Air quality is crucial for your health. Most people spend 90% of their time indoors. So, you want to be breathing air that is as clean as possible. That will help you avoid respiratory infections and other health problems. Having the right equipment in your home will protect you from mold, mildew, spores, and most pathogens. Here are five things that will help improve your indoor air quality.
1. Adequate Ventilation
The modern trend in home building and renovating is toward airtight homes. While no home is completely airtight, the exchange of air in and out is less in these homes. The advantage to this is that you save money on heating and cooling. The disadvantage is that poor-quality air won’t flow out of your home as quickly. We call this ingress and egress of air “natural ventilation.”
So-called “airtight homes” also help you reduce your carbon footprint. There is a long-range goal in the U.S. for the year 2050; it’s called carbon neutrality. That’s where the production of carbon dioxide slows to the point that it is no longer increasing. You using less energy today contributes to that long-term goal. Having an airtight home is one way you can participate.
Turning on kitchen fans and bathroom fans can also help. But, to ventilate your home properly, you should start with a heat recovery ventilator. This is a device that helps exchange the air from your house to the outside and vice versa. When it’s cold outside, the HRV heats the air coming in. Then it shunts the cold back outside. When it’s hot outside, the HRV removes the heat from the air coming in. Then, it sends the heat back outside. The HRV works in tandem with your other HVAC systems.
2. Air Purification
Air purifiers remove particles from the air. They can either be part of your HVAC system or portable. The portable ones only work in one room while the HVAC versions work for the whole house. Most purifiers have high-efficiency particulate air filters in them. Those are also known as HEPA filters. Generally, the rating for these filters indicates that they stop particles 0.3 microns or larger in diameter. Interestingly, they also work on smaller particles through a process known as Brownian Motion. The short version of Brownian Motion is that the smaller particles bang into the larger particles and bounce around. That keeps them in the filter longer than if they just flew through it. That means that even a filter with a 0.3-micron rating will be able to stop viruses, protecting your health.
The purifiers that also have ultraviolet lights sterilize the air as well as trapping particles. The lights won’t get everything because the air goes through the purifier too quickly. That’s why the purifiers have both UV lights and filters. Having such a purifier on your HVAC system means that your whole house will have cleaner air. Many HRVs have such filters, too, and these contribute to the overall indoor air quality. Purifiers also help reduce the load on the rest of your system. Correspondingly, it will last longer when you have an air purification system in your home.
There are also large-scale UV lights available. These go into your ductwork itself and work to eliminate germs of all kinds from your internal air.
Filters and purifiers also have the advantage of removing pet dander from the air. This will reduce any allergies from which you, your family, or guests suffer. And, the levels of everyday dust will also go down.
3. Maintaining the Building Envelope
The building envelope is invisible; it lies between your inner and outer walls. A simple part of the building envelope is a vapor barrier behind your drywall. It could also be material that a professional puts in to fill cracks and other gaps. The idea is to prevent any unwanted exchange of unfiltered air. The materials that make up the envelope should also be insulated to help keep your home at the temperature you desire.
Of course, this envelope won’t be completely impermeable. There will always be small holes or cracks that no one notices. A small amount of natural ventilation is a good thing. Your filters and purifiers will take care of almost all of the nasties that come in from the outside.
If something goes awry, then you need professionals to fix it. We’ve got the training, knowledge, and experience to repair your building envelope. Our technicians have the wherewithal to fix your HVAC system, too.
4. HVAC Maintenance
Regular tune-ups on your furnace, air conditioner, and filtration systems will keep everything running like clockwork. The same holds true if you have mini-splits, geothermal systems, or heat pumps. All of these tie into the indoor air quality of your home in some way. Routine maintenance will find possible problems in time to take appropriate action. Generally, once a year is a good rule. Faulty equipment could be deadly. For example, your furnace could produce carbon monoxide if it’s not working correctly. The same holds true for any equipment that creates heat in some way.
5. Have Professionals Check Your Indoor Air Quality
Some things, even filters and purifiers can’t get rid of. One of these is the radioactive gas called radon. Radon is carcinogenic, and it’s much, much heavier than the air. So, it collects in living areas and basements rather than rising to the attic. It’s odorless and tasteless. So, the only way to find out if you have it is to test for it. You should have professionals do the testing for you.
When it comes to such testing, it’s a good idea to have us at Temp Air System Inc. do it for you. We’ll test for carbon monoxide, too. We’ll test how many times a minute your home’s air refreshes itself. We’ll test for many things that could be harmful and then give you a report.
Indoor Air Quality in La Puente
We founded our company in 2002. With that many years of experience comes the ability to see to all of your HVAC needs. That includes indoor air quality. During that time, we’ve earned full accreditation and an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. All of our HVAC technicians hold NATE certification. That means that our people’s credentials are rock solid. They can also work on almost any HVAC system. We also hold certification from the Institute of Heating and Air Condition Industries.
We’re dedicated to the highest possible standards of ethics, excellence, and service. As part of our IHACI certification, we’re committed to ongoing education. That education includes the latest technologies, changes to laws and building codes, and trends in the industry. We even have Pearl certification. That means that we can certify that your home conforms to Pearl’s guidelines for energy efficiency, along with other categories.
In addition to all of these top-flight services, we offer sensational products to fit all of your HVAC needs. We take pride in being your one-stop shop for everything related to HVAC. We also provide services for water heaters as well as electric systems. The outstanding customer service we provide is just the proverbial “icing on the cake.” For all of your HVAC needs in La Puente, call us at Temp Air System Inc. for more information today.
