According to EPA, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) refers to the air quality within and around buildings and structures, especially as it relates to the health and comfort of building occupants. Understanding and controlling common pollutants indoors can help reduce your risk of indoor health concerns. Health effects from indoor air pollutants may be experienced soon after exposure or, possibly, years later. Since your HVAC system circulates and filters the air you and your family breathe it’s important if looking to improve your home’s air quality to look there first.
Most HVAC systems are installed with a standard one-inch filter system. These filters will help regulate the air quality in your home, but they may not be enough for people who suffer with allergies, constant cold symptoms or dry skin. One-inch filters are also not ideal for most pet owners as they are not strong enough to help with pet dander or odor that can linger throughout your home. If you or your family are experiencing any of the symptoms below you may be suffering with poor IAQ throughout your home.
Constant Dry Skin
If you apply lotion constantly with little to no results of healing dried skin, it’s an indication that something is wrong with the air quality inside of your home such as lack of moisture in the air or low humidity. When a home has low humidity, the surrounding air looks to extract moisture from everywhere including your skin! Low humidity levels tend to be to blame for this dry, flaky skin and irritation. Other signs of low humidity include experiencing more static electricity than usual, dry or irritated eyes, peeling wallpaper and cracks in wood furnishings.
Increased Allergy Symptoms
Similar to the symptoms of hay fever, dust mites can provoke a lot of relentless sneezing and runny noses. Over time, dust accumulates on the surfaces throughout your home. If not properly maintained it will attract dust mites that can flare allergies and trigger asthma symptoms.
Headaches
If you notice that you tend to have a headache each night you go home, it can be an indication of poor IAQ. In most cases, headaches are a result of other symptoms that get worse over time. The most common are itchy eyes and constant sneezing that tighten the muscles surrounding the skull. Therefore, it’s important to pay attention to any other symptoms that you’re experiencing alongside your headaches. This can help determine if there is a connection to the IAQ level inside of your home.
Fatigue
One of the biggest indicators of poor IAQ inside of your home is consistent fatigue. Homeowners are more likely to experience this condition during times when their home is closed off from the outdoors, such as in the dead of winter and the scorch of the summer. Fatigue happens due to a lack of refreshing oxygen in the air. Your family is emitting carbon dioxide back into the air as they breathe. Without enough fresh oxygenated air reentering your home, you can experience constant fatigue.
Solutions
Sometimes changing out the filter more often can remedy some poor indoor air quality issues while other times an upgrade to an air scrubber system like Air Scrubber by Aerus is needed. It will allow better filtration of harmful allergens in your home. These systems utilize a special UV light technology that eliminates more air pollutants like dust, and pet odors than regular filtering systems. In addition, installing a humidifier or an air purifier such as one from Aprilaire® can help to deliver cleaner and more comfortable air more efficiently throughout your home. With programmable settings, you can have the humidifier and/or air purifier running more often during allergy season.
If you suspect that you may have poor IAQ, it’s time to give the HVAC experts at Christian Heating and Air Conditioning a call. Whether it’s achieving comfortable humidity levels, reducing allergens or asthma triggers we have the right product for you. Our skilled professionals will listen to your concerns and recommend IAQ solutions and products to remedy the issue so that you can say goodbye to these unpleasant conditions and start living in total home comfort.
