How Do You Know if Your Indoor Air is Making You Sick?

Indoor air quality can be very poor, especially in cold winter climates and extremely hot and humid summer climates, when windows can't be opened. There are various factors that can create poor air quality.

High quality ventilation is a must for a healthy home. Air must be circulated to be fresh. A home inspector can analyze the flow of air in your home as well as other factors to determine if you need to improve the air quality.

Factors Creating Bad Air Quality

• Germs: If someone brings germs into the household, then your whole family can get infected from repeated exposure due to lack of proper ventilation.
• Pet Dander and Dust Mites: If you have pets, you can't permanently get rid of pet dander but you can dust and vacuum to keep it under control. This also helps to keep dust mites to a minimum. A good household furnace filter helps with this, in addition to a HEPA filter on your vacuum. Using an air purifier with a HEPA filter is another a great idea for the household.
• Toxic Household Products: Using toxic cleaning products and certain home repair or remodeling products is extremely dangerous to air quality. If you've already used the products and can't clear the air right away, then you should vacate for a day or more to let products off-gas and clear out. There are many new products to use in home repair and remodeling that will not create a toxic overload in your household air. In general, it's best to use environmentally safe cleaning products, so you do not experience any long term health effects or pollute the environment.
• Poorly Maintained Household Systems: If the home is not properly maintained, then various air quality problems can result. Faulty central heating equipment, damaged flue pipes and chimneys, blocked vents from dryers, bathrooms and kitchens and an improperly sealed door leading to the garage and other openings leading to the garage can cause major problems such as high levels of toxicity and mold growth from humidity. In addition to an air purifier, installing a dehumidifier may be essential in certain cases.

Getting Help

Scheduling a home inspector to evaluate the home to determine the cause of bad air quality and to test it for pollutants is a great way to ensure the health of the home's air quality. Inspectors can analyze ventilation and humidity, HVAC systems and other factors to determine the source. The air quality test can detect the presence of mold, allergens, volatile organic compounds, Legionella, bacteria, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.

Call Hawkeye Home Inspections today for more information on having your home analyzed for healthy air quality: 978-897-7130.