The link between air quality and health has long been presumed. Hippocrates theorized that miasma caused disease well over 2,000 years ago. Medieval Italian physicians believed malaria was caused by coming into close proximity with swamp gas. It’s no coincidence that “miasma” and “malaria” share the same meaning: bad air.
The germ theory of disease has obsoleted these schools of thought – but that doesn’t mean bad air is good for you. Regularly breathing in contaminants such as dirt, pollen, animal dander, mold spores and rodent dropping particles can gradually weaken your immune system, irritate your respiratory system, and exacerbate symptoms of asthma and allergies.
In no uncertain terms, if you would like to live your healthiest life, then you must do what you can to minimize your exposure to airborne pollutants. And therein lies the challenge. The average American currently spends around 90% of their lifetime indoors, where pollutants are often two to five times more concentrated than they are outdoors.
Don’t fret. If your home has an HVAC system, then you have multiple opportunities to ensure only high-quality air touches your lungs. Here are just some of the ways you can leverage your HVAC system to improve your indoor air quality!
Improve Ventilation
Indoor air is dirty. Outdoor air is cleaner. The solution is simple: Open your windows!
Unfortunately, that’s not always practical if you live in a place like the Sioux City, IA area. If you don’t relish the thought of opening your windows during winter, then you can still enjoy a cleaner home by installing additional ventilation fans.
If you don’t have any ventilation fans, consider adding one to your kitchen for starters. We’re sure your cooking is amazing, but that doesn’t mean it will not release a variety of air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Worse yet, kitchen cleaning products are filled with volatile organic compounds: chemicals that evaporate at normal indoor air pressures and temperatures.
Improve Filtration
Your HVAC filter plays a major role in removing airborne particles from your home’s interior. Replacing it regularly will have a marked impact on your indoor air quality. Replacing it with a HEPA filter that has a MERV rating of at least 17 can help you even more.
You may choose to go even further. An HVAC technician can install what’s known as an “expanded media filter,” which is around 5 to 7″ thick and far more effective at its job than the narrower filters your furnace is designed to accept. If you would like to upgrade your filtration even more, then you can install an electrostatic precipitator which traps airborne particles on special electrified collector plates, as well as an ultraviolet light filter which destroys viruses, bacteria and other microorganisms with radiation that won’t harm humans or pets.
Improve Humidity
Humidity’s contribution to indoor air quality is often overlooked. To be sure, high humidity isn’t necessarily harmful to your health. If it were, then residents of Florida would be in big trouble. But humidity can harm people who are already living with certain health conditions. Worse yet, it also nourishes black mold, which releases spores that are especially harmful to people with asthma and allergies.
The Environmental Protection Agency recommends keeping your indoor relative humidity below 60% (i.e. beneath the level black mold needs in order to reproduce). Low humidity may discourage dust mites and cockroaches from reproducing as well. You could maintain low humidity by purchasing a standalone dehumidifier, although many people prefer the greater convenience and reliability of a whole-house dehumidifier. An HVAC technician can easily install one for you!
Take caution: Low humidity can be harmful to your health as well. It provides ideal breeding conditions to the bacteria that cause pneumonia, and helps several other diseases spread more easily as well. If the humidity inside your home is normally lower than 30%, then you would be well advised to install a whole-house humidifier.
O’Connor Heating & Cooling Improves Indoor Air Quality
Do you live in Sioux City or the surrounding tri-state area? Then the experts at O’Connor Heating & Cooling are standing by to improve your indoor air quality by upgrading your HVAC system’s ventilation and filtration – as well as install the humidifier or dehumidifier you need to keep your indoor humidity between 30 and 60%. Contact us today to schedule fast and professional service at your home!
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