4 Indoor Air Quality Tools
Most people spend almost all of their time indoors, and indoor air is often more harmful than fresh outdoor air. Low indoor air quality in your Georgetown, Delaware, home can lead to bad smells, dirty ductwork, and inconvenient breakdowns for your HVAC system. Pollen, bacteria, fungi, and other contaminants can cause allergy and asthma symptoms, headaches, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, and other health problems as well. You can make your home or business more comfortable with indoor air quality tools like air purifiers, UV air cleaners, ventilators, and indoor air quality monitors.
Air Purifiers
Air purifiers, also called air cleaners, use filters similar to the filters in HVAC systems to remove pollutants. Some can even get rid of viruses like the flu in your home’s air. Choose a whole-home air purifier that’s connected to your ductwork or a less costly portable model that can handle one or two rooms at a time.
An air cleaner with a high Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, or MERV, rating can take care of more pollutants than a model with a lower rating. However, it will also use more power and cost more. No matter what rating you decide you need, a whole-home air purifier will be quieter and more effective than a portable model. With both versions, you should replace the air filter at least once per month.
UV Air Cleaners
UV or ultraviolet air cleaners can kill microorganisms like bacteria, viruses, fungi, and dust mites by damaging their DNA with UVC light, which has shorter wavelengths than other types of UV light. The atmosphere typically filters it out, and people get sunburns from weaker UVA and UVB light instead. You can have a UV air cleaner installed in your ductwork or your HVAC system. The UV lamps in air conditioners and heat pumps are often called coil sterilization lights because they work on the coils in outdoor units.
A UV air cleaner can’t remove pollen, dirt, dust, or other pollutants from your indoor air. However, it will keep microorganisms from reproducing in your HVAC system. This can prevent some allergy symptoms and stop colds or other illnesses from spreading around your home. It also keeps biological growth from damaging furniture, walls, and flooring.
Ventilators
Most newer homes have lots of insulation to make them more efficient, which makes getting rid of stale air and bringing fresh air into your home difficult. Adding an energy recovery ventilator, or ERV, can remove smoke, excess moisture, bad smells, and other pollutants while providing fresh air. It can also remove volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, like benzene and xylene that are often used in cleaners and air fresheners. An air purifier can’t remove these chemicals, and they can cause health problems like headaches or fatigue.
ERVs have heat exchangers that work like heat pumps to condition fresh air before it comes into your home. That way, you won’t have to deal with the drafts, warm areas, or wasted energy that opening a window or door could cause.
Indoor Air Quality Monitors
Indoor air quality monitors are also called smart smoke alarms, and they can detect low levels of common, potentially dangerous chemicals like ozone, formaldehyde, and carbon monoxide. They can also measure your indoor humidity and the amount of dust, dirt, pollen, and other particulates in your home’s air.
You should have several indoor air quality monitors installed in your home to help you find and fix problems like dirty ductwork or hidden fungal growth. You can check your indoor air quality readings from your computer or smartphone. Some models also provide video recordings when an alarm activates, weather forecasts, and monitoring for noise levels and barometric pressure.
Custom Mechanical has over 35 years of heating and cooling experience, and we can help you install, repair, and maintain a variety of HVAC equipment. Many new technologies are available to help you enhance your indoor air quality, prevent bad smells, increase your comfort, and improve your family’s health. Call us anytime at 877-696-0808 for more information and excellent service from our friendly, trained professionals.
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