Heat pump week is all about sharing knowledge. It is not ironic at all to have heat pump week during one of the hottest weeks ever with fires hitting the headlines. Here we will tackle the topic of wildfire smoke and how heat pumps can help and how they cannot.
I traveled to my Stepmom and Dad’s Ohio birthday party just a week ago. She turned 80 and no less than 80 people came in from all over the country and even Europe. The familial love was amazing, but the air quality was terrible, over 500 AQI as we stepped off the plane.
Dipping to mid 100s was the best we saw all week. Wildfire smoke crossing lake Erie from Quebec and Ottowa was the source.
Healthwise, it is the equivalent to everyone smoking a pack of cigarettes daily and not good for kids or elderly.
Our AirBnB was a cute bungalow near the water and equipped with a single head ductless heat pump for all the heating an cooling needs. Lilly asked me why we need to keep the doors open on that first night. “It’s needed to condition each room.”
That’s one thing about ductless heat pumps, all the doors need to be open to cool all the rooms. A closed door will trend towards the outdoor temperature if its air can’t mix with the HVAC system.
Family friends from Luxemburg flew in for the week. I hadn’t seen them in a quarter century, since teaching their son how to skateboard in San Francisco. Now he’s grown and leading net zero initiatives in Britain.
But I was worried for his mother who was visiting in Ohio and having a hard time breathing. Their Bed and Breakfast had a window cooling unit and a boiler for HVAC. Hearing her cough, I thought something had to be done.
I asked Lilly and she agreed. Then I got the green light from our visiting friends and with thanks too. Before dinner was over, my family ran to Lowe’s and bought a box fan, four of their best air filters and a roll of duct tape. I dropped off my family at the ice cream shop and went on to construct a box filter in about 15 minutes and turned it on in their room before they got back. Ahhh…
The next day we gathered and I was so happy to hear that she was breathing better and even able to exercise in the room. That night they were looking forward to the very nice air in their room. The thing about a good DIY box filter is that it beats most filter systems costing much more. Yes!
You see, air conditioning and air filtration are two different things. A ductless system, a window unit, a floor unit or radiator don’t clean the air. A ducted system does clean the air, as it is constantly scrubbing the air from particulates, pollen and much more. A floor or box filter can do that too.
As we see longer wildfire seasons it is good to review what you can do in your own home to keep the air healthy and clean.
Ductless mini split heat pumps are amazing for comfort and efficiency. However, they were not built to filter air. When we design heat pump systems we are sure to be clear on your goals for comfort and air quality too!
