At Meade’s Heating and Air, many of our customers are increasingly concerned about indoor air quality (IAQ). Many want to know how they can tell whether their home’s indoor air quality is good, especially if they have allergy sufferers at home. They frequently wonder if indoor air quality testing is necessary and what it can actually find. Here is a look at what you should know about IAQ, how you might notice problems, where testing fits into the picture and what the options are for addressing the situation.
Causes of Poor Indoor Air Quality
The foremost issue in IAQ is particulate matter. This is the stuff that you often see either directly or indirectly as accumulations on surfaces. Dust and lint are the biggest bits of matter floating in your home’s air. You expect your HVAC’s base filters to do most of the work involved in capturing big pieces of lint, but dust will often get through simple fiberglass filters that you see on standard furnaces. Pet dander and hair can do the same.
There are smaller particles in the air, too. Pollen from outdoors can get into your home, especially during the spring. Some enters through HVAC air intakes, and more also comes in through windows and doors when those are open. Mold can develop in homes due to high humidity levels, and it also circulates as the HVAC system blows air. Even bacteria and viruses circulate in your home. Finer filtration systems, especially high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters, are usually best for resolving these problems.
One of the less discussed IAQ issues is chemicals. Volatile organics chemicals (VOCs) off-gas from many types of household products and materials. Paints, carpets, upholstered furniture and treated lumber all can emit VOCs. Cooking can generate VOCs, particularly through gas burners and types of anti-stick coatings. Even air fresheners can off-gas VOCs. Dealing with VOCs typically involves more aggressive solutions than filtration.
Another less-discussed issue is carbon dioxide (CO2). This is a byproduct of breathing by every person in your home, and it can accumulate quickly. High concentrations of CO2 can affect cognitive function and make you feel fatigued. Typically, improved ventilation is necessary to address high CO2 levels.
There are plenty of other possible sources of poor indoor air quality. Outdoor pollution from vehicles and factories can infiltrate your home. Nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide (CO) result from the combustion in your home that heating and cooking cause. Fortunately, there are ways to detect all these issues and then address them.
Identifying Potential IAQ Problems
Household health is often the first thing that worsens when indoor air quality is poor. You might notice that you seem to constantly have dry eyes or skin. Many people experience sore throats or recurring colds, too. Folks who suffer from allergies, asthma and COPD may have more attacks. Particularly if you notice that the symptoms go away when you get outside, go to work or visit someone else’s place, then you should suspect that your home’s IAQ isn’t great.
HVAC performance also can suffer from poor IAQ. Dust, pet dander, hair and other matter can clog system filters. If your home has high humidity levels, your heating and cooling systems may spend more energy because moist air has greater thermal mass than dry air. Particulate matter can also make it harder for systems to take in fresh air, making them more inefficient. Over time, debris can even get into fans and blower motors to slow their performance.
Inefficient operation frequently encourages component failures, shortening HVAC lifespans. If you’re having a lot of trouble keeping your HVAC running well, you need to check whether IAQ is the culprit.
Dust accumulation is a simpler clue. In addition to fine dirt, dander and other matter, dust can accumulate due to mold growth. The dust blows around during each HVAC cycle and settles on surfaces when the cycle ends. Dust is more likely to accumulate in spots with less ventilation or unbalanced airflow, so you may notice it only in specific rooms.
The sniff test is another way to find IAQ problems. If parts of your house smell musty, mold may be growing. Stale air often indicates poor airflow.
Indoor Air Quality Testing
Multiple air quality tests are often necessary, but there is almost always a way to test for every potential IAQ problem in a house. Multi-gas analysis is available to check for CO2, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and most VOCs. Modern HVAC sensors can also determine the current humidity level in your house with a high level of precision. Mold and microbial testing usually involve taking lab samples.
Notably, CO2 testing serves as an excellent proxy for many other IAQ problems. Generally, indoor air levels of CO2 should be below 800 parts per million (ppm). However, many modern homes have been aggressively insulated and sealed, and this leads to levels that can easily exceed 2,000 ppm when a house is closed up in the winter. If the CO2 ppm level in a house is high, there is a chance that other undesirable IAQ levels are high, too.
Our technicians also directly test HVAC performance to make sure it meets expectations. We will meter the airflow from your home’s vents and air returns. We can perform pressure differential testing to verify that your HVAC and ventilation systems are moving enough air. Likewise, we can check ducts and filters for particulate accumulation.
IAQ Solutions
An HVAC system makes it easy to centralize multiple IAQ solutions. Your options will depend on the specific problem. For example, we recommend humidifiers for households that have trouble with dry skin, especially in the winter. Likewise, a dehumidifier might be necessary to discourage mold growth. Many homes use both kinds of systems to keep humidity in the optimal range between 30% and 50%.
HEPA filters are often useful, especially when integrated with a larger air purification set. We often configure an IAQ package that operates at the back end of your heating and cooling systems. Air goes into your home’s return registers and then passes through high-grade filters before returning to the HVAC system as clean air to breathe. Some whole-home air filtration systems use HEPA-level filter media, but they aren’t compatible with all HVAC systems.
We may recommend a more aggressive solution like a UV light purifier, too. If you’ve had a lot of trouble with microbes or certain chemicals, consider a system that emits UV-C light to treat the air and break them down. This system usually integrates with air purification packages in the air return.
Ventilation improvements also make a difference. Encouraging air exchange with the outdoors reduces the accumulation of indoor irritants. Modern heat exchangers in high-efficiency HVAC systems also make it possible to recover much of the heat from the air before expelling it on cold days.
We’re Here to Help
Our experts at Meade’s Heating and Air recommend an annual HVAC maintenance schedule. Keeping HVAC components in top shape promotes airflow. Also, our technicians can clean and seal ducts during annual maintenance checks. Similarly, we can clean components like burners and condenser coils that often accumulate irritants.
To improve indoor air quality in your Sterling, VA home, contact Meade’s Heating and Air now to schedule IAQ testing.
