Two Major Threats to Your Indoor Air Quality

Maintaining good air quality in your home is vital to maintaining your and your family’s health and safety. You might think that would go without saying, but many people probably don’t think much about the air in their home until they notice a change for the worse.

There are a number of ways in which a home’s indoor air quality can suffer, many of which concern pollutants. There are many pollutants that can enter your home from outside, but there are also those that can come from within.

Pollutants can cause anything from minor eye, nose, and throat irritations to headaches, nosebleeds, dizziness, and other serious conditions. Those who suffer from asthma or other respiratory complications may even experience more frequent or severe symptoms with poor indoor air quality.

It’s for these reasons that maintaining good indoor air quality is important and should be among a homeowner’s primary concerns. The good news is that addressing air quality isn’t rocket science – in fact, when you take a look at the big picture, it really comes down to addressing two important factors: particulates and gases in the air, and how your HVAC system keeps them from entering or gathering in your home.

Particulates & Gases in the Air

Clean air is comprised of 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, and 1 percent mostly argon. Ideally, these gases would be all that goes into our lungs when we breathe, but this isn’t so. The air outside and inside your home is full of particulates, which can range in size from stray atoms to molecules and even larger structures. Sometimes, other gases can buildup and cause just as serious problems.

These are some common particulates that might be in your home:

• Dust
• Pollen,
• Pet Dander
• Dust mites
• Bacteria
• Viruses
• Cigarette Smoke
• Mold Spores
• Formaldehyde
• Asbestos
• Lead particles
• Radon
• Carbon dioxide
• Carbon monoxide

Most particulates are harmless when there are only a few of them. In larger concentrations, though, they start to impact air quality.

An Ineffective HVAC System

While regular cleaning can reduce the presence of particulates and their building in your home, it doesn’t address the underlying issue. That problem often comes down to how effectively air is cleaned before entering your home and how it’s circulated throughout once inside.

Both of these factors concern your HVAC system. Starting with the HVAC unit itself, it’s important that your device is working exactly as it should. That means its fan is pushing as much air into the system as it’s designed to do and not suffering from any mechanical issues that could add particulates into the airflow.

Second, the unit’s air filter should be clean and free of debris. It’s designed to stop many particulates from entering your home, but it can stop working properly when it gets too dirty. Air filters that have a considerable amount of buildup also physically stop air from circulating as it should inside your home.

Finally, problems involving your home’s ducting can prevent proper air circulation. Holes in ducting caused by pests or degradation over time allow air from your HVAC unit to escape before it reaches its destination. In addition to reducing air circulation and enabling particulates to cluster together, this can cause your HVAC system to work harder than it needs to, reducing its potential lifespan.

UV Lights to Improve What Cannot be Seen

Your everyday air filter will take care of the large particulates that can bee seen floating in the air as well as your ducts, but UV lights are your solution to what cannot be seen. The ultraviolet wavelengths break down and destroy most bacteria, mold spores, and other pollutants before they are able to reproduce and spread through the rest of your home.

The UV lights are generally installed near your air conditioner’s evaporator coil and/or within your homes ductwork. Since both general locations are outside of your living spaces, the UV lights stay out of harms way – safe for all family, friends, and pets!

If you would like to learn more about adding UV lights to your home HVAC system, give us a call at (216) 202-3778 contact Arco Home Services today.

Do You Need to Improve Your Indoor Air Quality?

If you’ve noticed that there’s a problem with your home’s indoor air quality, chances are there’s a problem with your HVAC system. When you reach out to Arco Home Services for help, we can come and take a look at your system and make sure everything is acting exactly as it should. We also offer a variety of products and services that can directly address your home’s indoor air quality, just in case problems persist.

For more information about everything we can do for our customers, please get in touch with us. Call (216) 202-3778 or contact us online today!