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On average, a resting person takes about 16 breaths per minute which is equivalent to more than 23,000 breaths every single day. And according to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average person spends 90 percent of their lifetime indoors, where the indoor air quality could be nearly five times worse than the air outside. 23,000 breaths of polluted air will tend to have a negative impact on your health over a long period of time. In this blog post we’re discussing the following:
How Does Air Quality Impact You?
What Impacts Indoor Air Quality?
How You Can Improve Your Air Quality
Keep reading to learn more!
How Does Air Quality Impact You?
Air quality can have an immediate impact on household residents as well as delayed impacts that show no signs until years later. These effects can last while the pollution is present and linger even after the source of the issue has been eliminated, all depending on the source and the severity of the side effect.
Some of the side effects that most people experience as a result of poor air quality include:
Eye, nose and throat irritation
Headaches and dizziness
Asthma, allergies, and other respiratory diseases
In extreme cases, people can suffer from heart disease and cancer. Additionally, the quality of your indoor air can have an impact on the state of your belongings and furniture within your home.
What Impacts Indoor Air Quality?
Chemicals
Chemicals like benzene, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene are incredibly common in households. They are most often found in products like adhesives, plastics, resins, synthetic fibers, dyes, detergents, and pesticides. Additionally, they are also produced naturally by forest fires and volcanoes. All of these chemicals have a negative impact on your health and comfort from minor nose irritation to severe respiratory illnesses.
Lack of Ventilation
Ventilation is a natural form of air purification for your home. So if you leave your house shut up, as it usually is during winter, all of that musty air ends up trapped inside of your home with nowhere else to go. However, if there is an active fire or you live in an area with poor outdoor air quality, then ventilation might not be a feasible option for your household.
Particles
Dust, dirt and other types of particle pollution can be generated in a multitude of ways, making it incredibly difficult to prevent these from being present all together in your home. But there are steps you can take to limit their presence. We will discuss some of these steps later on in this blog post.
Pets
As much as we love them, our cuddly pets also play a part in the worsening of our indoor air quality. This impact is even worse for those already suffering from asthma and other respiratory illnesses. The major issue that pets bring to our air quality is their dander and fur that ends up circulating through our air systems. There are ways to lessen the effect of our pets dander so that we can keep them as close as always. Keep reading to learn more!
Humidity
We usually hear humidity and immediately think frizzy hair and a feeling of constant dampness. But there is a good kind of humidity, and like everything else in life, it’s about finding the right balance. A proper level of moisture in our homes helps to keep our skin from drying out, keeps us from having bloody noses and it even helps our furniture to last longer.
How You Can Improve Your Air Quality
Duct Cleaning
Air duct cleaning is a great way to eliminate dust, dirt and other loose particles that are often found circulating throughout your home. Most particles at one point or another find their way into your air ducts, so cleaning these will likely pick up a majority of the dirt.
Filters
Switching out your air filters is another excellent way to maintain good indoor air quality. The rules for replacing your air filters typically state that you should switch them every six months, but if you own pets you should replace them closer to every two to three months.
UV Bulbs
UV lights work by killing germs, bacteria, and viruses at the nucleus as the air passes in front of the light. This not only eliminates the living cell but it also prevents it from being able to reproduce. UV lights can be installed independently throughout your home as well as attached to your HVAC unit so that the air is purified at the source.
Air Scrubber Plus
A-TEMP Heating, Cooling & Electrical offers many forms of indoor air quality solutions, one of our most popular is the Air Scrubber Plus. It is an advanced whole-home purification system that has the ability to eliminate over 90% of airborne pathogens within 30 minutes. The Air Scrubber Plus combines the efforts of a UV light and reactive metals to effectively and efficiently eliminate the risks created by dust, pollen, bacteria, and more.
If you want to learn more about the importance of indoor air quality or you have questions about your home, in particular, call an air quality expert right away. At A-TEMP Heating, Cooling & Electrical we understand why air quality is important for every single household, and we will help you to find the solution that is best for your home. Give us a call or visit our website for more information about the service we provide!