What are Air Quality Tests?
People spend more time indoors than ever, making it all the more important for the air in your home to be clean. After all, indoor air can have two to five times more contaminants than outdoors. Air quality tests use air samples to measure levels of airborne pollutants in your home. Advantage Air HVAC shares why air quality tests are essential for your health and ways you can identify poor air quality in your home.
Common Indoor Air Pollutants
Pollutants can enter your home in several ways, especially if you own pets or frequently wear your shoes indoors. Many everyday items, like glass cleaners, synthetic air fresheners, nail polish removers, and laundry detergent, contain harmful substances that are released into the air. There are three primary categories of indoor air contaminants:
- Biological pollutants like viruses, bacteria, dust, and dander.
- Chemical pollutants or volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in things like cleaning products, carpets, and treated wood used for building.
- Combustion by-products that are produced by natural gas stoves, furnaces, fireplaces, and smoking indoors need for your home.
Signs of Poor Indoor Air Quality
We recommend having your air tested every three years or following an event that can affect air quality, including home renovations or flooding. Since you can't see most airborne pollutants, you may not know your air quality is poor until it begins affecting you. Continuous exposure to contaminated air can lead to respiratory disease, heart disease, and lung cancer. The usual symptoms of polluted indoor air include:
- Headache
- Sore throat
- Sneezing and shortness of breath
- Fatigue
- Rashes
- More frequent and severe episodes of allergic or asthmatic attacks
Improve Air Quality with an HVAC Air Purifier
Your HVAC system circulates air throughout your home, so equipping it with an air purifier makes sense. By filtering harmful particles from the air you breathe, you also extend the lifespan of your HVAC because those contaminants won't build up in the system's components. There are other easy ways you can improve the air quality in your house:
- Replace or clean your HVAC filters regularly.
- Keep several houseplants. They are excellent natural air purifiers, especially spider plants, snake plants,and peace lilies.
- Use solid flooring, like hardwood or tile, instead of carpet.
- Use proper ventilation in your kitchen and bathrooms to prevent the buildup of grime and fumes from cooking or cleaning products.
- Open your windows frequently to allow fresh air to enter your home and carry airborne pollutants out.
- Clean your home regularly to remove dust and prevent mold and mildew growth.
- Look for products with low or zero VOCs.
Maintaining Indoor Air Quality in Lexington, Kentucky
A properly working HVAC system is vital for indoor air quality. If yours is due for maintenance or needs repair, contact us. Advantage Air HVAC has served the community since 2007, and our team has over 30 years of combined experience. We offer residential, commercial, and geothermal heating & cooling services.
Advantage Air HVAC is located in Lexington, Kentucky, and proudly serves Versailles, Winchester, Georgetown, Paris, Wilmore, Nicholasville, and the surrounding area.
