Enjoying clean indoor air was just part of the deal, or so I thought. In my mind, the air was clean because it was inside a clean apartment and not next to a smoke-belching factory. That’s how little I knew about indoor air quality and HVAC systems. That was part of my problem. I really thought the air filter was cleaning the air for us. What else is an air filter for? I found out last year that my ideas about air quality are far off. Heating and cooling systems play a significant role in cleaning indoor air, but not how I thought. The first thing learned was that the air filter I was using with the HVAC was not cleaning the air. The style of air filter I was using was only there to protect the equipment. To have an air filter that cleans the air, I had to buy a HEPA filter. Then I learned just how important indoor air levels are to our health. That, too, was a shock. But clean indoor air is so important to our overall health, our respiratory health and immune systems. I was amazed that I could improve on these things with a small change to the HVAC system. I’m happy to pay more for a HEPA filter that provides indoor air that is good for health.