What Causes Poor Indoor Air Quality In My Home?

Do you ever feel like you cannot escape allergy symptoms even in your home? Common outdoor allergens in the spring are tree, weed, and grass pollen, but these pollutants typically remain outside unless you frequently open windows and doors. Many wonder how their allergies can flare up inside their homes, and the source is poor indoor air quality. In this article, we discuss common causes of poor indoor air quality in Bedford, IN and how the pollutants can affect your health.

Why Is Good Indoor Air Quality Important?

Indoor air quality (IAQ) measures if your home or building contains harmful pollutants and improper humidity levels. If the quality of air is poor in your home, it means there are many pollutants floating throughout your home’s air and negatively impacting your health. It is important to take action to improve indoor air quality to maintain a healthy lifestyle, increase home comfort, and protect different aspects of your home and personal belongings. While it sounds like a chore, maintaining good indoor air quality in Mitchell, IN and surrounding areas is a simple process with few home maintenance tasks. The experts at Air-Master can take the stress off your shoulders with HVAC maintenance, which can help improve and sustain positive indoor air quality year-round.

Common Causes Of Poor IAQ

Many factors play into your home’s indoor air quality. Did you know that indoor spaces are often more polluted than the outdoors? This is due to poor ventilation that allows pollutants to build up. We spend a large amount of time in our homes and offices, whether sleeping, working, lounging, or cooking. It is important to know the sources that result in poor IAQ, so you are able to take action to improve it. Below are six common causes of poor indoor air quality in Lawrence County, IN and surrounding areas.

• Humidity
• Fuel-Burning Appliances
• Asbestos
• Indoor Animals
• Cigarette Smoke
• Household Products

Humidity

Contrary to popular belief, humidity isn’t always an uncomfortable and sticky feeling! To maintain ideal comfort and indoor air quality, humidity in your home should stay between 30-60%. Too high or low levels of humidity can negatively affect air quality and cause a variety of health symptoms.

If humidity is high in your home, it can cause mold and mildew growth. Mold and mildew thrive in warm and moist environments, and can easily grow on walls, furniture, and other places in your home. Breathing in mold can result in common cold-like symptoms, difficulty breathing, headaches, and severe allergic reactions.

If humidity is low in your home, it can increase susceptibility to illnesses, increase odors, and cause static electricity. The lack of moisture in the air can affect your health by leading to dry and cracked skin, irritated throat, and a variety of other problems.

Fuel-Burning Appliances

If your home utilizes fuel-burning appliances, they could be the cause of your poor indoor air quality. Appliances such as ovens, stoves, furnaces, fireplaces, and water heaters can all release carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide into the air you breathe. Both gasses can be harmful to human health and result in various allergy-like symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, and dizziness.

Asbestos

Asbestos is a group of minerals typically found in building materials such as paint, floor tiles, and insulation. The presence of asbestos can significantly decrease indoor air quality and can increase the risk of several serious diseases being breathed in.

Indoor Animals

Pet dander is a common indoor air pollutant in homes. While we would never suggest getting rid of your indoor animal, we do suggest regularly grooming and doing so outside of your home. Pet dander is found on animal fur and can cause allergy symptoms and discomfort to many. Brushing animal fur outside can reduce the amount of pet dander released in your home.

Cigarette Smoke

If you smoke inside your home, it is affecting your indoor air quality! The residue from smoking lingers within your home’s air and absorbs into carpet, furniture, walls, ceilings, and other places around your home. The chemicals can not only cause lung cancer for humans, but animals as well if breathed in often! We recommend smoking outdoors rather than inside your home to maintain positive indoor air quality.

Household Products

Cleaning agents and artificial fragrances are two household products that affect indoor air quality. Both products can contain volatile organic compounds and release a variety of chemicals into the air that cause eye, nose, and throat irritation. We recommend making the switch to natural household products to improve indoor air quality.

Ways To Improve Indoor Air Quality In Bedford, IN

Two of our top priorities at Air-Master Heating and Air Conditioning is to ensure our customers remain healthy and comfortable. Maintaining positive indoor air quality can achieve both health and comfort, because you are breathing in clean air! There are a variety of ways homeowners can improve indoor air quality in Oolitic, IN and surrounding areas, such as:

• Regularly changing air filters
• Controlling humidity with dehumidifiers & humidifiers
• Dusting regularly
• Investing in an air purifier

Along with the four ways to improve IAQ, one of the most beneficial ways to remain comfortable and healthy year-round is through HVAC maintenance. Our expert technicians will perform a variety of preventative maintenance tasks, including cleaning the inside and outside of your unit, cleaning and changing air filters, and finding solutions for homes with poor air quality. We are here to help keep you breathing easy this spring season, give us a call to schedule AC maintenance in Bedford, IN and surrounding areas today!