Tracking Trends. Delivering Expertise.
Maria Kristina Hebron 
A dirty air filter can raise your electric bill by restricting airflow, which forces your air conditioner or furnace to run longer to reach the same temperature. The U.S. Department of Energy puts the wasted energy at 5% to 15%. For most homes that is roughly $3 to $10 a month, or $40 to $120 … Read more
Mini split or window AC? Florida homeowners ask us this every summer, usually with a Home Depot receipt half-pulled from their pocket. Most generic comparison guides treat the choice like a tie. From what we’ve seen across hundreds of installs between Miami and Pensacola, it almost never is. The honest answer depends on five factors … Read more
In Florida, switching to a home heat pump usually pays off. Our team has audited hundreds of HVAC swaps across this state, and the same pattern keeps showing up. Homes replacing a 10-plus year old central AC paired with electric strip heat see the fastest payback in the country. Whether the math works for your … Read more
Forty breaths a minute. That’s how fast your newborn’s lungs are working right now, pulling in whatever your HVAC system pushes out. If the filter behind that vent is a standard MERV 8, most airborne bacteria pass straight through it and into your baby’s nursery on every single cycle. You probably triple-checked the crib mattress, … Read more
A haboob can move Las Vegas from Good air quality to Unhealthy in under two hours, and wildfire smoke from California crosses the Spring Mountains without so much as a forecast. Summer heat turns traffic emissions into ground-level ozone that keeps building through the afternoon. Las Vegas doesn’t have a constant air quality problem. What … Read more
Your AQI number is only useful if you know what to do with it. Most homeowners pull up a map when the sky turns hazy. By then, PM2.5 is already moving through their HVAC system. At TheHVACJournal.com, we’ve spent years tracking how outdoor air conditions translate into what your family actually breathes inside — and … Read more
Are you wondering if Home Depot charges a diagnostic fee for AC tune-ups? Finding the right MERV 11 20x25x5 Air Demon filter can be tricky, as many “compatible” options don’t quite fit. One of our editors tested three filters, and two left gaps that allowed unfiltered air to bypass—definitely not ideal for maintaining clean air. … Read more
Introduction If you’ve ever stood in the filter aisle staring at a wall of options and wondered what those three numbers actually mean, you’re in good company. The 20x25x1 size comes up more than almost any other in the homes I cover — and yet the questions around it rarely get a straight answer. What … Read more
A furnace heat exchanger is the hidden workhorse behind your home’s warmth — and when it fails, the consequences range from sky-high energy bills to dangerous carbon monoxide exposure. Yet in our experience reviewing HVAC systems and fielding reader questions here at TheHVACJournal.com, we’ve found that most homeowners don’t know this component exists until something … Read more
That persistent cough after days of hazy skies? It might be walking bronchitis—and wildfire smoke is likely the culprit. Fine particulate matter from wildfires doesn’t just irritate your throat. It burrows deep into your airways, triggering the kind of lingering chest infection that keeps you on your feet but never quite feeling right. Here at … Read more