Indoor air products for Jacksonville's three kinds of house

Three houses, three different kinds of bad air

The 1920s Craftsman in Springfield. Tall windows, wood floors over a crawlspace, plaster walls. It breathes whether you want it to or not. Outside air comes in through the floor, the window weights and the attic, carrying oak pollen in March, pine pollen in April and street dust all year. Its indoor air problem is particles.

The 1965 block ranch on the Westside. Slab floor, low attic, ductwork from the Johnson administration. The duct leaks, so the system pulls hot attic air laden with insulation fibers into the house and pushes conditioned air out. Its problem is the duct, and everything the duct drags in.

The 2006 stucco two-story in Oceanway. Built tight, house-wrapped, double-paned. Almost no outside air gets in on its own. It holds cooking smells, shower steam and the moisture of six people breathing, and on a mild 78-degree October day the AC barely runs so none of it leaves. Its problem is humidity and stale air.

Roughly 57 percent of Jacksonville housing is 2000 or newer, which is why the third house generates the most calls on this subject.

The problem each product solves

Good, better, best within each category

Filtration runs from a one-inch pleated filter, through a deep media cabinet of four or five inches, to an electronic air cleaner or HEPA bypass unit. Dehumidifiers run from a stand-alone unit with its own small duct to a fully integrated ducted model with its own controls. Ventilation runs from a simple fresh-air damper on the return to a full energy recovery ventilator that conditions the incoming air. The Lennox Healthy Climate line covers each rung; ask which specific models Cook’s stocks for this market. [[CONFIRM WITH JERRY]]

Installation notes for Jacksonville homes

1. Dehumidifiers drain. In an Oceanway attic install the drain ties into the air handler’s condensate line, with its own float switch. In a Springfield closet it needs a route to a drain that does not cross a heart-pine floor.
2. Filter cabinets need return space. On a Westside ranch with a single return, we often enlarge the return before adding a deep filter, or the blower starves.
3. UV lamps need a shielded mount. They go at the coil, wired to run with the blower, out of the line of sight of anyone opening the panel.
4. ERVs need a path in and out. Two small penetrations through the wall or roof, kept clear of the dryer vent and the condenser exhaust.
5. Surge protection on any product with a control board, because Northeast Florida’s lightning does not spare air cleaners.

Match an air cleaner to your Jacksonville house

Maintenance by season, pollen to first freeze

Pollen season, February through May, is filter season: inspect monthly, change when gray. June through September is dehumidifier season: rinse its filter, confirm the drain runs. October’s first cool, dry week is when an ERV earns its keep and when a UV lamp gets checked. A fall maintenance visit covers all of it in one stop. Products from the Healthy Climate line are what we install; we service air quality equipment from other brands already in Jacksonville houses as well.