The indoor air quality of your home is essential to both the short- and long-term health of you and your family. Even if you think the air quality in your house is good, it may not be good enough. On top of that, it can always be improved upon.
There are plenty of factors that can affect how healthy the air is in your household. Unless you’re an HVAC professional, you probably don’t understand all the various factors that go into creating a healthy environment. The following are some common questions about indoor air pollution that you may not already know the answers to.
What Are Pathogens?
Pathogens are biological materials, such as bacteria or viruses, that can be found floating in the air in your residence. It’s normal to have a number of microscopic pathogens in the air at any time. If their presence becomes too much, though, it could cause the people in the home to get sick more often and more severely. Pathogens can also be dangerous to those in your household with allergy issues because they latch on to dust particles to stay afloat.
What Does an Air Purifier Do?
One great way to reduce the presence of pathogens in your house’s air is an air purifier. The purifier sucks in the air in a room and runs it through up to three filters, including a HEPA filter, before sending the clean air back out to its designated area. Air purifiers come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with some being powerful enough to clean the air in an entire residence in just a few hours.
How Can You Improve the Air Quality in Your Home?
Of course, you always want your house to be as healthy as possible. Here are some steps you can take, on top of using an air purifier, to improve the air quality in your home.
Replace filters. Be sure you replace the air filters in your HVAC system regularly. If they get dirty, they could become blocked, which will make them less effective. Open windows. Letting fresh air from outside into your house helps to push out stale air that could be filled with pollutants. Fresh air is nature’s way of filtering your residence.
Clean ducts. If your HVAC system’s ducts are filled with dirt, it will circulate out into your home when the fan is on. Have the ductwork in your house cleaned regularly by a professional. It will go a long way toward keeping things clean and fresh. Clean surfaces. Be sure to dust and wipe down surfaces consistently to prevent those particles from becoming airborne.
What Is a HEPA Air Filter?
When reading about air purifiers, you may have heard of a HEPA filter. These are mechanical air filters, and the acronym stands for “High-Efficiency Particulate Air.” HEPA filters can filter out up to 99.7% of the particulates in the air, making them the most effective filters of their kind. These filters are defined by parameters set forth by the U.S. Department of Energy.
What Are Some of the Negative Consequences of Poor Air Quality?
If air gets unhealthy enough, it can have noticeable effects on the inhabitants of a home. In some rare and extreme cases, it can even cause death. Some of the most common side effects associated with bad air include lung cancer. Repeated and consistent exposure to pollutants in the air can lead to lung cancer in some individuals. It can also cause asthma flareups and even lead some people to develop asthma if they’re high-risk individuals.
Repeated sickness is another issue caused by poor indoor air quality. If you find yourself getting a respiratory illness more often than average, it could be a result of unhealthy air in your house. Finally, indoor pollutants can also reduce your overall life expectancy. In fact, studies have shown that being exposed to bad air quality for an extended period can lead to higher mortality rates.
If you’re concerned about the purity of the air in your home, give Galbreath & Sons, Inc. a call today to schedule an appointment. We’ll provide a thorough inspection, helping you to make your HVAC system as high-powered, clean, and efficient as possible. We’ve been providing world-class customer service to residents of the Richmond, GA, area for more than three decades. Our team can also help you with heating repairs, installation, and maintenance as well as cooling repairs, duct sealing, and solar home products.