Air quality in many homes is often several times worse than it is in the surrounding outdoor air. Consequently, indoor air quality testing is an important part of maintaining a healthy environment in your home. Testing and responsive measures can also extend the lifespan of your home’s HVAC. However, you may wonder what is the best way to test indoor air quality. Here, we have some answers.
The Case for Professional Testing
Off-the-shelf indoor air quality testing kits are available for DIY purposes. However, they almost always lack the range of tests needed to fully understand why your house might have poor indoor air quality. Professional testing systems can check for a host of potential problems.
Notably, consumer tests usually only detect particulate matter down to 2.5 microns (PM2.5). A MERV 13 filter, which most home HVAC systems can handle, can trap up to 85% of particulates of that size. Things smaller than 2.5 microns aren’t visible to the human eye, and they often need to be treated with something like UV light rather than filtration. Also, you usually need a separate text or device to measure humidity levels.
When it comes to gases, consumer tests frequently have much higher false-positive and false-negative rates. This makes it hard to be confident that a particular reading is relevant.
Some kinds of consumer kits only provide safety alerts. For example, most consumer carbon monoxide tests don’t provide a precise reading. Instead, they simply inform you that the carbon monoxide level is unsafe.
Additionally, to enact indoor air quality solutions, you’ll need to loop in an HVAC technician at some point. Our technicians are going to want to perform their own tests before they recommend anything. It is often easier to skip the home kit step and leave the testing to us. This reduces confusion, especially if a consumer test contradicts what our sensors are showing.
We can test a variety of issues on-site. Additionally, send out for lab testing and get highly accurate results back, usually within a week.
What Professional Tests Look For
Among the toughest things to test for on your own are volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These are chemicals like formaldehyde and benzene that appear frequently in an astonishing range of modern products. For example, many building products like wood have VOCs left over from the treatment process. These chemicals keep the wood from rotting, especially when it sits in lumber yards. However, the chemicals take years to leach out, meaning they often end up in homes.
Also, many household products emit VOCs. Perhaps the most perplexing thing to think about is that many air fresheners include VOCs. Yes, every time you spray to make your home’s air smell fresher, there is a good chance it’s reducing the indoor air quality. Lots of other products emit VOCs, including cookware, carpeting, house paints, nail polish, and hairspray.
Mold spores are another major target of indoor air quality testing. Mold can grow in environments where the relative humidity level stays above 60 percent. Even if your home has a whole-house dehumidifier, there may be spots where humidity concentrates at high levels and encourages mold spores. The mold can then spread around your home, leading to extra dust and odd smells. In the worst cases, mold will also cause respiratory irritation that can aggravate allergies or asthma, trigger runny noses, and encourage sore throats and coughing.
Taking samples to test for mold also allows us to search for other potential pathogens, such as bacteria and viruses. If you or someone in your household is regularly getting sick without an explanation, this could be the cause.
Humidity levels are worth checking, and not just to discourage mold growth. The optimal humidity range in a home should be between 30 and 50 percent. This is low enough to stop mold growth while also staying high enough to discourage dry air. Dry air can cause problems like red eyes, skin irritation, and respiratory problems. The solution is often to add a whole-home humidifier, especially if your home includes a forced-air furnace that dries the air during the winter.
Carbon monoxide and dioxide tests are also important. Carbon monoxide can accumulate in a home from spent fuels, particularly from gas heating systems and gas stoves. It is colorless, odorless, and tasteless, but carbon monoxide can be lethal. Carbon dioxide has also risen as a source of recent concerns, particularly because high CO2 levels can trigger fatigue and brain fog.
Reporting
Once we have collected all the data, our technicians will provide you with a report. We will identify the overall concentration levels of specific indoor air quality problems. Likewise, we will note any specific trouble areas we see. Our technicians can note some of the specific health issues that are likely to arise from what we found, too. We will present our findings and discuss potential HVAC solutions.
When to Test Indoor Air Quality
Presuming that you have no specific reason to arrange an indoor air quality test, the best schedule is going to be about once every three years. The notable exception is if you’re moving into a newly constructed house. This is because new houses suffer the most from off-gassing of VOCs, so you should schedule a test within the first year.
There are specific scenarios where you should schedule testing immediately. If your house recently experienced humidity problems or water damage, then you need to be sure that it doesn’t have mold issues. Even if there haven’t been recent issues, order a test right away if you detect musty smells or other indications of mold. Something as simple as a slowly declining HVAC may lead to higher humidity levels in your home.
Possible Solutions
The good news is that there are usually plenty of ways to treat poor indoor air quality. Striking the right balance in humidity levels often requires adding both a humidifier and a dehumidifier. This is because our region frequently experiences hot and wet summers but suffers from dry winter air.
Upgrade filtration is another common option. Our technicians can determine whether your HVAC supports it. If not, we can install a separate high-grade whole-house air filtration system. UV light is an option for treating biological agents. Activated carbon filtration is sometimes a good choice for neutralizing many kinds of VOCs, other chemicals, and bad smells.
Inc. 500 has recognized Meade’s Heating and Air as one of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies. When you read our reviews online, you will see people on Google, Facebook, and Yelp who strongly appreciate our commitment to quality service. As an accredited BBB member, we are proud to hold an A+ rating. Nextdoor has even named us a Neighborhood Fave.
Our technicians can deal with many HVAC needs, including installations and repairs. Maintenance agreements are available, and we can include indoor air quality testing. Our team always communicates quickly with customers, and we emphasize the importance of transparency on all projects, including whole-home air filtration.
You should never have to doubt your Sterling, VA home’s indoor air quality, so contact Meade’s Heating and Air right away to set up a testing appointment.
