Managing indoor air quality is important for your household. There can be more contaminants inside your Pensacola Beach, FL, home than outside, so many variables can affect your indoor air quality. Here are some ways you can improve it.
Types of Indoor Air Contaminants
Some common contaminants that can affect your air quality include particulate matter, carbon dioxide, humidity, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and temperature. There are three broad categories for contaminants.
Biological contaminants come from animals and plants and include pet dander, pollen and bacteria. Volatile organic compounds have low water solubility and high vapor pressure, and they include formaldehyde, alcohol and ethanol. Particulate matter is an air quality contaminant from solid or liquid matter.
How Humidity Plays a Role with Indoor Air Quality
To control your indoor air quality, you need the right level of humidity. The EPA recommends that your home stay between 30% and 50% humidity. To keep your home’s humidity within this range, you should add a dehumidifier to your HVAC system to remove excess moisture from the air.
Certain contaminants spread further through the atmosphere the longer they’re airborne. A dehumidifier will stunt the spread of biological contaminants that need high humidity to spread faster.
Air Purifiers and HVAC Systems
Many homes have good ventilation already through cracks around doors and windows. New homes sometimes need new ventilation because the seals are too tight. Our experts will install an energy recovery ventilator in the exhaust of your HVAC system, where it draws in the fresh air.
All HVAC systems have air filters to keep out contaminants, but an air purifier can help remove viruses, bacteria and debris in the air that make it past the filters. Some purifiers give off an electrical charge within the duct and zap the particles. Adding a UV bulb to your system can allow you to catch particles too small for the air purifier to catch.
Tasks to Protect Your Indoor Air Quality
Many people have house plants in their homes, and they can help to clean the air. The symbiotic relationship works because you breathe in what plants breathe out and vice versa. Some common houseplants include aloe, English ivy and bamboo palm.
Your HVAC system will recirculate the same air, so to help your home breathe, you can crack your windows and clean the floors to lessen the particles in the home. The biggest thing you can do to protect your indoor air quality is to replace the air filters according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Clogged filters will make your system work harder than it has to and allow particles through into the air.
Other Ways to Help Your HVAC System
Have HVAC specialists test your indoor air quality annually and try air duct cleaning services. An overhanging microwave with a vent over your stove may seem like a good idea, but these have limited reach and don’t usually connect outside.
Installing a quality range hood can lower the humidity more easily. A range hood will connect to the outside, giving smoke, moisture or other kitchen-related contaminants sucked into the hood a way to escape.
Turning your furnace blower on will keep your indoor air circulating. It’s best to have our professionals install UV lights in the ducts to kill the smallest particles while recirculating the air.
You have many factors to think about when it comes to your indoor air quality, and HVAC accessories such as UV bulbs and air purifiers can make a big difference. There are even more steps you can take to improve your indoor air quality. For example, you can initiate a “no shoes in the house” policy.
If you need any help with your indoor air quality, then give us a call at Lunsford Air Conditioning & Heating to schedule an appointment with one of our experts. We provide all the products and services you need to keep the air in your Pensacola Beach, FL, home healthy and easy to breathe.
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