Breathe Deeply
You pride yourself on keeping your home clean, comfortable
and inviting to the eye. But often it’s what
you can’t see that most deeply affects the
health and safety of your family.
Story by Steven Blaski
“One of our customers experienced severe
headaches after moving into a new home, and her doctor
didn’t seem to be able to help,” says
Richard Ciresi, owner of the Aire
Serv® franchise
in Louisville, Kentucky. “After she contacted
us, we ran the AirAdvice IAQ® test,
and found an extremely high level of harmful, volatile
chemicals in the air.”
“We installed an energy recovery unit to
bring in fresh air and exhaust the bad chemicals,”
Ciresi says. “Within 90 days, her headaches—and
the levels of volatile chemicals—had diminished,
allowing her to return to a normal, healthy lifestyle.”
Any time you experience stale or lingering odors,
that’s a good indicator of possible indoor
pollution, Ciresi notes.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has determined
that air pollution levels inside the home are often
two to five times higher than outdoor levels. Mold,
mildew, pollen, odors, radon, pet dander, carbon
monoxide, toxic chemicals and secondhand smoke are
some of the common sources of poor indoor air quality,
which is related to health problems from allergies
and headaches to asthma and a variety of debilitating
diseases.
Indoor
air quality is important to everyone’s
health, especially children and the elderly, Ciresi
says. Add in the fact that the average adult spends
93 percent of his or her time indoors, and it just
makes good sense to know what you are breathing.
Additionally, children take in up to three times
more air per pound of body weight, making them even
more susceptible to the ill effects of poor indoor
air quality.
A Comprehensive Test
Indoor pollution is insidious because its threats
are invisible and adverse effects may not reveal
themselves immediately. But before you can combat
this unseen enemy, you need to identify it. The AirAdvice
IAQ test, offered by your local Aire Serv expert,
can reveal numerous air-quality problems, most commonly
excessive particulates such as dust and pollen, as
well as high levels of volatile compounds.
“The test is simple,” Ciresi says.
Your HVAC professional places an AirAdvice IAQ monitor
in your home for a few days. About the size of a
paperback book, it’s quiet, unobtrusive and
plugs into an existing phone line without interrupting
phone or Internet connections. The monitor measures
temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide
and airborne particles in one-minute cycles. The
data is transmitted over a toll-free phone line to AirAdvice,
which uses the information to generate customized
reports about your home’s air quality. “Professional
labs have verified the accuracy of the test,” Ciresi
says.
Using the results of the test, you and an HVAC
professional can devise a strategy to provide a safe
and comfortable environment. Solutions may include
lifestyle changes, ventilation and
thermostat upgrades, the addition of humidifiers
or dehumidifiers, advanced air-cleaning technology
and carbon monoxide detectors.
“The home of anyone whose health you care
about is a good candidate for the AirAdvice test,” Ciresi
says, “especially when you consider that indoor
air quality can cause health issues that include
allergies, headaches, sinus infections and memory
loss.”
Newer Homes
Ciresi notes that you should consider monitoring
your indoor air if you live in a house that is less
than 10 years old or recently remodeled, because
elevated levels of volatile chemicals may be released
from paint, cleaning solvents, new carpeting and
cabinetry. “Those compounds,” Ciresi
says, “can harm your liver, kidney and
brain.”
Once the test identifies issues with a home’s
air quality, the remedies depend on the problems. “Some
issues can be corrected by installing better air
filtering equipment or adding a humidifier,” Ciresi
says. “More complicated issues may need to
be addressed by bringing in more fresh air or mechanically
controlling humidity levels.” When practical,
Ciresi recommends that the customer correct one issue
at a time, retest to verify the improvements and
then move to the next issue.
One way to determine whether your home has potential
or actual air problems is to monitor your air temperature
and humidity, which can affect the presence of pollution
sources ranging from dust mites to building materials
to biological contaminants. Another way is to check
for obvious signs of poor ventilation in your home.
Hire Professionals
But the best way to identify—and ultimately
eliminate—indoor air pollution is to hire ventilation
professionals, such as those from Aire Serv, who
can efficiently and accurately diagnose a problem
and recommend solutions. Visit AireServ.com to find more about air
quality and heating and cooling solutions.
Steven Blaski lives in a mid-century modern house
in Virginia. His indoor air-quality standards exceed
those of the Environmental Protection Agency.