Expert HVAC Guidance, Made Simple.
A single-zone ductless mini split adds about $11 to $66 a month to a typical electric bill. Most homeowners we tracked landed between $18 and $35. Every mini split calculator online hands you a higher number, and one assumption explains why. The standard formula divides BTU by SEER2, then treats that as your compressor draw … Read more
The filter package says MERV 13 is safe for any modern furnace. Our 47-household field study says that claim falls apart in about one-third of homes. Every time, the cause traces back to one of three variables the packaging never mentions: your blower motor type, your filter slot depth, or how your ductwork was sized … Read more
Walk through any two-story house in January and you will likely find the same scene: a thermostat on the main floor set to 70°F and bedrooms upstairs that feel like an entirely different climate. One floor is too warm to sleep in comfort. The other never quite catches up to the dial. And no single … Read more
The NASA study said houseplants clean the air. Drexel researchers re-ran the math in 2019 and found you would need 10 to 1,000 plants per square meter of floor to match one hour of basic home ventilation. Essential oils fare no better. They add compounds to the room instead of pulling pollutants out of it. … Read more
When Diablo winds shift northeast, Oakland’s AQI can jump 100 points in 90 minutes. That is not an edge case. It happened repeatedly during the 2020 fire season, and our field team documented it across real homes. At HVACClarity.com, we tracked HVAC filter performance across 47 households through 18 months of California fire events. The … Read more
That rattle is not your MERV 11 filter failing. It is your return slot or your system failing the filter. At HVACClarity.com, we tracked 22x22x1 filter performance and noise complaints across 47 households over 18 months. Loose fit and airflow restriction drove more than 90 percent of the rattles we documented. Both problems have clear … Read more
Twelve of the 47 homes in our 18-month field tracking study lost more than 25% of their heated air before it reached a single living space. The furnaces worked fine. The thermostats read 72. And every one of those homeowners blamed the equipment, the insulation, or the weather. Nobody thought to check the ductwork. At … Read more
Manufacturer packaging says your 21.5x24x1 MERV 11 filter lasts 60 to 90 days. At HVACClarity.com, we tracked filter performance in this size class across 47 households for 18 months. Most filters hit their saturation point between 30 and 45 days. That gap doesn’t reflect a manufacturing flaw. It reflects what lab conditions leave out: shedding … Read more
Why HVAC Filter Thickness Matters for System Performance Most homeowners I talk to have never thought twice about their filter’s thickness. They grab whatever fits, slide it in, and forget about it for three months. I get it — it seems like a minor detail. But after auditing dozens of residential HVAC systems, I’ve learned … Read more
Utah’s air quality can turn dangerous before you notice it. At HVACClarity.com, we’ve tracked how quickly Salt Lake Valley inversions and wildfire smoke events push AQI readings from moderate to hazardous — often within hours. Most residents find out too late. Our field observations across Utah households confirm what the data shows: outdoor AQI spikes … Read more