There is a
lot of talk lately about Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). You may have already read
some of our other IAQ posts, but what has changed that it is getting even more
attention? Why wasn’t this as important 5 years, 10 year, 30 years ago? That
is a great question and one that has many answers.
They Don’t Build Them Like They Used To. Most of the time this is a negative
for the newer item. That’s not the case here. Newer houses are
constructed to a much tighter building standard that requires the house to be
better insulated and more energy efficient. The biggest thing a homeowner will
notice is that there are much less drafts. Here’s where it gets tricky. Less drafts
are great from a comfort and efficiency standpoint but not good from an IAQ
standpoint. The drafts you feel are outside air coming into the home and by default
exchanging the stale air inside the home. Tighter homes do not have a natural
way of exchanging the air, causing it to stagnate. Homeowners need to open
windows or doors to accomplish this (not a great plan for those living in areas
where it is 100 degrees outside or on the other end of the spectrum, minus 10).
Knowledge. We are getting smarter. Studies have
found that the air inside our home can be up to 5 times more polluted than the
outside air – yikes! That is from normal living. We have now learned that
things like cooking, showering (creating mold and mildew if not properly
ventilated), using cleaning chemicals or air fresheners and so forth are major
contributors to bad IAQ. Just think how dusty your home gets and now realize
that dust comes from somewhere and how much of that you have breathed in. We
then go back to the first point and with a tighter home, there is even less
chance for these pollutants to escape.
The Easy Factor. As we mentioned, a major contributor
to bad IAQ are all the chemical products we use inside our homes. They are
convenient and generally do the job. Included in these are air fresheners.
There are two inherit issues with them. First is they are a chemical solution
and second, why do you need them in the first place? Think of how much could be
avoided by just having a properly ventilated home. Let something cook a little
too long on the stove – a good range hood will take care of that. Kids clothing
stinking up the house – a good exhaust fan plus fresh air coming into the home
will take care of that. That spicy chili from last night causing an extended
stay in the bathroom – rather then emptying a can of air freshener, a good
exhaust fan will take care of that.
So are we all doomed? Nope, there is hope and it is
actually an easy solution. As mentioned earlier, a properly ventilated home
increase the IAQ dramatically – using bath fans, range hoods and other
ventilation fans. That takes care of getting the bad air out of the home but
you also want to bring fresh air into the home. When keeping a window or door
open is not an option, a mechanical solution might be the answer. A product
like the Air King QFAM provides a flow of filtered air into the home and can be
set to account for humidity levels and temperature of the air coming in.
Products like the QFAM can be installed in a non-intrusive location of the home
and provide the fresh air that you need.
To learn more
about IAQ and Air King’s solutions, visit
www.airkinglimited.com
