Indoor Air Quality in Berlin, Ocean City, MD, Bethany Beach, DE, and Surrounding Areas
Indoor Air Quality Affects Your Overall Health
There’s an acronym floating around among HVAC contractors that most homeowners don’t worry too much about until a problem arises. That acronym is IAQ, which stands for indoor air quality. The quality of air inside your home greatly impacts your overall health. We take it seriously when it comes to your indoor air quality in Berlin, Ocean City, MD, Bethany Beach, DE, and surrounding areas.
Families who frequently suffer from allergies, asthma attacks, red eyes, or runny noses may be suffering because of poor indoor air quality. While it’s no secret that indoor air quality in a home or business will deteriorate over time, there are ways to improve the quality and stay healthy when spending time indoors.
Excellent Ventilation System
Without the installation of a great ventilation system, microbial elements build up inside your home, causing a myriad of health problems. Families with pets, especially long-haired animals have an even higher risk of having poor indoor air quality. The ventilation system in your home is responsible for filtering out small particles of dirt and dust that can cause respiratory problems.
However, how well you take care of the outdoor part of the system can also affect indoor air quality. The average home air-conditioning systems should have an annual inspection by a trained HVAC professional to determine the overall efficiency and performance of the ventilation system.
Indoor Air Quality Testing
Arctic Heating & Air Conditioning can conduct a quality air test to determine if the air you breathe within your home is helping or hurting you.
This test will help determine which elements are hazardous to your health, and our heating repair and AC specialists can help you arrive at a solution to improve the overall quality of the air you breathe within your home.
Our company not only provides testing for air quality, but we also specialize in installing HVAC systems. You may wish to install a new system in order to better ventilate your home. We will gladly evaluate your HVAC system, replace filters, evaluate thermostat function, or replace an old heat pump to get your system working efficiently.
Common Indoor Air Quality Issues
- Allergens
Dust and pet dander are top causes of sniffling, sneezing, and poor indoor air quality. Use a filtration system to combat sources of allergens in the home. They’re engineered to capture even the smallest of allergy-aggravating particles before they’re recirculated through your air. Air Filtration is measured by MERV, and go as high as a MERV 16. The Higher the MERV rating the more allergens the filtration system is capable of capturing. These filtration systems clean the air you breathe while providing better protection for your equipment. - Bacteria, mold, and germs
Germs are a class of contaminants that include bacteria, molds, mildew, viruses, and other microorganisms. Some germs can trigger allergic reactions, while others can lead to illnesses. Mold and mildew can also stain walls, give rooms a musty odor and even cause structural damage to your home. A germicidal light is one option to catch and destroy germs. A dehumidifier is another solution that can help you control germs in your home. - Household chemicals and home odors
New carpets may feel good under your feet, but they can give off chemical vapors that contaminate your home’s air. The same goes for upholstered furniture, paints and solvents, and everyday cleaning supplies. If you have an attached garage, car fumes can find their way into your home’s air. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found that chemicals around the house can cause irritation of the eyes, the throat, and the lungs. Certain chemicals can have even greater health consequences, particularly for young children, the elderly, and those with respiratory issues.A healthy house should smell like one. That means no lingering cooking fumes caused by poor ventilation or musty smells from mold or mildew buildup. Air fresheners and candles only mask the problem, and can even trigger allergy symptoms. Plus, the chemicals they give off can cause headaches, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, and respiratory irritation. One of the best options for freshening the air is a whole-home air purification system, which cleans the air in your home better than any other single system you can buy. In fact, it’s the only single indoor air quality system that can safely remove and destroy odors and chemical vapors throughout your whole home. - Humidity imbalance
Humid air is not good for your family’s health or comfort. Air that’s too dry causes problems, too. Indoor air that’s too damp feels sticky on the skin and requires more heating or cooling to feel comfortable. Excessively moist air can also lead to mold and mildew problems in the home, and it can ruin furniture, books, clothes and leather items. Air that’s too dry can increase static electricity, create cracks in furniture and leather, shrink wood floors, and cause breathing difficulty or even nosebleeds. When nasal passages dry out, the body can become more vulnerable to respiratory viruses. A humidifier or dehumidifier works with your heating and cooling system to keep humidity at a comfortable level, usually between 30% and 50%. - Ozone
Ozone is a form of oxygen. In the earth’s stratosphere, it helps to block potentially harmful ultraviolet radiation from reaching the ground. However, at lower levels in the atmosphere, the air we breathe is a product of pollution and can be dangerous. Some ionizing air purifiers and portable air cleaners on the market today actually end up making your air quality worse by emitting ozone. Other ozone sources include items with electric motors, such as vacuum cleaners and refrigerators. All the IAQ products we use are designed to improve indoor air quality without releasing harmful ozone in the process. - Stale and stuffy air
The tight construction of today’s homes is great for saving energy, but can also have the unwanted side effect of sealing in stale air. Opening a window can do the trick, but just isn’t practical during the hotter and colder months of the year. Plus, an open window invites pollen and other allergens inside.We offer a variety of ventilation systems that draw just the right amount of fresh air inside while moving odors and contaminants outside. Air circulating inside your home is kept comfortable, and no energy is wasted. An Energy-Recovery Ventilator (ERV) transfers moisture and heat energy from the incoming fresh air to the outgoing air stream, keeping indoor air cool and dry.
