Have you ever experienced random symptoms of coughing, sore throat, or wheezing, and aren’t sure why? The doctor gives you a clean bill of health, yet these things keep happening, and it isn’t very clear why. The answer could be straightforward: You might have bad indoor air quality.
The air we breathe is essential to our health and well-being, but unfortunately, we tend to overlook it. This puts not only our health but also the health of the ones we love at risk. Let’s discuss why indoor air quality matters and how we can use the power of air filtration to secure the health and wellness of everyone in our homes.
Why does Indoor Air Quality Matter?
It’s easy to forget how much time we spend inside! Experts at the Environmental Protection Agency, estimate that we spend approximately 90% of our day in a building. (EPA) This averages 21.6 hours daily, with only around 2 hours spent outside.
That’s a lot of time.
Imagine that all the time spent inside is in poor indoor air quality. It should become more apparent why the subject matters. Continuous time spent in bad IAQ could result in significant health problems and affect your overall well-being. This leads to symptoms like the ones we mentioned: coughing, sore throat, and wheezing.
What type of contaminants are found in indoor air?
A lot can affect your indoor environment. Outside, you’re not affected by any interior air in the least. But inside, you have to worry about contaminants from the outside and those caused by elements inside your home.
This leads to various pollutants that could be present, such as pollen, dust, smoke, mold, bacteria, carbon monoxide, radon, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), just to name a few.
Why is my indoor air quality so bad?
There could be multiple reasons your indoor air quality isn’t up to par. As previously mentioned, indoor air is comprised of both outside and inside contaminants that affect it. These contaminants combine with elements from things commonly stored inside, like cleaning agents, paint on the walls, and furniture.
You have a recipe for disaster when you add poor ventilation and subpar HVAC maintenance!
How to test Indoor Air Quality?
Now that you know what contaminants could be present in your home’s air, it’s natural to want to know your exact situation. Fortunately, there are a couple of ways to test your home’s indoor air quality.
The first and obvious choice is to get a professional assessment. The pros are that your worries can be resolved, knowing that a pro can perform the test and give you a detailed breakdown. The con would be the price range to do so, connected to the size of your home. A small home up to 2500sqft could cost up to $500. And a larger home, up to $1500.
The second choice is to invest in an air quality monitor. This investment has the pro of giving you a relative feed on your air quality. They can detect harmful pollutants like dust, smoke, mold, and VOCs, which can help maintain your health and wellness.
With this device, you’ll need to be concerned about its accuracy and the possibility of environmental factors like temperature affecting the readings. An additional con is that the monitors also do not clean the air.
Need a recommendation for a quality indoor air quality monitor?
Supco IAQ Monitor
The last choice is to utilize an indoor air quality test kit. If you’re a do-it-yourselfer, this option may appeal to you. The positive thing about going this route is that it can be more affordable than getting a professional to do it, and you can perform it at your convenience. Usually, IAQ kits can help you diagnose the issue, whether it’s organic compounds or some form of allergen.
Some concerns about a kit are whether you’re getting a big picture of your air quality, as some focus on a specific contaminant instead of multiple ones.
If you’re having trouble finding a kit that tests for organic compounds, we have a quality option that covers over 7,000 indoor pollutants, including benzene, heptane, hexane, and more. These can be found in cleaning supplies, plastics, and other materials sitting around your home.
Indoor Air Quality Testing Kit – Schnieder Labs
Why do I sneeze so much?
The reasons you may sneeze more than usual come down to the quality of your air! If many airborne particles are circulating through your home, then there’s a good chance you’re breathing them in.
Luckily, there are ways to resolve it, like changing your air filter regularly and investing in an air purifier. If you want more details on this, keep reading the next section!
How To Improve Indoor Air Quality?
Improving your air quality can seem daunting if you’re unfamiliar with air filtration. As your number one resource for all things filtration, we love making it simple for our audience. We’ll break it down into two steps.
Step One: Air Filter Replacements
This is the easiest thing you can possibly do, but simple tasks are often complicated because you must remember first! Knowing which filter is best for your home is essential if you’re going to get the best air filter replacement possible.
MERV 8 filter YouTube Video
Most homes are good with a MERV 8 filter, which is fantastic at capturing dust and pollen, perfect for those with allergies.
However, a MERV 13 filter may be the answer if you need to reduce mold and bacteria.
If you’re unfamiliar with the MERV term, it stands for Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value and is the rating system for air filters. Anything higher than MERV 13 isn’t recommended for home use.
Shop Filters Fast® brand air filters
As we said before, the most manageable tasks are often the hardest. So, if you want to make it super easy for yourself, signing up for our Home Filter Club subscription program at checkout will do just that! After choosing your delivery interval, your replacements will appear on your doorstep right on time. This will instantly remind you to change those air conditioning filters!
Step Two: Investing in a Home Air Purifier
After you’ve set up your air filter at home, you may want to improve your air quality further. You can easily do so by investing in an air purifier.
Why choose an air purifier?
The benefits of a purifier are worth the investment as you’ll receive a return immediately. They add an extra layer to your HVAC air filters, aiding in capturing dust, pollen, dust mites, and pet dander.
Depending on your purchase type, you can even eliminate smoke and foul odor. For those looking to have True HEPA filtration going to bat for you when it comes to capturing contaminants, an air purifier is the only safe way to do so in your home.
This form of air filtration security is excellent because it captures up to 99.97% of all airborne contaminants. However, getting an air filter with this level of filtration would harm your HVAC system.
Want to take your air quality up a notch? Filters Fast carries a wide selection of quality air purifiers. Just remember to replace the filter every six months!
I live in an apartment. What can I do for indoor air quality?
Living in an apartment is much different than living in a townhome or traditional single-family home. You’re more likely to be around more people, which means more opportunities to get sick. You may or may not have to worry about changing filters, as maintenance may handle the task.
Even if they are, taking control of your air quality may be the right move, as the filters they use may not be high-quality. We recommend getting your own filters as the first step and backing them up with an air purifier.
For additional tips, cleaning and dusting often is a good idea. Looking into houseplants that act as natural air fresheners instead of buying them is a plus, too. If you’re a smoker, try not to do it inside. Open your windows and doors too let the air circulate whenever the weather allows. Control your moisture by using the exhaust fan for your kitchen or bathroom whenever you do something that generates it.
Excellent Indoor Air Quality, Enhanced Health and Well-being
We often overlook the possibility that the quality of the air in our homes could affect our quality of life. Fortunately, there are two simple ways to achieve excellent air quality: using high-quality air filter replacements and investing in an air purifier. By equipping our homes with these two powerful air filtration methods, we can fully enjoy a healthy lifestyle.
For more information on indoor air quality, check out the following articles:
- 4 Things That Could be Affecting Your Indoor Air Quality
- A Homeowner’s Guide to Improving Indoor Air Quality
- Take Control of Your Indoor Air Quality
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