What You Need To Know About Indoor Air Quality

Indoor air quality is a growing concern in the modern home. Not only does air quality affect your comfort, it can also affect you and your family's health. Fortunately, there are many options available for those that must improve the air quality inside their home. 

Air Quality Concerns

Poor air quality can make the air in your home seem stale or stagnant, and bad odors will often seem to linger. These are just minor concerns, though, compared to the other issues that substandard air quality can cause. 

Common Pollutants

Some pollutants originate from inside the home. These include tobacco smoke and mold spores, as well as off-gassing from items like carpet, paint, or household cleaners. Other pollutants—like pollen, radon, and dirt—primarily come from outside the home. There are also growing concerns with wildfire smoke and how it is affecting the indoor air quality in Pacific Northwest homes. Smoke contains many dangerous particles and gasses that can cause major health repercussions. 

Health Risks

Some pollutants, like that from wildfire smoke or pollen, can immediately impact your health. Respiratory problems, irritated eyes, and allergic reactions are common. Other health affects accumulate over time. For example, repeated exposure to smoke particles can lead to chronic respiratory disorders, while exposure to pollutants like radon can cause cancer. 

Other Concerns

There are risks to the home as well as to one's health. Sooty residue from smoke, whether it's from wildfire or tobacco, can damage paint and carpeting inside the home. Foul odors can also be an issue, such as from the musty smell of mold and mildew.

Air pollutants can also add to your work load at home. For example, dust buildup can result in the need for more frequent cleaning, and it can also collect in upholstery and carpet fibers. 

Ventilation and Filtration 

Fortunately, there are strategies you can use to minimize the amount of air pollutants circulating inside your home. Using a combination of these methods will result in the cleanest air. 

Whole House Ventilation

A whole-house ventilation system works especially well for releasing pollutants that are originate inside the home, such as mold spores and material off gassing. They can also help move out outside pollutants that collect in the home, such as radon gas.

A passive exhaust system is another option. It works by pushing indoor air outside so that fresh outdoor air can be drawn into the home. There are also fan based systems that either draw air in or push it out, depending on the design.

Air Cleaners

One concern with ventilation systems is they still allow in outside pollutants, such as smoke and pollen. An air cleaner can be used in conjunction with a ventilation system to clean the air that is being pulled into the home. Various types of cleaning technology is available.

There are UV light filters, which primarily destroy biological hazards like mold spores, as well as those that use HEPA filters and similar to remove large particles, like soot, from the air that's being pulled in.

HVAC Filtration



Another option is to install additional filtration onto your existing HVAC unit. This can be as simple as upgrading to a higher-rated filter in the unit. Filters are labeled with a MERV rating, which lets the consumer know what size particles are removed from the recirculating air. The smaller the particle size removed, the better the filtration.

If you are upgrading to a new HVAC system, consider getting one that features dual filtration, which will remove even more pollutants from your indoor air. 

Contact Century Heating & A/C Inc to learn more about improving indoor air quality in your home.