A Guide to Indoor Air Quality Solutions in Alexandria, VA
If you’re living in a home that’s suffering from poor air quality, then you need to look for some solutions before the poor air begins to negatively impact your respiratory health and that of your family. Improving the indoor air quality in a home isn’t always a simple task, so you’ll need help to get the best results. Here’s a guide to indoor air quality solutions in Alexandria, VA.
What Negatively Affects Air Quality?
There is a variety of things that can negatively impact the quality of air in your home. These things can include humidity level, poor ventilation, bacteria, smoke, dirt, dust, pet hair, and more. While all of these things can be detrimental to your health, here are a few devices that can purify and filter these things out of your home’s air supply.
Air Purifiers
Air purifiers are devices meant to remove contaminants from inside your home. These purifiers have filters and a fan that will suck in the air, remove the pollutants, and then push the clean air back out into the environment. These devices are excellent for removing things such as dust, pollen, smoke, and allergens.
By removing things like smoke and other contaminants, the air purifier will help prevent you from developing serious respiratory illnesses such as lung cancer. Another benefit of an air purifier is that by capturing bacteria and dust mites, it will soothe your allergies and allow you to get better sleep. Many air purifiers also have the ability to get rid of unpleasant odors such as pet odor, cigarette smoke, cooking oil, and pungent spices.
Humidifiers
If your home doesn’t have enough moisture, it can cause unpleasant symptoms such as dry lips, dry skin, and a sore throat. By purchasing a humidifier, you’ll put moisture back into your air that can surround dust and knock it out of the air. A humidifier can also improve your sleep because increased amounts of moisture in the air can reduce snoring symptoms.
Dehumidifiers
On the other hand, if your home has too much moisture, it can also cause problems such as prompting biological contaminants to grow and attract pests such as roaches and spiders. Installing a dehumidifier will help deter pests from coming into your home. It can also stop condensation buildup that can lead to dangerous biological contaminants growing inside your home.
A dehumidifier can lower your monthly energy bills as well because removing a substantial amount of moisture from the air will help your HVAC system run more efficiently. Too much moisture can cause microbial growth and even rust to develop on your furnishings and electronics, so a dehumidifier can keep them safe, too.
Advanced Filters
Installing an advanced filter like those used in many air purifiers can increase your HVAC equipment’s ability to trap not only large pollutants but extremely small ones that affect allergies and respiratory health. Filters can also keep dust from causing premature wear on your system by preventing dust from entering through the intake.
Whole-House Ventilators
Investing in a whole house ventilator can also improve your home’s indoor air quality by bringing in fresh air from outside while pushing out the stale air from inside. The ability to bring in fresh air without having to open a window is very beneficial to your HVAC system and can lower your energy bills. These ventilators are also great at removing unwanted odors without needing to open a window and can help avoid exposure to byproducts of gas or propane combustion.
Making sure that the air you inhale is clean and healthy is important to you and your family members’ respiratory health. With all the illnesses and negative things that poor air quality causes, it’s important that you work with a professional. Call Indoor Air Quality Medics Heating & Air Conditioning for help removing bacteria and other toxins from your indoor air and get annual support with our maintenance plans.
Image provided by iStock
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