Signs Your Home May Have Poor Indoor Air Quality And What You Can Do About It
Posted on: 17 May 2022
Since you spend so much time indoors, you want your indoor air quality to be as good as possible. When you keep your home sealed for energy efficiency purposes, there usually isn't much air circulation with the outdoors to flush out particulates and toxins in the air. Your HVAC may simply recycle polluted air. Here are a few tips for dealing with poor indoor air quality.
Signs Your Indoor Air Quality Might Be Bad
If your allergy symptoms act up when you come home, that could mean your air has a lot of allergens floating around. If your home has a musty smell, there might be mold growing somewhere with spores in the air.
A chemical odor in your home might be due to flooring or furniture. Poor air quality might be due to dust circulating through your HVAC and ducts. If so, it may seem like your home collects dust quickly on bookshelves and other surfaces.
Start With An Indoor Air Quality Evaluation
Many things pollute indoor air. The only way to know the condition of the air quality in your home is to have an indoor air quality evaluation. You can hire a service to take samples from your home and have the air analyzed in a lab.
You may need multiple tests depending on your concerns. Some things that might be tested for are lead, mold, volatile organic compounds, radon, and particulates.
Things That Pollute Your Indoor Air
Cleaning products can leave chemicals in your air, new flooring can outgas volatile organic compounds, building materials can release formaldehyde, and your pets and family can track in allergens such as dander, pollen, and dust.
You may want an indoor air quality evaluation after you put in new flooring, bring home new furniture, or remodel your home. Remodeling can cause dust to float through the air that could possibly carry lead.
Methods For Dealing With Poor Air Quality
Once you have your indoor air quality tested, you can work with a professional to choose the right air cleaning and purifying method. Circulating your indoor air through HEPA filters might help, but you can also have other types of filters added to your HVAC unit so all air that circulates through the ducts is purified. These filters can also have UV lights that kill mold.
If you don't want your HVAC contractor to add air cleaning equipment to your ducts, you might consider buying portable air cleaners that you can use to clean the air in your bedroom where you probably spend a lot of your time. Portable units take up space in your room and they're noticeable, but they cost less than HVAC air cleaners.
Contact a professional to learn more about indoor air quality.
Share