Archive for the ‘Health’ Category
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012
There are certain times in life where second best simply is not good enough, and the when it comes to the indoor air quality in your home, settling for second best shouldn’t be an option especially if you have people in the home that suffer from respiratory conditions. The air you breathe during the winter months is full of leftover pollen from the previous season and heaping amounts of dust that accumulate during the long months spent inside. These contaminants are often the cause of respiratory illnesses, asthma and allergy flares, and bad smells in the home. These things will not go away without intervention, and now is the time to do something about it. At Four Seasons we offer our customers the number one rated professionally installed whole house filtration system from Lennox.
Get Cleaner, Healthier Air Today!
The Healthy Climate 16 Media Air Cleaner is one of the most impressive air cleaners out there. The unit is professionally installed into the duct work of any forced air heating and cooling system, and as air circulates through the home it all passes through this high tech system to be purified. Here are some of the many perks of choosing this air cleaner for your home:
- No additional energy costs beyond what you already pay to operate the furnace or air conditioner (more…)
Tags: #1 air cleaner, 16 Media filter, Air Cleaner, air purifier, Air Quality, cartridges, duct work, energy efficiency, Four Seasons, hvac system, indoor air, installed professionally, Lennox, microns, purity
Posted in Air Quality, Air filtration, Furnace, Health, Tips and Suggestions, furnace filtration | Comments Off
Friday, September 30th, 2011
The Chicagoland air quality this time of year can vary. The local weather report may indicate that the ragweed is at a moderate level or the mold count level is high. The same may be true of the air quality in your home. Mold and contaminants can affect the air in your home and your health. It may also interfere with your heating and cooling system. A germicidal light such as a Healthy Climate UVC-24V from Four Seasons can help to produce cleaner air in your home. The germicidal light produces strong rays of ultraviolet light to help reduce harmful pathogens in your home.
Do More that Just Get a Flu Shot!
As any mom knows, flu season can be an exhausting time of the year. It usually hits around the Holidays, right when you have the most going on. You can protect your family from harmful viruses like the flu by getting more than just a flu shot. Do more to protect your family by having a Four Seasons germicidal UV light installed. The UV light operates whether your heating and cooling system is running or not. It continuously destroys bacteria and viruses before the pollutants enter your duct system. You can give your family peace of mind knowing that this same technology is used in operating rooms and clinics across the U.S. Call and ask one of our friendly representatives about what you can do to protect your family’s health this winter, and get a free quote on one of our germicidal UV lights today!
Tags: Air Quality, Chicago, contaminents, Four Seasons, free quote, germicidal light, IL, installation, mold, UV Light, viruses, winter
Posted in Air Quality, Air filtration, Health, Informational, Safety | Comments Off
Tuesday, September 20th, 2011
At this time of year, most people are fussing about their furnaces and many forget to even take a second glance at the humidifier. The unit has been off all summer, but as the temperatures plummet, the humidity levels in your home will sink too. The heat from the furnace will dry out the air in your home to desert like conditions, and you don’t want to go turn on the humidifier only to find that it is not working properly or worse that it is leaking. Four Seasons Heating and Air Conditioning includes a free humidifier inspection with every furnace or boiler tune up that we perform, and we can help you get the humidifier back up and running before the air in your home becomes too parched.
Leaks, Clogs, and Filter Pads
Humidifier maintenance is fairly simple. If you keep on top of filter changes, you should never have any real problems with the system, but if you ever do find something wrong with the unit it is usually manifested as a leak. An old filter and a clog in the water line are the two most common causes of the leak, but many homeowners don’t spend enough time around their system to even notice if there are any issues. First let’s talk about that filter. It needs to be replaced yearly in order for the system to work properly, and if it isn’t, it becomes a breeding ground for mold. Mold in the humidifier can quickly become mold all over your home if you are not careful. The humidifier feeds moisture directly into the air circulation of the home, and with that moisture, it can also spread the mold. (more…)
Tags: air circulation, Arlington Heights, Chicago, cleaning, filter pad, Four Seasons, Furnace, humidifier, humidity levels, leaks, maintenance, moisture, mold, St. Charles
Posted in Air Quality, Furnace, Health, Heating, maintenance | Comments Off
Monday, September 12th, 2011
You can never have enough information when it comes to protecting your family from carbon monoxide poisoning, so we have come up with four more tips to keep in mind this winter as we all begin to use our heating equipment once again. We went straight to our technicians and asked for some of their advice, and these four tips are what they produced:
- Yearly Check-up: When you have your furnace maintained yearly by Four Seasons, the technician will always test for the presence of carbon monoxide. During the inspection he will be able to locate even small carbon monoxide leaks and repair them before they become a major safety hazard in the home. There are many benefits to having the furnace or boiler tuned up, but this is probably one of the most critical reasons to consider this service this fall.
- CO Detector Life Spans: Many homeowners believe the misconception that you only need to purchase carbon monoxide detectors once, but this belief could not be more wrong. Most carbon monoxide detectors last only a few years although some may last up to ten. After their expiration, they can no longer be considered a reliable source for carbon monoxide readings. There have been many times our technicians will enter a home, find very high readings of CO, and then find that the carbon monoxide detectors were no longer functioning. The unit may still test as functional, but unless you know for sure that they last longer, your carbon monoxide detectors should be replaced every five years. (more…)
Tags: Barrington, blood levels, Boiler, Carbon Monoxide, carbon monoxide detector, Chicago, Four Seasons, Furnace, Harvey, Health, Heating, Hometown, IL, life span, maintenance, protection, repair, Safety, winter
Posted in Boiler, Furnace, Furnace Repair, Health, Heating, Tips and Suggestions, maintenance | Comments Off
Thursday, August 18th, 2011
The heat and humidity that this summer has brought us has created a plethora of problems for people across the Chicagoland area. From broken down air conditioners to irritated allergies, almost everyone has been negatively affected in some way. However, those that suffer with asthma or other respiratory problems have had it much worse than the rest of us. When the humidity and the heat are high, breathing becomes a difficult task for anyone with asthma. Imagine breathing thick moisture laden air through a straw on a very hot day, and you may be able to picture what it is like for someone with asthma to breathe during this season. Their only source of relief can be found in a well maintained air conditioning unit, and if you have been suffering with asthma without one, it is now time to call Four Seasons.
How Air Conditioners Relieve Asthma
The biggest impact that air conditioners have on asthma symptoms is found in their ability to remove humidity from the air. Excess moisture in the air can really make getting a full deep breath difficult, but every time the air conditioner turns on, its first task is to remove as much excess moisture from the air as possible. Once the moisture is gone, it begins to cool the home which further eases difficulty breathing. Another big benefit that comes from having an air conditioner is its ability to remove asthma irritants from the air in the home. When equipped with a clean and high efficiency filter, your air conditioner will filter out mold, pollen, dust, and many other pollutants that can exacerbate asthma symptoms. (more…)
Tags: air conditioner, asthma, Chicago, cleaning, Cooling, filter, Four Seasons, Health, heat, humidity, IL, maintenance, moisture, New Lenox, pollutants, repairs, summer, symptoms, Tune Up, Wheaton
Posted in Air Conditioner Repair, Air Quality, Air conditioning, Health, maintenance | Comments Off
Thursday, August 11th, 2011
If you are in the market for an air purification system, then you have probably noticed how complex and confusing some of these air quality improvement systems can be. Special chemicals, monthly filter changes, and water refills are among the problems that many homeowners find with the majority of air quality systems. Although these units may boast about their ability to remove particles from the air in your home, why does it have to be so complicated? Well, with Four Seasons it doesn’t. Our air quality improvement systems offer simple and effective pollutant removal, and when you think about it, isn’t that all that you are looking for?
Simplifying Air Quality
- Air Cleaners: Air cleaners like the Healthy Climate 16 Media air cleaner from Lennox work just like your furnace’s filter, but better because they have the ability to remove far more debris than the typical furnace filter. This particular unit is incorporated right into your duct work and it will remove over 95% of particles down to 0.3 micron. It is also able to remove over 90% of bioaerosols and microbes down to .01micron. It does all this with basically no need for maintenance besides one yearly filter change that can be handled during your normal furnace cleanings. (more…)
Tags: air cleaning, air filter, air purifier, Air Quality, Chicago, duct work, Four Seasons, HVAC, IL, improvement, installation, micron, professional, Round Lake Beach, Sauk Village, UV Light
Posted in Air Quality, Air filtration, Health, furnace filtration | Comments Off
Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011
When you own a home, there could be hundreds of little problems within its walls that are hidden from view. A builder may decide to cut corners or a repairman may “jerry-rig” something to make it work. Either way, you end up with a problem inside the home that is not up to code. At Four Seasons, we have been running across several homes in the Chicagoland area that have problems with their clothes dryer duct and vent. The worst of these problems are vents that do not vent to the outdoors. Instead, they dump into a ceiling or attic, and the problems this can cause could be devastating to a home.
Improperly Venting Dryer Ducts
- Encouraging Mold Growth: As your dryer dries your clothes, it vents out large amounts of hot humid air. In homes that don’t have a proper venting system, all of this hot air could be filling up the damp dark spaces under floorboards and inside the attic. All of this excess moisture creates the perfect environment for mold and mildew to thrive! We have discussed in the past the many dangers of having mold growth in the home, and allowing a problem like this to go unchecked could be encouraging this very serious issue. (more…)
Tags: Chicago, danger, dryer vent, fire hazard, Four Seasons, Fox Valley, Glendale Heights, mildew, mold, repair, replacement, Safety, Warrenville
Posted in Health, Home Services, Safety, Vent Cleaning | Comments Off
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011
During the hottest days of summer here in Chicago, the biggest complaint that most people have is with the humidity not the heat. The muggy and uncomfortable atmosphere created by large amounts of moisture in the air makes it hard to breathe and many turn to the aid of their air conditioning system to remove all of the excess unwanted moisture from the air. If your unit is working properly, it will do this without problems, but if there is a backup in your condensation drain system, you could end up with some serious damage to the entire unit.
Removing Humidity from the Home
The air conditioner must first pull the moisture or humidity from the air in the home before it is able to effectively bring down the temperature to the desired level. It does this by condensing water from its gaseous form to a liquid form as it passes over the coils. The water is then dumped into a condensation drain pan and eventually down a condensation drain. This safely removes the water from the home’s air. (more…)
Tags: air conditioner, Bristol, Chicago, clogged drain, condensation, Cooling, Four Seasons, health concerns, humidity, IL, leak, maintenance, mold, Oswego, repair, Tune Up, water
Posted in Air Quality, Air conditioning, Health, maintenance | Comments Off
Thursday, June 30th, 2011
This summer, asthma and allergy symptoms are being exacerbated by the painfully high levels of pollen and other allergens in the air, and for many homeowners, the indoors offer very little relief from the poor outdoor air quality here in Chicago. What these homes need is a comprehensive indoor air quality overhaul performed by Four Seasons Heating and Air Conditioning. We can help you transform your home into a fresh air oasis this summer season. It only takes a few steps.
6 Indoor Air Quality Improvements:
- Duct Cleaning: A professional duct cleaning from Four Seasons will remove any asthma irritating contaminants that have been growing or lingering in your ducts over the years.
- Cartridge Filter: The typical furnace setup only have a one inch filter cartridge. Imagine how much more debris you could capture if you had Four Seasons expand that cartridge to 5 inches of filter material. (more…)
Tags: air exchange, Air Purification, Air Quality, asthma, Chicago, Duct Cleaning, Elk Grove Village, filter, Four Seasons, Health, humidifier pad, IL, maintenance, Safety, UV Light
Posted in Air Quality, Air conditioning, Air filtration, Duct Cleaning, Health | Comments Off
Monday, June 20th, 2011
When it comes to indoor air pollution, many immediately think of carbon monoxide, pollen, or mold as the main contributors. You may install CO detectors, clean up after floods, and take allergy medications to prevent any of these pollutants from taking effect in your home, but are you doing anything to protect your family from formaldehyde? Here at Four Seasons, we find that many people know little to nothing about the potential health effects of this harmful compound, and many more don’t even realize that they could have formaldehyde already in their home! There is one easy way to remove this pollutant, and as always, Four Seasons Heating and Air Conditioning has the solution!
Formaldehyde Can Affect Anyone!
Certain pollutants are more common in older homes when compared to newer constructions, but when it comes to formaldehyde, any home at any age can have a high presence of this chemical. Years ago this compound was used in insulation materials, and these days, formaldehyde is still used in many construction materials and carpets. The effects that this pollutant can have on your family are truly shocking, and those that are extra sensitive, like the elderly, the very young, and those with respiratory conditions, can become very sick by breathing in this microscopic poison. Some of the health problems that have been found include: (more…)
Tags: Air Quality, Chicago, clean, Des Plaines, Duct Cleaning, formaldehyde, Four Seasons, Glenview, health problems, IL, indoor air, Oak Park, pollutant, purification
Posted in Air Quality, Air filtration, Duct Cleaning, Health, Informational | Comments Off
