Why an Energy-Efficient House Can Influence Air Quality and How to Enhance It
Houses today are built with energy efficiency in mind. This includes added insulation and tightly sealed doors and windows to keep energy bills down. While this is good for your heating and cooling bill, it’s not so great for your indoor air quality.
As air has fewer chances to escape, chemicals can increase and impact your residence’s indoor air quality. In actuality, your residence’s air can actually be 2–5 times worse than the outdoors, according to the EPA. That’s not good for anyone, but it’s especially detrimental for family members with allergies, asthma, other respiratory conditions or heart disease.
Let’s go over some of these routine substances and how you can boost your home’s indoor air quality.
6 Routine Pollutants that Impact Indoor Air Quality
When you visualize pollutants, you could think about smog or tobacco smoke. But many substances that influence your air quality are normal items. These things include chemicals known as volatile organic compounds, or VOCs.
They entail:
- Cleaning products, like aerosol sprays, bleach and window cleaner.
- Personal care products, including hairspray, perfume and nail products.
- Candles and air fresheners.
- Formaldehyde, which is frequently used in plastic, foam and particleboard products.
- Furniture, window treatments and carpet, especially when they’re brand new.
- Paints and stains.
Other typical pollutants include:
- Dust
- Pet dander
- Pollen
- Mold
Symptoms of VOC Exposure
Some people are more influenced by VOCs than others. The EPA says symptoms of VOC exposure entail:
- Irritated eyes, nose or throat
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Fatigue
In bad situations, the EPA says VOCs can lead to respiratory and heart diseases.
4 Ways to Boost Your Home’s Indoor Air Quality
It isn’t complicated to improve your residence’s air quality. Here are a couple of recommendations from Harvard Medical School:
1. Clean Your House Regularly
Frequently cleaning and washing surfaces that attract allergens, like furniture, carpet and bedding, will help reduce on dust, dust mites and pet dander in your home.
2. Regularly Replace Your Air Filter
This important filter keeps your residence comfy and air fresh. How often you should change your air filter depends on the type of filter you use. Flat filters should be swapped every month, while pleated filters should be replaced every three months. If you don’t know if your filter should be replaced, take it out and angle it to the light. Replace it if you can’t see light through it.
If someone in your family has allergies or asthma, we suggest using a filter with a better MERV rating. The greater the number this is, the better your filter is at eliminating contaminants.
3. Enhance Natural Ventilation
Keep fresh air circulating by opening windows whenever it’s warm enough. We also recommend turning on exhaust fans in your bathroom and kitchen often to remove pollutants and draw in more fresh air.
4. Call Our Indoor Air Quality Pros
From whole-home air purifiers, Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning has a solution to help your loved ones breathe better. We’ll help you find the ideal option during your free home comfort assessment. Contact us at 954-736-4314 to request yours today!
