Indoor Air Quality

Indoor air pollution can actually be worse for you than outdoor pollution! According to the EPA, levels for many pollutants may be two to five times higher indoors than outdoors.

Find Out What You’re Breathing

What sets us apart in our field? Our technology!

We can make the invisible visible. Utilizing HomeAdvice™, a state-of-the-art test from an independent third party, we analyze the air in your home and identify problems that otherwise would be impossible to see. We provide you with a professional, detailed report that identifies IAQ issues and provides recommendations to improve air quality.

                                                    

What is IAQ?

Your home’s air quality (referred to as indoor air quality or IAQ) affects you and your family’s life every day because most of us spend up to 90% of our time indoors. Common household activities or things in your home can adversely affect indoor air quality: cooking, cleaning, furniture, paint and pets are just a few of the culprits.

Today’s tightly sealed and energy-efficient homes can actually have negative effects on your home’s air quality because the home might not be properly equipped to filter and purify the constantly re-circulated air. Without adequate indoor air circulation, pollutants can build up, leading to poor indoor air quality.

Pollutants aren’t the only contributors to poor IAQ. Temperature and humidity need to be balanced to create a comfortable and healthy home environment.

• Are you too warm or cold at times?
• Are bedrooms not comfortable enough for sleeping?
• Do you find your home humid in the summer or dry in the winter?
• Does your home often feel cool and clammy?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then your indoor air quality needs to be improved, and that starts with testing. Let us help you. Have a HomeAdvice™ indoor air quality test done today in your home—it’s simple.

The HomeAdvice™ indoor air quality test measures levels of contaminants that affect your home’s air quality, such as:

• Particle Allergens (dust, pet dander, pollen)
• Chemical Pollutants (harmful gases)
• Carbon Dioxide (can cause stuffy rooms)
• Temperature
• Carbon Monoxide
• Humidity

Call and Schedule a HomeAdvice™ test today!

What Causes Indoor Air Pollution?

There are many factors that can cause indoor air pollution:

• The typical home generates approximately 40 pounds of dust each year for every 1500 square feet.
• Just one ounce of dust contains about 40,000 dust mites, which aggravate allergies.
• Tobacco smoke and wood smoke are a common cause of indoor air pollution.
• There are over 4,000 compounds in tobacco smoke, many of which are strong irritants.
• Carpets, furniture, bathrooms, damp basements, and other seemingly benign household items can contribute to indoor air pollution.
• Perfume, paint, air fresheners and hairspray cause indoor air pollution.
• Common activities such as cooking, cleaning, and remodeling cause the spread of indoor contaminants.
• Flowers and trees are both sources of pollen, but surprisingly, trees affect allergy sufferers more. Trees like alder, pine and birch do not rely on insects to distribute pollen. They rely on wind, and this means their pollen can regularly enter your home.

What is causing indoor air pollution in your home? Get an indoor air pollution test to find out. The results could be surprising. Significantly lowering indoor air pollution is usually not that difficult, but you have to know the cause of the problems as well as how to solve them.

Do I need an IAQ test?

Indoor air pollution and its health implications are a rapidly growing concern for families in today’s society. You want your family to be safe from the air pollution problems found in the outside environment, yet you may be unaware that indoor air pollution can have a major effect on your family’s health, comfort, and safety as well.

The EPA has identified indoor air pollution as one of the top five urgent environmental risks to public health. Indoor air pollution contributes to lung disease, including respiratory tract infections, asthma, and lung cancer, and can greatly exacerbate allergy symptoms. If you or a family member suffer from allergies or asthma, or if you have infants or elderly persons living in the home, indoor air pollution and its health implications are of even greater concern to you.

However, even healthy adults can experience adverse effects from a single exposure to indoor air pollution. Some common symptoms are headaches, nausea, sore or scratchy throat, nasal irritation, dry, red, or watering eyes, coughing, and fatigue.

Let us help you. Have a HomeAdvice™ indoor air quality test done today—it’s simple.

Home Energy and Green Living

Home energy costs are a major concern for most families. You’ve probably asked yourself many times how you can save money on home energy bills. You’ve also probably heard a lot about green living initiatives and are wondering how that affects energy costs. The good news is that indoor air pollution management leads to significant home energy savings.

A cost-effective approach to home energy savings (in addition to a high efficiency heating/cooling system) is to reduce uncontrolled air leakage. This means making sure your home is well-sealed. A tight home also helps prevent rot and frost damage because moisture penetration is limited. In addition to home energy savings, another huge benefit of a sealed home is eliminating the amount of dust, pollen, and other outdoor pollutants that enter into your living area. The tighter your home is, the more control you can exercise over ventilation. However, keep in mind that air pollution from indoor sources gets trapped inside of tight homes, thus making controlled ventilation and filtration very important.

The traditional solution most people resort to when they feel the effects of indoor air pollution, or a poorly controlled indoor climate (temperature, humidity, stuffiness) is to open a window. Unfortunately, this method wastes a great deal of energy because the home then needs to be heated up or cooled down afterwards. Rather than opening a window, using controlled ventilation (and/or filtration) gets rid of indoor air pollutants and maximizes home energy efficiency.

Making sure your home is sealed, and controlling ventilation and filtration, controls the quality of your indoor air. This reduces the negative impact of indoor air pollution on your health, and increases your home’s energy savings at the same time.

If your home is frequently uncomfortable because of stuffy or stale air, temperature fluctuations, excessive dust, or if you experience allergic or asthma-related symptoms, then you should get your home’s air tested. The test can help determine how ‘tight’ your home is and will offer solutions to improve your indoor air quality, and to save on your home’s energy consumption.

We can supply and install air cleaners, dehumidifiers and humidifiers, and we’re certified in duct system design, installation, and cleaning.

Learn more about IAQ