Increase Your Home’s Indoor Air Quality
New homes are tightly sealed and insulated. While this makes them energy efficient, lower amounts of outdoor air, indoor pollution and continuous recirculation can cause issues.
Don’t panic, because American HVAC Inc can help you achieve an energy-efficient residence that meets your comfort needs. The services we offer include an air quality audit and systems that improve indoor air quality in San Jose, California.
Call us at (408) 516-3886 now to start bettering your home’s air.
Signs Your Home Has Low Indoor Air Quality
How healthy do you think your home is? It could not be as good as you may guess. Pollution can be two to five times worse indoors than outdoors, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Indoor air buildup moving through your home’s air could result in headaches and allergy flareups. And mold and mildew can cause a host of health problems.
Health Problems
Even though health problems can be caused by other issues, they may be an indicator your house has indoor air quality (IAQ) problems. This is particularly accurate if you feel better once you’re outside of your home.
- Dry eyes, nose, throat or skin
- Headaches and sinus problems
- Fatigue
- Allergies or asthma issues that are more irritated than you usually experience
- Coughing and sneezing
- Dizziness or feeling queasy
Environmental Challenges
An outdated heating and cooling machine may be a contributing element in indoor air quality challenges, usually if the HVAC system appears to be struggling to filter air, adjust humidity or keep temperatures steady.
Here are further signals you may want to consider improving your indoor air:
- Extreme static or mold growth
- Excessive grime
- Stuffy smells
How Can I Avoid Indoor Air Quality Problems?
Our experts will take a look at areas that can harm air quality, including humidity, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Then we’ll discuss the issues we locate and action items to fix them.
Dust mites feed on skin cells and other components in dust and the mites and their waste products become components of dust. Dust Mites are too tiny to see and few people are aware how many mites might be living in a home. However, they significantly compromise indoor air quality.
California Air Resources Board (ARB) identifies environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), or secondhand smoke, as a Toxic Air Contaminant (TAC). ETS is now formally identified as an airborne toxic substance that may cause and / or contribute to death or serious illness.
These pollutants have substances that can cause headaches or irritate respiratory disorders.
People use a variety of heat sources to cook food, including gas, wood, and electricity. Each of these heat sources can create indoor air pollution during cooking. Natural gas and propane stoves can release carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and other harmful pollutants into the air, which can be toxic to people and pets.
To protect health, comfort, the school building and its contents, it is important that indoor relative humidity be maintained below 60%, ideally between 30% and 50%. Avoid over-sizing the HVAC system, particularly in high humidity climates.
Ongoing exposure to this invisible, dangerous gas is the top cause of lung cancer among people who have never smoked, according to the EPA. You can shop for a radon test kit online or reach out to your state radon program for info on discounted or free kits.
Ventilation and shading can help control indoor temperatures. Ventilation also helps remove or dilute indoor airborne pollutants coming from indoor sources. This reduces the level of contaminants and improves indoor air quality (IAQ).
When new paint is drying, indoor VOC levels can be 1000 times higher than outdoor levels. Paint releases VOCs into the air. Because of the large surface areas typically covered by paint in a room, VOC emissions can be significant. A room that is 12×12 feet will have a painted wall and ceiling surface are close to 432 ft2 which is three times the exposed area of a flooring or ceiling product. Since paints are often applied in occupied spaces, and VOC emissions can continue even 6 months after application, people are more likely to be exposed to vapors from freshly painted surfaces.
Carbon monoxide detectors provide early warning signs of increasing carbon monoxide levels in a building or home. The alarm helps indicate when one of your appliances is not working correctly and can warn anyone in a building before it’s too late.
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Start Breathing Cleaner Air Today with American HVAC Inc
With a complete array of certified pros and indoor air quality products, American HVAC Inc can help your family breathe easier. Contact us at today to schedule a time to chat.
CALL FOR SERVICE NOW(408) 516-3886