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