What is indoor air quality
and how can it improve your home?

Having the right thermostat is crucial for proper filtration of the air in your home. While your heat or air conditioning is running, it pushes the air through a filter that traps dust, dander, allergens, and other particles of debris from the air that flows through your home. During the Spring and Fall seasons, when the temperature is very comfortable and you don’t have to run the air conditioning or heating, the air can become stagnant and as a result can cause eye irritations, allergies, or worsen respiratory issues. By having a thermostat that can be set to run the fan only when the heat or AC is not running, the air in your home can stay both allergen and dust free creating a more comfortable home.

Proper air filtration sounds easy to achieve, but is always the most difficult aspect of IAQ to get right. The reason filtration is so difficult to get right is that while trying to filter out the correct sized partials in the air, so that you are comfortable and allergen free, we have to consider the resistance of air flow within your air duct system that the correct air filter will create and how much it will affect air flow, temperature rise and noise within your home. Finding the right air filter is a balancing act of MERVE rating (How restrictive your air filter is.) and your systems static pressure (How the air moves through your system.). The higher a filters MERVE rating, the smaller the particals it filters out of the air, but the more difficult it becomes for air to flow through your duct system properly and quietly. This can be best achieved using special diagnostic tools which will provide us with what possibilities are achievable with your current air duct system and blower motor.

If you wake up with a dry nose or sore throat, your skin cracking, or your eyes are itchy, dry and irritated then your home’s humidity level may be too dry. Other noticeable signs are cracks in wood furniture or floors or houseplants that never seem to have enough water. If this sounds like your home, a properly sized humidification system might be what you need. Humidifiers add moisture back into your home based on your specific comfort levels and can be adjusted accordingly.

If your home has always felt damp, has a musty smell, or never feels crips you are suffering from improperly high humidity levels. Other signs of high humidity in your home include doors that stick or don’t close properly or a heavy feeling to the air. An interesting note on humidity is that when humidity levels are high the temperature has to be set lower to make the air feel cooler than when the humidity is low. Think about 72° in Arizona vs 72° in Miami. Too much humidity in your home can cause costly issues such as mold growth, peeling paint, and a variety of health concerns. By installing a dehumidifier, you can save your own health as well as your home by removing excess moister in the air and lowering your electric bills.

Ultra Violet Light, or as they are commonly called UV Cleansers, are specially designed to irradiate or kill air borne living matter such as viruses, bacteria and other living materials as they pass the UV cleanser’s light within your air duct system. These living materials can’t be trapped by an air filter due to their microscopic size. UV Cleansers help to prevent mold, further reduces allergens, and prevent bacteria or viruses from circulation within your home. These lights glow at a very special 253.7 nanometers on the light spectrum and even though they can still be seen once the deviate even a bit from that 253.7 they lose all of their effectiveness. Typically, they will last one to two years, depending on the light before they need to be replaced.

When air is able to escape from your home through the attic it is replaced by outside air that has not been conditioned by your indoor air quality systems. Cold, dry air is coming in through the basement or foundation in the winter and hot, humid air in the summer when conditioned air escapes through your attic access hatch causing your HVAC and IAQ units to work harder, or past their capability, to condition the air constantly. By installing an attic tent, you are keeping the filtered, humidity-controlled air in your home that will continue to get better as it runs through your systems and keeping the outside air out.