The good news for here at the moment is the weather is cooler than normal. It’s in the low 70s with low humidity. Same for tomorrow.
Windows are closed , air conditioners off. The temperature is still 70° in here and I live in a condo on the second floor.
If it was typical summer weather that we usually get and will sooner or later have, which is high 80s and low 90s and very humid, the AC would have to be on and no doubt be circulating that outside air back in here cuz I don’t have your kind of system.
My filter says Merv 8 not as protective as yours. Pretty sure 13 is better.
MERV 8 is still better than what many people have. MERV 13 is about as high as residential systems can use, though we saw a MERV 16 when shopping a year and s half ago.
I feel for you! In 2019, 2020, and 2021, we had the worst wildfire smoke and air quality here in the pacific northwest. The 2020 and 2021 were the worst. Our air quality was the worst on earth here for a few days, and very unhealthy for like a week straight. We stuffed damp rags in our window sills and they were brown on the side facing the window after a couple days! It smelled like campfire and we had some of the most beautiful sunsets ever. Plus cool for thrower flashlight effects at night. Bad on your lungs though! The Eagle Creek Fire rained ashes on us for days. Many large fires burning in E Washington and Oregon combined with huge fires in California made a lot of smoke that drifted in on the jetstream.
Most modern Central Air Systems are a closed loop system – No outside air comes in unless you have plenty of air leaks , bad widows or recess can lights
I have a carrier unit that was just purchased last august. The HVAC guys will be here next Wednesday for an annual maintenance check. I will ask them but I do know this for sure.
The air handlers in the closet in the master bedroom. The condenser is in a closet on my outside balcony. That absolutely draws air in. The grill/coil faces the outdoors.
If that is just a refrigerated air conditioner, the outdoor module is the condenser. It dissipates the heat that was removed from inside the house. The evaporator is inside and absorbs the heat and moves it out to the condenser in a closed loop of piping. The refrigerant in the closed loop is either in a gaseous or a liquid state depending where in the process you look. No air is exchanged between the interior and the outside units, only the gas/liquid refrigerant. So the A/C operating cannot introduce smoke to the interior. Air leaks at doors, windows, poorly installed ceiling lights and even wall switches and outlets could all be sources of air leaks.
Some systems may include an air to air heat exchanger that does bring exterior air inside while exhausting an equivalent volume of interior air to outside. Usually that is only found in recent or retrofitted very air tight homes. Those systems should also have a very effective filtration system for the incoming exterior air.
Ours has a MERV 13 filter in the air to air heat exchanger as well as the usual position where the interior air is filtered before being heated or cooled and distributed through the ductwork.
It’s been more than 3 weeks and the smoke is still around. In NW PA there is a code red air quality alert. Haven’t seen any numbers on it but it is very hazy and smoky. The worse here since this all started.
EDIT - just checked the AQI is between 189 and 216
I’m on the edge of the zone where the smog is hanging around. We’ll go a few days with the AQI being Good-Moderate and then the wind shifts and overnight we’re back in the Unhealthy zone. Sitting at 174 right now
I forgot some food on the stove earlier, just long enough to set off the smoke alarm and I was seriously thinking…should I open the windows now? Or would that make it worse? Like, is there more smoke outside or inside?
Sister-in-law in Michigan, west of Detroit, says it’s nasty there. Currently 209 there. Unhealthy rating.
Here it’s 51 (moderate) now that the wind has kicked up.
The temp is still way over100 and has been for nearly a month.
CE, thanks for the link. Easy to checkout what’s happening.
All the Best,
Jeff
Nice this morning.
For the heat, we convert to a Freon based economy for the summer. Sure could use some rain here. Still, once you get used to it, it’s not so bad as long as precautions are taken.
For those in the smoke screen area. Wow, so nasty for so long.
I’d be looking for any relief. I do have several HEPA filters that would be running full time.
Years ago there were some big fires SW of us. But nothing like the sustained nastiness y’all are having.
Hang in there.
All the Best,
Jeff
I’m a few hundred miles north of you in WNY. It’s been pretty nasty here since Tuesday. Don’t follow the AQI, and don’t much care because there’s really nothing to do about it. Visibility has been under couple miles in spots at various times today. The air is dead here as I post this.
After 9 straight months of 27 day/month work stretches I’m finally on vacation. Enjoying 3 fingers of mid-grade bourbon, a cheap cigar…and the Canadian campfire.
