The Factors That Impact Your Home’s Indoor Air Quality Rating

Indoor air quality is a problem in many homes, yet it can be difficult to detect. However, it is of extreme importance to your health and the health of your family that you take steps to ensure that you’re breathing clean indoor air. Over time, low indoor air quality can contribute to many serious chronic health and respiratory problems, and it has been clinically proven to exacerbate allergy and asthma symptoms.

Here are the major contributing factors to low indoor air quality.

• Dust: It’s not just the dust on your tables and furniture that you need to worry about. If your air ducts, furnace filters and registers aren’t cleaned regularly, they will circulate dust — and you’ll end up breathing it in.
• Chemical contaminants: These include carbon monoxide, radon gas, and residual chemicals from cleaning products, pesticides, and from burning candles and incense.
• Stale air: Contaminants can linger for long periods in stagnant air, and microbes can multiply quickly, which can make the problem worse.
• Organic pollutants: Bacteria, mold spores, dust mites and viruses can all diminish indoor air quality, and they may also get you sick. You can control many of these problems with germicidal ultraviolet lights.
• VOCs: Volatile organic compounds, which are found in many lead paints and household chemicals, can be dangerously problematic, particularly in older homes.
• Smoke: Cigarette smoke lingers long after the smoker has butted out. For optimal indoor air quality, it is recommended that you not permit indoor smoking at all.

Consider installing carbon monoxide and radon detectors, and using exhaust fans in kitchens, bathrooms and laundry rooms. Also, be sure to dust and vacuum frequently, and promote proper air circulation with the use of ceiling fans. Finally, open up your windows to let fresh air in whenever the weather permits.

To learn more about reducing indoor air pollution, contact us today or schedule an appointment.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Wilmington, Delaware and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC & plumbing systems).

Image Credit: olarte.ollie