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Five Times More Polluted

Cleaning the air inside your home is one of the best things that you can do for your health and the health of your family. The EPA has published studies that indicate the air in your home is much more polluted than the outside air.

Adding an air cleaning system, not a see through dime store filter, to your new air conditioning system now can save you many hundreds of dollars and help to deliver good health tomorrow. Just what are you breathing?

Most Air Cleaners Don't Work!

Number one air conditioning contractorI have been criticized considerably over the years because my outspokenness. I have even been sued to little or no avail because of what I have said. Most people tend to take the easy route and try to avoid calling a piece of garbage a piece of garbage, but not me. I don’t think I could live with myself if I candy coated everything that I said.

Most air cleaners don’t work. Room air cleaners are garbage. If you only clean the air in one room in the home that would be clean air in one room, if and only if that one room was magically hermetically sealed. What happens if you open the door? Don’t the contaminates from the rest of the home rush in? How about that room air cleaner that doesn’t use a fan and doesn’t have a filter? What a pile of garbage. If you are pulling debris out of the air, you need a place for it to be deposited in or on. I have never seen an air filtration machine on an infomercial that was anything but a waste of money. If you are not cleaning all the air in your home, then you are not cleaning any of the air in your home. Would you wash only the top half of a drinking glass and consider that glass clean? Of course not. Would you only wash 3 of the 4 tines on a fork and consider it sanitary? Of course not.  Then why would you only clean a portion of the air in your home and consider it clean? Common sense says that is just plain crazy.

The problem with Air Conditioning Air Filters and Furnace Air Filters

Furnace air filters and furnace based air cleaners are entirely different filtration medias. Air filters for furnaces are generally designed to save your furnace from large debris picked up by the vacuuming effect of the furnace blower motor. That large debris that they pick up is, for the most part, not harmful to you. Sure, it looks gross, sure it can make you cough, but large debris is usually not a problem health wise as the cilia, or hair strands in your nasal and air passageways, will pick up those larger chunks of floating debris and not allow them to get into your lungs. It is the small stuff that is harmful.

That is one of the reason why I like to call those throw away furnace filters the “dogs cats and bowling ball filters” of the forced air furnace age. “Dogs cats and bowling balls” maybe a little harsh, but that is all they are really designed to stop. Those furnace air filters are designed to protect your forced air furnace and they don’t do a very good job at that.

So exactly what is a furnace air filter? A furnace air filter is the freebie gift the forced air furnace manufacturers give you. It is also the spun fiberglass or light paper filter you can get for a few dollars down at the local hardware store. If you can see through the furnace air filter, it isn’t doing your lungs much good. Paper air filters can be very good, but the good ones will not be a couple of dollars and the good ones will have pleats like a skirt. The more pleats the better the furnace air filter and the deeper the pleats the better the furnace air filter.

Why are more and deeper pleats better in a forced air furnace air filter? The more pleats, the more surface area. The more surface area, the slower the air travels across the filter. The slower the air travels across the filter, the more holding power (or loading power) the filter has and the better job of cleaning that it can do. In this case bigger really is better.

Let us go over the types of furnace air filters and air cleaning devices that are available on the market today:

1: See through filter from the furnace manufacturer. Maybe be pawned off as electrostatic in nature (but never in writing).

Chepa throw away see through air filterThis furnace air filter is garbage for cleaning the air that you breathe. It is designed to protect the forced air furnace or air handler for the short run. If damage occurs to the forced air furnace or air handler because the filter lets too much dirt past it the manufacturer will back away from the warranty and state that the damage is from a lack of maintenance. Your warranty was just voided. Stay far away from this air filtration. Yes, we have installed many of these low end air filters. Some people just will not believe that a quality air filtration media makes a difference even it only costs them a few dollars. This air filtration media is usually made of a nylon-plastic weave. This filter is 10-15% efficient. Stay away from this filter.

2. Dime store throw away filters.

air filter for furnaceAbout the only thing this type of media air filter is good for is filling up the landfills. These types of furnace air filter is generally 1” wide (commercial ones are 2” wide) and are very lightly pleated. It really isn’t much in the way of pleating as it looks more like a wave than a pleat. These are generally between 10-20% efficient. What if you got a grade like that when you went to school? Do you think anybody would have thought that you were doing a good job? These furnace air filters do little to nothing in the way of cleaning the air that you breathe, but they do a poor to fair job of protecting your furnace and after a few years of not being changed do a good to great job of breaking down your furnace. Good for companies like mine, but not good for you. Stay away from this filter.

2: Hog Hair filter

Furnace filtration hog hairThis filter is not made of hog hair. It is a spun plastic that does create a small electrostatic charge as air passes through it. Generally recognized as around 20% efficient. This is the short term favorite for the HVAC technician. We usually buy them in bulk or in rolls and cut them to fit for furnaces that are suffering from no filter at all or a filthy filter that cannot be cleaned. It isn’t very cost effective to drive a truck big enough to carry all the different filter types and sizes (you would need a semi-truck) and a moderate filter is far better than no filter at all. If you are looking into a new system this isn’t what you want and isn’t what you should settle for, but in a pinch it works. The trouble with this filter is that when it loads up with debris, and it will, the airflow increases in those areas of the filter that are not plugged up. This causes the surrounding trapped debris to be sucked through the filter and into your air supply. This type of forced air furnace air filter is considered a permanent filter, but after a few years of washing the rigidity of the filter gives out and the filter must be replaced as it cannot hold its shape.

3: True Pleated Air Filter

Air filter for furnaces and air conditionersOf all the throw away air filters on the market this is probably the best for the money spent. 3M actually makes a filter that costs between 20 and 30 dollars that producing some very good results, at least at first. I don’t have the data for filtration capabilities when the filter becomes loaded, but I suspect that the data doesn’t support a very good number at that point. If you are reading this 3M, send me the data. This is the only throw away filter I will recommend to anyone who doesn’t have significant allergy problems. 3M filtrate is the brand name. If you go to their website (just Google it) the advertising sounds wonderful. It stops up to 99% of large particles down to the .3 micron range. Wonderful, great, but what in the world does that really mean? The first key word is large and the second key word is .3 microns. I could design an air filter that stops 100% of all large particles the size of a breadbox and bigger, what good what that do? It is the smaller particles that cause the problems so why even tell anyone that the filter stops large particles. Trash talk advertising is what it is. Despite the misdirection in advertising, I am giving thumbs up on this filter for non-allergy sufferers.

4. Electrostatic Air Filters

Electrostatic furnace air filterThis is a permanent furnace air filter and generally, they do last a very long time, five or more years. They can trap up to about 90% of harmful debris and the amount they trap depends on the brand. Stay away from the cut to fit brands as they tend to fall apart after a couple of years. We have installed a great many of these over the last few decades and have had great luck in filtering the air, but also some problems. Do not install an electrostatic air filter on your heating and air conditioning system if you have air conditioning and you only have a single filter. It will cause problems and the chances are very good that your HVAC technician will not be able to figure out why your HVAC system no longer cools your home as well at it used to. Despite claims by a variety of manufacturers, the electrostatic filter develops a considerable amount of static resistance to airflow. That static resistance to airflow inhibits the ability of the forced air furnace or air handler to push the correct amount of airflow that your air conditioning system demands in order to function at its peak ability. Lack of airflow means lack of cooling. This became a lot worse for cooling your home when the new standards for air conditioning were adopted in a few years ago. The 13 SEER minimum standard saw a dramatic change in air conditioning evaporator coils. I am going to get a little technical here as it really is needed. In order for air conditioning systems to increase their efficiency, more surface area was needed in the evaporator coil (the indoor coil) to exchange heat with the indoor air. That meant more coil fins. 10 SEER evaporator coils had 6-8 fins per inch and the newest coils now can have as many as 18 fins per inch and be twice as large. This caused a shift in the static air resistance in the coils. Most coils are now have a static airflow resistance of over 0.3 when the older coils were below 0.15. This means that today’s coils have twice as much static resistance to airflow as the coils of just few years ago. This decreases the amount of airflow through the system. This can be made up for by increasing the size of the ductwork to reduce the static resistance in the ductwork countering the problems brought on by the coils. Now throw in a furnace air filter that adds a considerable amount of air resistance and keeps adding more resistance as it loads up dirt. It can cause icing problems, floods and generally a very dissatisfied client. It is so bad that our installation invoices even have a check box on them marked “Electrostatic Air Filters are for Heating Only Systems”. Great filter for heating only systems, but a disaster for air conditioning systems.

5. Electronic Air Cleaners

Furnace filter. Air cleaner electronic air cleanerTouted as the greatest air cleaning and purifying (this is the first filtration system on this list that actually qualifies as an air cleaner) device on the market for the last couple of decades this air filtration device is one I never liked. They clean the air fantastically for the first few days of operation after cleaning, but then go downhill rapidly as they become dirty. It isn’t long after the cleaning that that these beasts are in the same boat as the “dogs, cats and bowl balls filters”. If you want to clean your furnace air filter every two weeks then this is the filter for you. If you don’t mind the snap crackle and pop of a outdoor bug zapper located in your home under your furnace, then this furnace air filter is for you. When clean, this filter is over the 90% for small particles. It won’t reach HEPA standards, but this is the first unit that an allergy suffer should settle for on this list.

6. Five and Six Inch Pleated Filters

Pleated furnace air filterThere are a number of manufacturers of pleated furnace air filters in this category. These are filters that are in boxes to the side or underneath your furnace. They are way too large to be in the furnace. Space guard, April Air and American Standard all make these. These are great filters and I have actually had these in the past in my own home. I now have an AccuClean by American Standard (We will get into that later). This filter versus the electronic filter is rather interesting. The electronic air filter is supposedly cleaner to start, but loses efficacy quickly. This filter not only begins being very efficient, but doesn’t lose that efficiency as it loads up. The real problem with this filter is that you have to purchase the filter up to twice a year and they can be $50 or more. Excellent for allergy suffers, but the rest of us don’t need to spend that kind of money every year for air filtration. Overall, I am giving this type of filter a thumbs up. It does exactly what it says it will do.

7. HEPA Filters

HEPA air conditioning and furnace air filterGenuine HEPA filters (High efficiency particulate arrestors) must be engineered to each system. They create a massive static pressure in the airstream and cannot be used on standard heaters and air conditioners without a lot of modifications. They are expensive costing upwards of $200 each. I buy them for my air duct cleaners as I don’t want any debris we pull out the duct system to land in or enter the atmosphere of our clients homes. You can get them locally as there is a manufacturer here in Huntington Beach. I do not recommend these for anything but crucial situations such as clean rooms. We have installed many of these in clean rooms for circuit board manufacturing and medical research, but those systems are designed for them and they are not subject to SEER requirements. You will destroy the efficiency of your air conditioning system if you install this type of system on it, even with engineering. Thumbs down for residential systems.

8. American Standard AccuClean and Trane CleanEffects

Americian Standard Premium Air FilterThis is the same filter and just for the record, the American Standard Corporation (now owned by Ingersoll Rand) did not invent it. This was invented by a firm in England and American Standard bought the rights to it for use in the United States and wow, did they make a great purchase. Simply the best filter I have ever seen, installed or used personally. I didn’t believe all the hype when the AccuClean and the CleanEffects first came out and it took a couple of years for me to install one in my own home. The one installed in my own home was a “whoops” unit. It was installed by mistake and scratched up by the installers. We couldn’t resell it as it was now “used” so I decided to find out if the hype was true or not. One of the pictures on this website, the horizontal furnace with the dirty air filter halfway out of it, is actually my home just before we installed the American Standard AccuClean.

I’m as guilty as anyone else when it comes to maintaining my furnace. It is indeed everything that was advertised and more. Far cleaner and far less airflow resistance than my last filter. A couple of years after I installed mine the manufacturer had the system tested again by the only testing lab in the United States certified for air cleaner testing and it was determined that the initial test result results were wrong. The filter was, in fact, better than HEPA quality and had less resistance to airflow than thought. My experience was verified in the lab. Thumbs up for this permanent air cleaner.

If you have read this far on this page you are either a very smart homeowner doing a lot of research making sure that you will get exactly what you are paying for, good for you, or you are my competition trying to find out why more and more people are choosing the Empire Family of Services over you for their home comfort needs, good for you to.

The bottom line…….if we install it for you and it doesn’t meet your needs, if it doesn’t do exactly what we say it will…then give us call and we will give you back your money, all of your money. Our guarantee states that you can ask for and receive all of your money for the first 365 days after and installation for any reason or no reason at all. This kind of guarantee, in writing on every single agreement, means that you are in control and means that if we lie to you or if we exaggerate anything, then we are on the hook, not you.

You cannot possible make a mistake in have us, the Empire Family of Services, give you a helping hand. (877) 247-6426

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    Visit our glossary and discover the language of heating and air conditioning.

"...I want to thank you for the prompt service you delivered....your man performed very well. His work ethic and his skill deserve recognition for a job well done."

 

Robert Wagner

"...service was excellent and your employees Keith and Barry were very courteous and seemed well trained. We were not only satisfied with the installation of the furnace, but their cleanup of materials as afterward. We most highly recommend them based upon the quality of service that they provided us."

 

David and Beatrice Blair

 

"We discovered that our furnace needed to be completely removed and replaced. It was done in less than a day. They were helpful, friendly and very professional. I would recommend them in a minute and we will continue to use Empire for and job"

 

Laurie Beker

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Clean Air = Clean Lungs

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Your air conditioning tune up is the first step in controlling the quality of your indoor air.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learn more about duct cleaning and indoor air quality by clicking here.

Is your air conditioning system capable of reducing or eliminating the three danger levels of indoor air pollution? Study and study has shown that the air inside the average home is upwards of 5 times more polluted than the air outside the home.

A good place to start down the road to clean air recovery is have the Empire Family of Services perform an air conditioning and heating tune up for you. You have three filters in your air conditioning system. The first filter is the filter inside the furnace or return air chamber. We clean that one during your air conditioning tune up. The second filter is inside the evaporator coil. The evaporator is wet the entire time the air conditioning is running. When dirt and debris make it past your first air conditioning filter they can become trapped on the moist sticky surface of the evaporator coil creating a breeding ground for indoor air pollution.

We’ll take of that with a thorough cleaning during your air conditioning tune up. The dirt and pollutants that make it past your second air filter, the indoor evaporator coil, pass through your ducting and into the airstream of the home where they can get caught in your third air filter, your lungs.
An A/C tune up helps to keep your lungs clean

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why not take care of your lungs and your health by starting down the road to clean air recovery is to have the Empire Family of Services perform your air conditioning tune up today. Give us a call at (877) 247-6426 and book your ticket to clean air recovery now.

 

A home heating and air conditioning system that breaks down is no comfort at all.

 

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A home heating and air conditioning system that breaks down is no comfort at all.
 

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The Empire Difference

 
  • Experienced, factory-trained,  and Comfort Certified technicians specializing in installation and service.
  • A dedicated fleet of more than 50 service vehicles pre-loaded with the necessary supplies.
  • A large inventory of materials and parts.
  • Up-front honest pricing guarantees.
  • Removal of old equipment at no additional cost.
  • Drop cloths and carpet protectors that leave work areas neat and clean upon each job’s completion.
  • Quality time tested heating and cooling products at the best dollar value.
 
 
 
 
 
 

This combination of services, combined with our Low-Low prices, is why most of our customers choose Empire over the competition for air conditioning repairs and air conditioning tune ups. We are your HVAC company.

- Jim Eichman, President Empire Family of Services

 

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We've been around since 1992 serving tens of thousands of clients just like you in homes just like yours. We have the experience and the know how to solve your heating and air conditioning problems the first time and we can do it ensuring that you spend the least amount of money possible.

 

Some of the cities that we work in are: Aliso Viejo, Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Cypress, Dana Point, El Toro, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Irvine, La Habra, La Palma, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach, Orange, Placentia, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Stanton, Tustin, Trabuco Canyon, Villa Park, Westminster, Yorba Linda, Sunset Beach, Bell Gardens, Bellflower, Carson, Cerritos, Commerce, Diamond Bar, Downey, Gardena, Hawaiian Gardens, Industry, La Habra Heights, Lakewood, La Mirada, Long Beach, Lynwood, Montebello, Norwalk, Palos Verdes, Paramount, Pico Rivera, Rancho Palos Verdes, Santa Fe Springs, Signal Hill, South Gate, Whittier

We specialize in heating repair, furnace repair, air conditioning repair, a/c repair, a c repair, duct repair, duct cleaning. We also install new air conditioning, new a/c systems, new furnaces, new heaters and new heating systems. We work on heat pumps, split air conditioning systems, water furnaces, hydronic heaters, package air conditioners and mini split ductless systems.


Learn about the differences in Freon and what is in store in the future for your new air conditioning and new heating systems.

Contact us via email at info@empirecares.com for all your air conditioning problems and all your heating and furnace problems or you call us now at (877) 247-6426 and we can get started today in making all your air conditioning problems, heating problems and indoor air problems a thing of the past.

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duct cleaning should be performed when the ducts are dirty

Spring cleaning is a misnomer. If you furnace needs to be cleaned, if your air conditioner needs to be cleaned it should be serviced now. Waiting until a certain time of year is foolish because........

- Jim Eichman, President Empire Family of Services

duct cleaning should not be performed by carpet cleaners

Be careful when you have your ducts cleaned. There are many companies that end up causing more problems than they solve. Some of these problems are......

- Jim Eichman, President Empire Family of Services