Homes are our protection from the harsh outdoors; a safe haven from the elements. That’s why it can be troubling to find out that indoor levels of harmful contaminants may be up to five times that of outdoor levels. Home is where you spend most of your time, where your family will gather and grow. You want to protect your loved ones from everything, so what about this practically invisible enemy? What can be done? Luckily, low air quality indoors isn’t something you have to just live with. There are measures available to address many aspects of poor air quality, including mold remediation, air duct cleaning, installing purifiers, disinfecting the home, and microbial and odor control.
It’s up to you to figure out when it’s time to bring the professionals into your home. Together we will identify common and crucial signs of low air quality inside your home.
Causes of Poor Air Quality
Before we jump into the signs of low air quality, it’s important to understand why your air quality may deteriorate over time. Air quality has the potential to be an issue in every home, but there are certain factors that can increase your risk of being exposed to harmful pollution, mold, bacteria, and more.
Outdoor Air
Your outdoor air is impacted by the environment where you live. When you think about what may affect air quality outside of your home, think about nature, factories, landscape, and population.
For example, areas with bustling traffic or a high number of factories per capita may experience lower air quality as a direct result. This remains an issue today, despite efforts to improve air health and several regulations put into place aimed to reduce the amount of pollution produced by transportation and facilities.
This outdoor air quality will almost always alter your indoor air unless you take measures to address it, like a filtration system for the HVAC unit. Besides filtering the air that comes into your home, there is not much you can do short of moving to a less populated area.
Indoor Air
Pollutants and harmful microbes don’t just exist outside of the home. Poor air quality indoors is just as important, if not more. According to recent research, we spend almost all of our time indoors.
Indoor air quality is where we will focus our efforts on identifying and fixing contributors to low home air quality. Home air health can be impacted by clogged air ducts, outdoor air, bacteria, mold growth, viruses, and other environmental factors.
Signs of Low Air Quality
The several signs of low air quality can often be attributed to other causes. That’s why it’s so important to remain vigilant about physical signs in your home and possible health-related symptoms you may experience.
If you notice that there are several things on your list that you experience in your home, you might need to improve the health of the air.
Allergy and Cold Symptoms
Oftentimes, air quality problems are only uncovered because people in the household are feeling unwell.
There are a variety of symptoms you may experience. Sneezing, coughing, headaches, nausea, rashes, and a runny nose can all be common signs of low air quality.
If you find that you’re experiencing untimely allergies or have a cough you can’t shake, have your home tested to see what harmful microbes could be present.
Pockets of Air
Do you find that you walk into spots of hot and cold air? This could mean that your HVAC system isn’t working properly and can have a buildup of particulates in the vents.
Poor air circulation can be caused by bad air quality and can also worsen current conditions by not filtering and dispersing air properly.
Extra Dust and Dirt
Do you feel like you’re in an endless loop of cleaning to remove the constant layer of dust and dirt around your home?
If you just can’t keep up with the grime produced by the environment, you may find that the root cause of the dusty decor is bad air quality. A look at your vents and air filters. A significant amount of dust buildup around your heating or air conditioning vents can reveal that there is a surplus of pollutants in your home.
Trouble Sleeping
Can’t catch up on the Z’s? Add low air quality to the checklist of potential causes.
It may not occur to you that sleeping troubles may be a sign of air issues. If you notice that you’re not able to sleep well and have another sign on this list, that’s when to get help.
Bad Smells
One of the more obvious signs that something has invaded your home and affected its air quality, something stinks! Now, what exactly is the culprit of that smell?
Mold, smoke, pet odor, and repetitive carpet spills can contribute to a pungent home.
Visible Mold
Mold in itself is a health hazard, but can also be indicative of a bigger problem in your house. Mold means moisture, and moisture can be the result of a cracked window or can be indicative of something more sinister, like a leaking pipe or broken foundation.
If you see mold, you may want to consider having a professional look at the area to identify the cause and take the steps to fix it.
What to Do About It
There are a few approaches that you can take to help improve air quality.
Some folks with less severe air quality issues may find that a humidifier, or a dehumidifier depending on the exact situation, is enough to make a difference. Others might want to invest in an air purifier or have an integrated air filtration system installed.
The most comprehensive choice is to hire professional services to ensure that every contributor to poor air quality is fixed. They can identify the causes and employ the appropriate solutions whether it be microbial control, odor control, or bacteria and virus disinfection.
Let’s Get Started
When it comes to your home and protecting your family, you want the best of the best.
Bactronix is Southeastern Pennsylvania’s choice for helping residents create and maintain a healthy living environment.
If you’re concerned about low air quality in your home, contact Batronix today.
