How to Check Your Home’s Indoor Air Quality

Air pollution is seen as an outdoor concern for many people, but it’s an issue that also exists indoors. The quality of the air inside your home has a real impact on the health of your family as well as comfort across the house. Grove Heating & Cooling explains how to assess indoor air quality and how you can improve it for better health and comfort.

Why Is Indoor Air Quality Important?

We spend as much as 90 percent of our time indoors on average, which means we are exposed to whatever is in our air for a significant period of time. Exposure to certain pollutants can impact the health of you and your loved ones, causing asthma, allergies, respiratory issues, and sometimes even cancer. When you learn how to assess your home’s indoor air quality, you are able to improve the quality of the air your family breathes each day to protect the health of those you love.

How to Assess Indoor Air Quality

Assessing indoor air quality in your home can involve the use of a few different tools and tests. 

  • DIY indoor air quality testing kits can be purchased. These tests detect different compounds and contaminants, requiring that samples be sent off to a lab for evaluation.
  • Indoor air quality monitors can be installed in the home. Indoor air quality monitoring provides constant detection of air quality issues such as humidity, particle counts, carbon monoxide, and more.
  • Schedule professional mold tests to determine the concentration of mold in your air. There will always be a non-zero amount of mold in the air, but if mold exists in high quantities, it can be harmful to your health. These tests should be conducted if anyone in your household experiences symptoms related to mold exposure.
  • Perform a radon test to determine if natural radon has entered your home, as long-term exposure is a health hazard. DIY test kits are available, allowing you to take a sample in the home and send it off for laboratory analysis.
  • Install carbon monoxide alarms to alert your family if carbon monoxide is present in your home. Install one on every floor of the home and near bedrooms to ensure alerts are heard overnight.

Improving Your Home’s Indoor Air Quality

When you perform steps to assess indoor air quality, you learn about the specific air quality challenges that exist inside your home. This knowledge will help you take action toward improving air quality, as you’ll know what pollutants need to be targeted. 

Improving indoor air quality can be done in a variety of ways. There are solutions that work with the home’s HVAC system to provide coverage throughout the house, including:

  • Whole home humidifiers: If dry air is a problem (which often happens in the winter), whole home humidifiers add the necessary moisture to your air supply as it circulates through the HVAC system for conditioning.
  • Whole home dehumidifiers: When there’s too much moisture in your home’s air, a whole home dehumidifier extracts the excess moisture from air that cycles through your HVAC system.
  • Media air cleaners: Media air cleaners provide advanced filtration to tackle particle pollution and other indoor air quality issues in the home, removing contaminants such as pollen, pet dander, dust mites, and other allergens.
  • Ultraviolet lights: UV light air purifiers are added to HVAC systems to treat biological indoor air pollutants like mold, viruses, and bacteria. Ultraviolet energy neutralizes these pathogens on contact, so they are no longer able to spread or reproduce.

There are also many changes you can make to improve poor air quality.

  • Clean surfaces throughout the house at least once per week.
  • Use a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter to capture contaminants during cleaning.
  • Wash bedding, linens, window coverings, and other fabric items in hot water on a regular basis.
  • Use mattress and pillow covers to prevent allergen buildup.
  • Use door mats and take off shoes before entering the home.
  • Use exhaust fans in the bathroom and kitchen to avoid excess humidity and indoor air pollution.
  • Use natural cleaners and air fresheners that are free of harmful chemicals.

Contact Grove for Indoor Air Quality Help in Maryland

Grove Heating & Cooling can help improve indoor air quality by providing solutions that work with a home’s HVAC equipment for whole home treatment of pollutants. Don’t live with poor indoor air quality any longer; contact us today to learn more about indoor air quality solutions.

Google Reviews