Why You Need Air Quality Testing In Your Las Vegas Home
There are several benefits to having your indoor air quality tested. One of which is the improvement of your health when you know what needs to be changed in your home. Poor air quality in your home can cause headaches, an itchy throat, nasal irritation, fatigue, and nausea. If you notice that the symptoms subside when you are away from your home there’s a really good chance that your air has pollution in it that needs to be filtered away. When you improve your poor air quality you’ll notice a huge difference in your comfort level, this alone is a good reason to have your air tested. Another benefit of having air quality testing done is the increased efficiency of your home. The testing can help you improve your home’s ventilation which can result in lower energy bills. Odors from pets and other sources are also able to be eliminated from your home which can further improve your comfort.
The Benefits of Indoor Air Quality Testing Include:
- Improvements in your health
- Improved energy efficiency
- Eliminate pet and other odors
- Improved Comfort
Because air pollution is invisible, you often don’t know it’s there until it starts to affect you. This is why indoor air quality testing is so helpful for determining if pollutants are in your air that need to be gotten rid of. A lot of bad air is caused by pollutants, but some of it is also a circulation issue. When you work with an expert, they will take samples and run tests. When they have a conclusion, they’ll be able to walk you through what your options are so that you can improve the air that you breathe.
Tips to Control Indoor Air Pollution in Your Home
The three most common approaches to reducing indoor air pollution, in order of effectiveness, are:
- Source Control: Eliminate or control the sources of pollution
- Ventilation: Dilute and exhaust pollutants through outdoor air ventilation
- Air Cleaners: Remove pollutants through proven air cleaning methods
Source Control
Of the three, the first approach — source control — is the most effective. This involves minimizing the use of products and materials that cause indoor pollution, employing good hygiene practices to minimize biological contaminants (including the control of humidity and moisture, and occasional cleaning and disinfection of wet or moist surfaces), and using good housekeeping practices to control particles.
Usually, the most effective way to improve indoor air quality is to eliminate sources of pollution or to reduce their emissions. Some sources, like those that contain asbestos, can be sealed or enclosed; others, like gas stoves, can be adjusted to decrease the number of emissions. In many cases, source control is also a more cost-efficient approach to protecting indoor air quality than increasing ventilation because increasing ventilation can increase energy costs. Specific sources of indoor air pollution in your home are listed later in this section.
This involves minimizing the use of products and materials that cause indoor pollution, employing good hygiene practices to minimize biological contaminants (including the control of humidity and moisture, and occasional cleaning and disinfection of wet or moist surfaces), and using good housekeeping practices to control particles.
Outdoor Air Ventilation
The second approach — outdoor air ventilation — is also effective and commonly employed. Ventilation methods include installing an exhaust fan close to the source of contaminants, increasing outdoor air flows in mechanical ventilation systems, and opening windows, especially when pollutant sources are in use.
Another approach to lowering the concentrations of indoor air pollutants in your home is to increase the amount of outdoor air coming indoors. Most home heating and cooling systems, including forced air heating systems, do not mechanically bring fresh air into the house. Opening windows and doors, operating windows or attic fans, when the weather permits, or running a window air conditioner with the vent control open increases the outdoor ventilation rate. Local bathroom or kitchen fans that exhaust outdoors remove contaminants directly from the room where the fan is located and also increase the outdoor air ventilation rate. It is particularly important to take as many of these steps as possible while you are involved in short-term activities that can generate high levels of pollutants. For example, painting, paint stripping, heating with kerosene heaters, cooking, or engaging in maintenance and hobby activities such as welding, soldering, or sanding. You might also choose to do some of these activities outdoors if you can and if the weather permits. Advanced designs of new homes are starting to feature mechanical systems that bring outdoor air into the home. Some of these designs include energy-efficient heat recovery ventilators (also known as air-to-air heat exchangers).
Air Cleaners
The third approach — air cleaning — is not generally regarded as sufficient in itself but is sometimes used to supplement source control and ventilation. Air filters, electronic particle air cleaners, and ionizers are often used to remove airborne particles and gas adsorbing material is sometimes used to remove gaseous contaminants when source control and ventilation are inadequate.
Types of Air Cleaners
There are many types and sizes of air cleaners on the market, ranging from relatively inexpensive tabletop models to sophisticated and expensive whole-house systems. Some air cleaners are highly effective at particle removal, while others, including most table-top models, are much less so. Air cleaners are generally not designed to remove gaseous pollutants.
Factors Affecting Air Cleaner Effectiveness
The effectiveness of an air cleaner depends on how well it collects pollutants from indoor air (expressed as a percentage efficiency rate) and how much air it draws through the cleaning or filtering element (expressed in cubic feet per minute). A very efficient collector with a low air-circulation rate will not be effective, nor will a cleaner with a high air-circulation rate but a less efficient collector. The long-term performance of any air cleaner depends on maintaining it according to the manufacturer’s directions. Another important factor in determining the effectiveness of an air cleaner is the strength of the pollutant source.
Limitations and Considerations for Air Cleaners
Table-top air cleaners, in particular, may not remove satisfactory amounts of pollutants from strong nearby sources. People with a sensitivity to particular sources may find that air cleaners are helpful only in conjunction with concerted efforts to remove the source. Over the past few years, there has been some publicity suggesting that houseplants have been shown to reduce levels of some chemicals in laboratory experiments. There is currently no evidence, however, that a reasonable number of houseplants remove significant quantities of pollutants in homes and offices. Indoor houseplants should not be over-watered because overly damp soil may promote the growth of microorganisms which can affect allergic individuals.
At present, EPA does not recommend using air cleaners to reduce levels of radon and its decay products. The effectiveness of these devices is uncertain because they only partially remove the radon decay products and do not diminish the amount of radon entering the home. EPA plans to do additional research on whether air cleaners are, or could become, a reliable means of reducing the health risk from radon.
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