looking to improve air quality

[macssuck]

I'm trying to improve the air quality in my house. I'm located in the Central valley in California which is in the top 10 areas for bad air quality in the nation. Certain times of the year I sneeze almost non stop from the junk in the air. I'm looking to filter the air better and also introduce some fresh air in the house without having to open windows. I have talked to a few companies but it seems like with the economy most are only a shell of what used to be there and only do basic things now.

I have a 1700 sq ft house.
3.5 ton York Package unit on roof and ductwork in attic. It does a good job heating and cooling.
2 existing 20x25x1 return grills. I'm using MERV 6? air filters.
I use a Honeywell enviracare portable air cleaner in the master bedroom with good results but its noisy.

I have 2 bathrooms and an indoor laundry room. The laundry room has a cat litter box. I was thinking the guest bathroom and the laundry room could be exhausted by a ERV/HRV since the fans are pretty much shot in those room anyway but everything I see seems to be around tying these into a split system and never a package unit.

Any help would be appreciated. I don't know if there is someone in my area that I have overlooked or if I can gain the knowledge to work with the local company I do trust to put something together.

[B.C.Mech]

you could try out contractor map to see if there are any in your area.

[macssuck]

you could try out contractor map to see if there are any in your area.

Good idea. I had not looked at it in a while but there isn't anything near me.

[teddy bear]

I'm trying to improve the air quality in my house. I'm located in the Central valley in California which is in the top 10 areas for bad air quality in the nation. Certain times of the year I sneeze almost non stop from the junk in the air. I'm looking to filter the air better and also introduce some fresh air in the house without having to open windows. I have talked to a few companies but it seems like with the economy most are only a shell of what used to be there and only do basic things now.

I have a 1700 sq ft house.
3.5 ton York Package unit on roof and ductwork in attic. It does a good job heating and cooling.
2 existing 20x25x1 return grills. I'm using MERV 6? air filters.
I use a Honeywell enviracare portable air cleaner in the master bedroom with good results but its noisy.

I have 2 bathrooms and an indoor laundry room. The laundry room has a cat litter box. I was thinking the guest bathroom and the laundry room could be exhausted by a ERV/HRV since the fans are pretty much shot in those room anyway but everything I see seems to be around tying these into a split system and never a package unit.

Any help would be appreciated. I don't know if there is someone in my area that I have overlooked or if I can gain the knowledge to work with the local company I do trust to put something together.

All of your filters should be +merv 11 at a minimum. I suggest 100 cfm of makeup fresh air ventilation when the home is occupied. A merv 16 air filter with activated charcoal would be optimium.
Exhausting baths and laundry rooms with a good kitchen hood are also good options. In green grass climates, a whole dehumidifier to maintain <50%RH is important.
Keep us posted on your actions and results.
Regards TB

[jtrammel]

With a package unit you should look into economizers to bring in outdoor air. Honeywell makes a 4" media filter that fits most filter grill configurations honeywell fc40.

[macssuck]

With a package unit you should look into economizers to bring in outdoor air. Honeywell makes a 4" media filter that fits most filter grill configurations honeywell fc40.

I looked into economizers but then it looks like I need to have a filter in the HVAC unit on the roof and didn't think I could put a decent filter in the unit without severely restricting flow. Right now the unit I have is a 1 speed fan I believe so I wasn't sure if that could be changed to so I could run it on low for ventilation and normal for heat/cool.

[teddy bear]

I looked into economizers but then it looks like I need to have a filter in the HVAC unit on the roof and didn't think I could put a decent filter in the unit without severely restricting flow. Right now the unit I have is a 1 speed fan I believe so I wasn't sure if that could be changed to so I could run it on low for ventilation and normal for heat/cool.

Think about an air change of fresh filtered in 4 hours when you home is occupied. Filtering with a merv 14 filter and a bed of active charcoal/potassium promagenate as the best in most cases. Whenever the outdoor dew point is +55^F, dehumidification is needed to maintain <50%RH inside the home. The only package that I know of that will do all this is the Ultra-Aire 100V. This package will remove gaseous pollutants and particulate.
http://ultra-aire.com/pdf/Ultra-Aire...Spec_Sheet.pdf
You will need the optional merv 14 filter and the carbon media option.
Regards TB