One of the biggest hot topics in the HVAC industry today is indoor air quality. Since it has been estimated that indoor air quality can be up to five times worse than outdoor air quality, air quality has become a real cause of concern for most homeowners. We’re going to go over what indoor air quality also known as IAQ is and what you can do to improve it in your home below.
What Is Indoor Air Quality?
It’s important to realize that indoor air quality is directly related to how it affects the health and comfort of the people living in your home. When the temperature and humidity levels are comfortable, and the pollutants in the air are below a set value, your home is considered to have good indoor air quality. You can easily have the quality of your air tested by one of our HVAC technicians to determine if pollutants are above the threshold for good quality air.
What Are Common Indoor Pollutants?
Most of your indoor air problems are going to be the result of too much pollutants in the air. With homes experiencing poor ventilation, pollutants inside can get trapped without the necessary fresh air to dilute them. It’s important to note that both the humidity level and temperature inside of your home can also cause an increase in concentrations of some of these unwanted pollutants. Some of the most common sources of indoor air pollutants include:
- Tobacco products
- Building materials
- Furnishing materials
- Fuel-burning appliances
- Household cleaning products
Professional Indoor Air Quality Testing
One of the most basic ways to assess the quality of air inside your home is to have a professional IAQ test. This test will be conducted in various rooms throughout your home and will measure the presence of various pollutants in the air. Some of these pollutants include VOCs, mold spores, radon, carbon monoxide, and a host of others. An IAQ test will reveal the concentration of each contaminant so you can compare that concentration to the standards that determine air quality ratings.
Tips on Enhancing Indoor Air Quality
Once you determine what contaminants are high in your indoor air, it’s time to work on reducing their presence. This can be done with varying methods depending on what particular pollutants you’re trying to reduce. It’s important to always follow up with another IAQ test after implementing these changes to determine if they’re helping to adequately remove those high contaminant concentrations.
Beef up Your HVAC Air Filter
One of the simplest things you can do to help improve the quality of air inside your home is to beef up your HVAC air filter. All air filters are given a rating between 1 and 20, known as a MERV rating. In general, filters ranging from 1 to 13 can be used in residential settings, while filters with a rating of 14 and above are reserved for commercial sanitary environments. Ideally, you want to opt for an air filter with a MERV rating of between 8 and 13.
UV Sanitizing Lights
Another method for dealing with indoor pathogens and pollutants is to have a UV sanitizing light installed. This light is specifically designed to emit UV-C rays that distort the DNA makeup of the pollutants. This essentially renders them unable to replicate. These UV sanitizing lights can be installed in your return ductwork or directly over the evaporator coils inside your indoor air handler unit.
Whole-Home Dehumidifier
If you’re dealing with a contaminant that is capable in reproducing in an overly humid environment, like mold spores, then you may want to invest in a whole-home dehumidifier. This dehumidifier will be installed inside your HVAC ductwork. Its main job will be to remove excess humidity from the air on top of what your normal AC system will remove. This dehumidifier will come with a new thermostat with built-in relative humidity control. This way, you can set a specific indoor humidity level that you want, and your whole-home dehumidifier will kick on whenever necessary to achieve that level.
Apollo Heating & Air Conditioning Expert IAQ Service
Apollo Heating & Air Conditioning offers expert indoor air quality services for the entire Bellevue, NE area. Our technicians can also help with all of your air conditioning, heating, commercial HVAC, ductwork, duct cleaning, new construction, and smart thermostat needs. Simply contact our office today to schedule a consultation with one of our technicians.
