Protecting and improving your home's indoor air quality is one of the most important aspects of home ownership. At any given time, there are a number of airborne particles floating around your Broken Arrow-area home, and now is a great time to get them under control.Every home has airborne pollutantsWhat types of pollutants can you expect in your house? They fall into one of two categories:
Biological particles -- This category consists of pollutants that range from viruses, mold spores, and bacteria to dust mites, animal dander and insect droppings.
Gaseous pollutants -- Many of these are man-made, in a sense. They include remnants of cigarette smoke, household cleaners, pesticides, and many other commonly used irritants.
Protecting your family's healthAll of the above pollutants can cause health issues, particularly for people who suffer from asthma, allergies and other respiratory problems. Ridding your home of these particles can be done by following these techniques:
Source control -- Stopping pollutants at the source can be a powerful strategy. For example, getting rid of pressed wood elements (which can produce formaldehyde) and lowering the emission of combustion appliances are a great start.
Better ventilation -- If your home is not properly ventilated, your indoor air quality will suffer. The air inside becomes trapped and the pollutants float from one area to another. Ventilation helps to get good air inside your home while circulating the bad air outdoors, and can be done through the use of exhaust fans, open windows, and mechanical ventilation, to name a few.
Air cleaners -- When used in conjunction with the first two techniques, air cleaners can be effective in improving indoor air quality. The best strategy is to utilize a whole-house approach, which will help neutralize the pollutants in your air without the added cost of a separate air cleaner in every room.
If you would like further assistance with improving your indoor air quality, or for questions regarding home comfort, please don't hesitate to contact the experts at Air Assurance. We proudly serve the HVAC needs of Broken Arrow and its surrounding areas.Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Image courtesy of Shutterstock
Research has shown that indoor air can be up to 100 times more polluted than the air found outdoors. Considering that people spend about 90 percent of their time indoors, inferior indoor air quality can present a major health threat. Adding ultraviolet (UV) lights to a heating and cooling system can be an excellent way to combat poor air quality and increase the comfort level in homes and other buildings.UV light air-purification systems clean indoor air by eliminating harmful microorganisms such as bacteria, germs, mold and other allergens. As these health-threatening microorganisms travel through the UV light, their molecular bonds are broken down and their harmful effects are destroyed.The Lancet (a world-renowned medical journal) conducted a study that explored the effectiveness of UV light systems. The study placed ultraviolet light purification systems in a number of different office buildings and evaluated the health of people who worked in the buildings over the course of a year.At the end of the year, it was determined that the sickness level of the workers was lowered by 20 percent. They also saw a 60 percent drop in respiratory problems. Additionally, the UV lights assisted in reducing the amount of muscle-related problems by half. The study also concluded that nonsmokers and the workers who suffered from allergies benefited the most from the UV light purification systems.If your home's air quality is less than optimal, you should consider adding a UV light purification system to your home comfort equipment. As research has shown, UV lights can work exceptionally well with a heating and cooling system to improve indoor air quality.If you determine that a UV light system is right for you, ask for expert assistance in finding the unit that would work the best. The professional technicians at Air Assurance are trained to help you in choosing the proper heating and cooling equipment for your home, and in cleaning up indoor air. Contact us today for further information. We're always happy to help.Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information, click here. Air Assurance services Tulsa, Broken Arrow and the surrounding areas. To get started, check out our website or see our current promotions.
