t treat the underlying symptoms, so giving them to your child won’t make their cold go away any sooner.

All this begs the question: what can you do for a child’s cold? The old standbys seem to work the best: plenty of rest and fluids, cough drops to soothe a sore throat, and moistening nasal passages. One method for moistening these passages is running a cool mist humidifier. Filters Fast offers a wide variety of cool mist humidifiers to help comfort your child when they’re sick.

Here are some tips for operating cool mist humidifiers from Crane:

• Use clean, cool water
• Place your humidifier on waterproof surface approximately 3 feet off the ground
• Keep your humidifier out of corners and away from walls
• Adjust your humidifier so that it sprays up into the air, not down to the ground
• Use a few capfuls of white vinegar and a half tub of warm water to clean

Your cool mist humidifier can be run year round to keep your family healthy and happy. Optimum humidity level in the home is 40-50% relative humidity.

Crane also states on their website that you could be eligible for a tax deduction if you doctor recommends using a cool mist humidifier primarily for medical reasons.

It’s difficult to see children suffer when they have a cold, but using these “comfort” measures, including the use of a cool mist humidifier, can make them more comfortable while they’re on the mend.

Sick building syndrome or SBS refers to situations where “building occupants experience acute health and comfort effects that appear to be linked to time spent in a building, but no specific illness or cause can be identified,” according to the EPA’s Indoor Air Quality website. This can occur either in a specific room or area, or throughout the building.

Symptoms can include:

• headache
• eye, nose, or throat  irritation
• dry cough
• dry or itchy skin
• dizziness and nausea
• difficulty in concentrating
• fatigue
• sensitivity to odors

Although the cause of the symptoms is usually not known, sufferers usually report feeling better soon after they leave the building. Poor ventilation, as well as heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) not effectively distributing air throughout the building, seems to be a major contributing factor in SBS.

Indoor and outdoor pollution sources can also contribute to SBS. Indoor air pollution sources include:

• adhesives
• carpeting
• upholstery
• manufactured wood products
• copy machines
• pesticides
• cleaning agents

These sources can emit Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) such as formaldehyde.  Tobacco smoke emits high levels of VOCs, as well as other toxic compounds, and breathable particulate matter. The products of combustion, such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and breathable particles come from burning sources like unvented kerosene and gas space heaters, woodstoves, fireplaces and gas stoves.

Outdoor pollution sources such as motor vehicle exhausts, plumbing vents, and bathroom and kitchen exhausts can contribute to indoor air pollution. Also, biological contaminants including bacteria, molds, pollens, and viruses may breed in standing or stagnant water in various locations throughout a building.

Removing or modifying the pollutant source when it is known and controllable is perhaps the best way to resolve an Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) problem. Also increasing ventilation and air distribution can help the problem.  Another method is to use air cleaners. Finally, using furnace or air filters, especially high performance filters that capture smaller, breathable particles is a great way to alleviate SBS.

Staying indoors during allergy season may seem like a good strategy when you have allergies, but indoor air can be just as irritating to allergies. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America’s website, “dust mites, animal dander and even cockroaches can cause problems indoors.”

Dust mites are a chief culprit for allergy sufferers, affecting up to 8 out of 10 Americans. The best way to control dust mites is to minimize their effect  by keeping all surfaces in the home clean, and by minimizing clutter. The AAFA recommends eliminating carpet altogether, or at a bare minimum to use only washable throw rugs or a low-piled carpet. The AAFA goes on to say that:

The single most important method is to put zippered allergen impermeable or plastic covers on all pillows, mattresses and box springs. Encasing mattresses works better than air cleaners to reduce allergy symptoms. Every week, wash bedding, uncovered pillows and stuffed toys in hot water (130 degree F.) to kill mites.

Animal dander is another culprit, impacting up to 6 out 10 people in the U.S. Doctors recommend not having pets if you are allergic to pet dander. If you must have a pet, first take a break from the animal, either by vacation, or keeping the pet out of the house for at least two months, since pet dander can linger in homes that long. The AAFA recommends slowly introducing the pet back into the home, and seeing if symptoms are attributable to the pet. If so, they advise carefully considering if the pet is worth the discomfort. They also recommend keeping the pet out of your bedroom, and perhaps choosing a pet without fur or feathers.

By vacuuming once or twice a week using a HEPA filter or double-bagged vacuum, some allergens can be controlled. Also cleaning dust with a damp cloth is another good method for keeping irritating particles at a minimum in the home.

Keeping moisture out of the home wherever possible can help control mold, which is another offending allergen. Also keeping only a few house plants and using a dehumidifier will help as well.

Cockroach debris is another culprit that reduces indoor air quality. Following recommended methods for controlling cockroaches can limit the effects of their debris.

Finally, running air conditioning in warm weather, recycling the indoor air, goes a long way to control outside allergens from entering the home. Window unit filters should be changed often. Also, air purifiers and cleaners can help to keep allergens at a minimum.

The primary cause of home indoor air quality problems, according to the EPA’s Indoor Air Quality website,  are indoor pollution sources that release harmful gases or particles into the air. Other factors that can contribute to poor indoor air quality are inadequate ventilation, and high temperature and humidity. Sources of indoor air pollution include combustion sources, building materials and furnishings, cabinetry or furniture made of pressed wood products, household cleaning and maintenance products, as well as personal care products, and central heating and cooling systems and humidification devices. Outdoor air pollution sources including radon and pesticides can also contribute to poor indoor air quality.

When there is too little outdoor air entering a home, health and comfort problems can arise from pollutants accumulating. Many houses are designed to prevent air from entering the house, which can cause pollutant levels to rise. This can cause immediate effects such as eye, nose, and throat irritation, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. Other immediate effects include symptoms of diseases such as asthma, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and humidifier fever. There are also long term health effects that may occur years after exposure or after long or repeated periods of exposure.  These include respiratory disease, heart disease, and cancer.

One solution to this problem is to install mechanical ventilation devices, such as outdoor-vented fans and also air handling systems. Air handling systems use fans and duct work to remove indoor air and bring in filtered and conditioned outdoor air into the house.  Filters Fast offers an extensive line of air filters to keep the air in your house clean and pure. We also carry many quality air purifiers that circulate and purify indoor air.

Did you know that Filters Fast has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau? There are currently only approximately 300,000 accredited businesses nationwide that carry an A+ rating. Filters Fast has been accredited by the BBB since May 3, 2006. Accreditation means that Filters Fast pays a fee for the Better Business Bureau to review and monitor, as well as support BBB services to the public.

There are 16 factors that determine how the Better Business Bureau rates a business:

1. Type of business

2. Time in business

3. Competency licensing

4. Complaint volume

5. Unanswered complaints

6. Unresolved complaints

7. Serious complaints

8. Complaint analysis

9. Complaint resolution delayed

10. Failure to address complaint pattern

11. Government action

12. Advertising review

13. Background information

14. Clear understanding of business

15. Mediation/arbitration

16. Revocation

Some of the specific factors used in our evaluation include: the length of time in business, the number of complaints filed against Filters Fast based on the company’s size, response and resolution of any complaints filed, and the fact that the BBB has sufficient information about Filters Fast available so that the bureau can accurately evaluate our business.

Filters Fast opened for business in early 2004, and was incorporated in April 2005. Our Excellent rating with Stella Service independently confirms the BBB’s decision to give us an A+ rating.