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The air we as individuals and our loved ones’ breathe should be of the best quality, especially if someone suffers from asthma, COPD, or other chronic illnesses. Breathing in quality indoor air can stave off asthma attacks and severe allergic reactions to common allergens.
Keeping our loved ones safe and healthy is of the utmost importance, and we’d do anything we can to ensure they’re breathing in quality indoor air. Excellent indoor air quality offers many benefits, but not every home has it. Keep reading to learn how to achieve balanced ventilation in your home for better air quality to protect the ones you love.
What Impacts Indoor Air Quality?
We already know that great indoor air quality can improve our health and keep our sick loved ones feeling better, but let’s explain the science behind it. For decades we’ve heard politicians and companies tell us about how dangerous air pollution is in large cities.
Air pollutants typically found in larger cities like Kansas City expose us to more contaminants than those living in rural areas. But what exactly is harmful in the air we breathe as urban residents? The main culprits for air pollutants are PM2.5 (emissions from industrial buildings and vehicles) and NO2 (nitrogen dioxide found in the atmosphere). Every time we leave and reenter our homes, we’re tracking in these pollutants.
Poor air quality can also be caused by contaminants in a home or apartment building, like certain construction materials, asbestos in roof shingles, fumes emitted by appliances, radon, and mold. Humans also contribute to poor indoor air quality by using cleaning products containing harmful chemicals, choosing to smoke/vape, or burning and breathing in solid fuels like coal or wood.
Another factor that impacts indoor air quality is poor ventilation in homes. Inadequate ventilation can lead to many health concerns, including cancers, cardiovascular disease, increased chance of developing asthma and other respiratory diseases, and even negative cognitive effects.
Tips for Achieving Balanced Ventilation in Your Home
Though air pollutants are nearly impossible to escape, especially for those who work or travel in the city, there are some steps you can take to improve ventilation in your home, thus, improving your indoor air quality. Below are some tips for achieving balanced ventilation in your home:
Invest in a Quality Air Purifier
Air purifiers are excellent for improving indoor air quality by reducing airborne contaminants like COVID-19 or other viruses. Air purifiers can greatly decrease air pollutants in your home but won’t permanently remove them, but every bit helps. How do they work to improve ventilation in your home? Look for an air purifier with a high CADR, or clean air delivery rate, to remove more pollutants from a single room. They have filters that can remove gases and particles from the air and fans that help carry these contaminants to the filters.
Take Advantage of Bathroom Fans
Did you know that bathroom fans, though most often used just for showering, can greatly improve your home’s ventilation? Bathroom fans remove moisture and contaminants from the indoor air and disperse them through an outdoor vent. When turned on they suck the air in the bathroom and blow them outdoors, removing harmful pollutants and moisture that can aggravate allergies.
The humidity in a bathroom can aggravate those with asthma or other chronic illnesses because humidity increases the amount of contaminants and allergens in the home and can allow mold to grow if not properly ventilated.
Invest in Quality Windows
Do you know how old your home windows are? If they’re over a couple of decades or not functioning properly, it’s probably time to replace them. Older and damaged windows might be loose in the door frame or don’t lock or seal properly, allowing allergens to enter the home through small cracks or openings.
Drafty windows contribute to heat loss and gain, allowing air with all sorts of pollutants to enter a home. Investing in quality windows eliminates drafts, making it nearly impossible for harmful contaminants to enter when closed. Now, that’s not to say ventilating your home with fresh air by opening the windows is a bad idea; only allow outdoor air to enter through windows when pollens and humidity levels are low.
Remember HVAC Maintenance
A quality HVAC system is an excellent resource for improving balanced ventilation in your home. HVAC systems constantly move air inside a house throughout the system, where it gets filtered before blowing through vents. Investing in high-quality home air filters for your HVAC system can filter out harmful pollens and other allergens that aggravate COPD or asthma. Be sure to choose a HEPA filter with a MERV rating of 17+ to remove 99.97% of contaminants like mold, pollens, dust, and other matter.
Along with changing the filter, you should get routine HVAC maintenance done to ensure your system runs optimally. HVAC technicians look for the following during an HVAC maintenance appointment:
- Broken thermostats
- Cleanliness of certain components like the condenser fan
- Cleaning the blower
- Adjust airflow
- Inspect evaporator coils
- & and so much more
All of this improves your indoor air quality, thus, improving the health of your loved ones.
Trust Cates Heating and Cooling to Help You Achieve Balanced Ventilation in Your Home
At Cates Heating and Cooling, we understand how important it is to be energy-efficient and sustainable while keeping loved ones healthy with excellent indoor air quality. We offer many energy-efficient and sustainable HVAC services for residents around Kansas City:
We’re family-owned and operated with expertly trained technicians who have provided exceptional service to all our customers for over 50 years. We service Kansas City and surrounding cities, including the following:
& more!
Contact Cates with any questions or concerns about how to achieve balanced ventilation in your home for better air quality!
