Why an Energy-Efficient House Can Affect Air Quality and How to Improve It
Houses today are constructed with energy efficiency in mind. This entails more insulation and tightly sealed doors and windows to keep utility bills affordable. While this is good for your energy bill, it’s not so great for your indoor air quality.
Since air has decreased chances to escape, contaminants can accumulate and decrease your house’s indoor air quality. In fact, your house’s air can actually be 2–5 times more polluted than the outdoors, according to the EPA. That’s not good for anyone, but it’s especially detrimental for family members with allergies, asthma, other respiratory concerns or heart disease.
Let’s go over some of these common substances and how you can enhance your home’s indoor air quality.
6 Common Pollutants that Impact Indoor Air Quality
When you visualize pollutants, you could think about smog or tobacco smoke. But a lot of substances that influence your air quality are common items. These things include chemicals called volatile organic compounds, or VOCs.
They involve:
- Cleaning products, like aerosol sprays, bleach and window cleaner.
- Personal care products, including hairspray, perfume and nail products.
- Candles and air fresheners.
- Formaldehyde, which is often used in plastic, foam and particleboard products.
- Furniture, window treatments and carpet, specifically when they’re brand new.
- Paints and stains.
Other everyday pollutants include:
- Dust
- Pet dander
- Pollen
- Mold
Symptoms of VOC Exposure
Some people are more sensitive to VOCs than others. The EPA says symptoms of VOC exposure entail:
- Irritated eyes, nose or throat
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Fatigue
In bad situations, the EPA says VOCs are linked to respiratory and heart diseases.
4 Ways to Improve Your House’s Indoor Air Quality
It isn’t hard to boost your house’s air quality. Here are several ideas from Harvard Medical School:
1. Clean Your Residence Often
Routinely cleaning and washing surfaces that attract allergens, like furniture, carpet and bedding, will help decrease on dust, dust mites and pet dander in your residence.
2. Regularly Switch Your Air Filter
This important filter keeps your residence comfy and air healthy. How often you should change your air filter depends on the kind of filter you use. Flat filters should be changed every month, while pleated filters should be changed every three months. If you don’t know if your filter should be swapped, pull it out and tilt it to the light. Get a new one if you can’t see light through it.
If someone in your home has allergies or asthma, we suggest having a filter with a better MERV rating. The bigger the number this is, the better your filter is at removing contaminants.
3. Maximize Natural Ventilation
Keep fresh air moving by opening windows whenever the weather allows. We also advise turning on exhaust fans in your bathroom and kitchen as much as possible to get rid of pollutants and introduce more fresh air.
4. Chat Our Indoor Air Quality Pros
From whole-home air purifiers, Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning has a resolution to help your family breathe more freely. We’ll help you select the right option during your free home comfort assessment. Reach us at 954-736-4314 to schedule yours today!
