While poor indoor air quality may not always be obvious to a homeowner, it can be especially noticeable to guests who aren’t used to your home’s environment. Pet odors, smoke, and excess dust are often easily detected by visitors. Other times, however, poor indoor air is a subtle intruder that can cause long-term damage to your health and home if left untreated. How do you know if the air quality is bad inside your home? Here are five signs that may alert you to a systemic air quality issue:
- Perpetual Allergies: Seasonal allergies that come and go are typical for many people. Usually, you will find some relief from allergies when you limit your time outside. Still, allergies should only last a few weeks to a few months.
If you suffer from allergies year-round or you notice little to no difference in your symptoms inside versus outside, there may be an issue with the air quality inside of your home. The air filter in your HVAC system may need to be replaced or you may need extra air purifiers to rid your home of irritating airborne allergens. - Trouble with Illness: Similar to perpetual allergies, if you have trouble shaking colds or seem to catch one right after another, your air quality may be the culprit. Harmful bacteria, viruses, and mold can build up in your vents over time and blow throughout your home when the air kicks on. A thorough duct cleaning will help reduce the germ infestation in your system.
- Airway Issues: More severe than the typical cold, bouts of bronchitis, pneumonia, and asthma attacks could be signals that something isn’t right with the air quality in your home. Again, air purification technology can help mitigate these illnesses.
- Excess Dust: If it seems like you are always dusting, it may be time for a duct cleaning or AC repair. When your HVAC system isn’t filtering the air as it should or dust is accumulating in the vents from a tear or gap in the ductwork, your house may rarely feel dust-free. Sometimes all it takes is a simple repair or a thorough duct cleaning to restore your air system back to maximum dust filtration.
- Long-Lasting Odors: Your HVAC system should circulate and filtrate your indoor air as it runs. If certain odors aren’t clearing from your home long after they have been removed (think dinner from the night before, trash, or nail polish), then your air filter may not be performing up to par. If the issue remains even after replacing an old filter, it may require an AC or furnace repair to ensure proper air exchange.
While some odors are easily detectible with our noses, other air pollutants can be odorless. One of the more harmful odorless indoor air pollutants is carbon monoxide. This compound can cause severe symptoms in humans and pets if left undetected. Frequent headaches, dizziness, memory loss, and loss of consciousness are all signs of a carbon monoxide leak in your home. The best way to prevent illness from a carbon monoxide leak is to install a CO detector near your gas-powered appliances.
How to Improve the Air Quality in Your Home
To maintain good quality air in your home, always have your air conditioner and furnace regularly serviced by a professional technician. They will inspect internal parts that are prone to dust build-up and other debris interferences. Between service calls, change the air filter as often as you need. Homes with pets may need to switch their air filters more often and choose a stronger filter for their HVAC. The higher-rated the filter, the more airborne particles it will filter out.
Those with compromised immune systems or who suffer from allergies may want to look into ionic air purifiers to help supplement the standard air filtration performed by their HVAC systems. Instead of setting up noisy air purifiers in every room of your house, you can have an ionic purifier directly installed into your HVAC to filter out particles, allergens, pathogens, and odors before they travel throughout the home. The ions in the purifier neutralize these particles as they travel through your system, helping to reduce pollutants and improve your indoor air. What is best about this technology is that it is environmentally friendly and creates no harmful by-products.
Instead of suffering from the consequences of poor indoor air, you can call a qualified technician to help you restore the filtration of your air system, improve your purification techniques, and benefit from an overall healthier home.
Customer Testimonials
