Indoor Air Pollution In Southlake Homes
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When air pollution is high, it’s all over the news. But we seldom hear about what the air is like inside where we spend about 90% of our time, especially in cold weather.
This may surprise you, but chances are the air in your home isn’t as clean or healthy as the air outside. The Environmental Protection Agency has documented that some pollutants are two to five times more concentrated inside than out.
Tighter home construction, high-performance windows and increased insulation all save money on utility bills by reducing the amount of air that leaks out naturally. The downside is that contaminants are trapped inside, too.
Children are especially sensitive to indoor air quality problems because they inhale 50% more air per pound of body weight than adults.
The Most Common Air Pollutants
The EPA list of indoor air pollutants is lengthy. Some are rare these days, such as lead and asbestos, but a few are routinely found in most homes.
Mold
- Allergenic Molds: These cause watery eyes, runny nose, postnasal drip and other symptoms that make you feel lousy.
- Pathogenic Molds: These are bad because they can attack your immune system and cause fungi to grow in your body.
- Toxic Molds: The absolute worst. These molds release toxic chemicals into the air that result in hazards, including black mold.
Dangerous Gasses
- Carbon Monoxide: This tasteless, odorless, colorless gas causes headaches, dizziness, nausea and confusion. Exposure to carbon monoxide can be fatal.
- Nitrogen Dioxide: Irritates eyes, nose and throat and can cause chronic bronchitis.
Biological Contaminants
- People, plants and animals spread contaminants including bacteria, viruses, dust, pet dander, mites, pollen and insects.
Volatile Organic Compounds
- Also known as VOCs, these include chemicals in household products including paints, cleaning solutions, aerosol sprays, disinfectants, cosmetics, candles and even air fresheners.
Radon
- Radon also is another odorless and colorless gas that is potentially harmful. It can seep into homes through cracks in walls and foundations. Radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer and is present at dangerous levels in one of every 15 homes in the U.S.
How To Get Great Air In Your Home
There is no need to put up with poor indoor air quality in your home. Through constant research and development, scientists and manufacturers keep improving older technologies and developing new ones.
Air Filters: We’ve come a long way from the days of one-inch HVAC filters you can see through. Some older systems still use them, but newer HVAC equipment features 4-inch thick filters that trap far more contaminants. Be sure to match the efficiency rating of filters to your HVAC system.
Air Purifiers: Air purifiers be integrated with central HVAC systems or free-standing units that work in a room or a portion of a house. Air purifiers use a number of technologies such as...
- HEPA Filters: Short for high-efficiency particular air filters, HEPA filters are commonly used by hospitals and other clean room facilities. These filters are rated at higher efficiency than the highest-rated residential units.
- UV Purifiers: These use short-wave ultraviolet light to inactivate airborne microorganisms such as mold, viruses and bacteria.
- Ionic Purifiers: These put negatively-charged ions in the air to attract microscopic, positively-charged contaminants like second-hand smoke and trap them.
- Carbon Purifiers: Charcoal filters are treated with oxygen to make them porous, allowing them to absorb airborne particles and gasses.
- Ozone Purifiers: These put ozone into the air to kill mold and mildew. The purifiers are less popular now because ozone can be a pollutant if not used properly.
Whole House Air Cleaners
There are some exceptions, but in most cases, homeowners prefer indoor air purification equipment integrated with their central heating and cooling systems. Coverage is more complete, and running a single system is more efficient than a collection of room units.
To be effective against the full range of airborne contaminants, whole-house air quality equipment typically incorporates two or more passive technologies that trap contaminants in the air as they pass through a filter or collection grid.
Advances have been incremental, but now a totally disruptive solution is available for residential use that previously was found only in U.S. space programs and big commercial installations.
New Whole House Air Scrubbers Kill COVID Viruses
BillyGO offers several brands of whole-house air purifiers, each of which employs a somewhat different set of technologies depending on the nature of the pollutants you wish to eliminate.
The most exciting one is the Air Scrubber by Aerus with ActivePure technology. Using a combination of active and passive systems, it kills up to 99.9% of the harmful airborne contaminants – including the SARS-CoV-2 (novel coronavirus), Swine Flu (H1N1), Avian Bird Flu (H5N8), Hepatitis A (HAV) and MS2 bacteriophage.
The Air Scrubber installs directly into HVAC systems to remove airborne and surface contaminants including VOCs, odors, dust, pet dander and other allergens.
Air Scrubber pulls in free oxygen and water molecules from the air and turns them into powerful oxidizers that attack airborne contaminants. It then circulates the oxidizers throughout the house through the ductwork.
It’s worth saying again that Air Scrubber also kills contaminants on every surface in your home, including walls, floors, ceilings, furniture, toys and appliances. It also prevents dust buildup in HVAC ductwork.
Whole House Humidifiers
While we’re removing airborne contaminants, we need to add humidity in most homes. Furnaces and fireplaces remove moisture from the air, which makes us less comfortable. The house feels stuffy, and you may get a raspy throat and chapped lips, as well as shocks from static electricity.
Whole-house humidifiers can be added to central HVAC systems to ensure controlled humidity and comfort throughout the house. This also helps keep wooden flooring, cabinets and furniture from drying out.
Types of whole-house humidifiers include bypass, fan-powered and steam, but they work on the same principle of adding moisture into the HVAC system, where it can be moved efficiently throughout the building.
Fan-powered humidifiers are more popular because they put as much as a gallon of water into the air each day. This makes them especially good for larger homes.
Any billyGO-certified HVAC technician can advise you on which kind of humidifier may be best for your circumstances.
It’s Quick And Easy To Schedule A billyGO IAQ Consultation!
Don’t put off getting great indoor air quality in your home. The fastest and most convenient way to schedule a consultation is with the billyGO patent-pending online scheduler:
- Schedule your own day and time for your appointment and get immediate confirmation via text or email.
- No calls to make, no garbled phone connections, no wrong addresses, no waiting on hold.
- Our guaranteed one-hour appointment window means you know when help will arrive, so you can go about your business the rest of the day.
Isn’t it about time for you to try billyGO?
