How to Improve Indoor Air Quality

As a home or building owner in Oakland Park, FL, your air quality is probably the least of your worries. But just because it’s not in the forefront of your mind doesn’t make it any less important than all of the other maintenance and upkeep you do on your building. 

In fact, air quality is one of the most important factors when it comes to keeping a healthy home. It can have a significant impact on your and your family’s health and well-being.

If you have poor air quality, take steps to improve it as soon as possible. But how can you tell how clean your indoor air quality is? And what can you really do about it? 

Keep reading to learn more about your home’s air quality and how to turn it around from poor to excellent. 

What Is Indoor Air Quality?

Indoor air quality (IAQ) is the air quality inside homes, commercial buildings, or any indoor space. By measuring any indoor IAQ, we have a better understanding of how dense the pollutants are in the space. 

When indoor air quality is high, it means there aren’t many pollutants drifting in the air. When it is poor, it means your air contains a dense amount of pollutants, pollens, dust, dirt, mold, and more. 

As you might imagine, having poor indoor air quality can lead to detrimental health effects and decreased quality of life. Because of this, keeping an eye on your indoor air quality is vital to living a long, healthy life. 

What Causes Poor Indoor Air Quality?

Now that we understand what indoor air quality is (and why it’s so important), we must understand what causes indoor air quality to become poor. 

Unfortunately, we live in a world pumped full of contaminants. On any given day, our homes see a wide range of pollutants. 

Thankfully, we’ve crafted systems that help filter out these pollutants to help balance the quality of our homes’ air. However, if the systems start to fail or the pollutants are simply too high, your indoor air quality can suffer. 

But what are these pollutants? There’s quite a long list. Some of the most common pollutants and sources of pollutants most homes see include: 

• Tobacco products
• Pesticides from gardens
• Outdoor pollutants
• Gas appliances
• Cleaning products
• Hair products
• Construction 
• Some furniture
• Some types of wood 

As you can see, there’s no avoiding having these pollutants enter your home. The trick is to find systems that can adequately remove these pollutants to purify your home’s air. 

Why Does It Matter? 

When your body is bombarded by these substances over time, you may begin to see detrimental effects. Over long periods of exposure, poor air quality can lead to the development of respiratory problems, heart problems, and some cancers. When untreated, these diseases can wreak havoc on the body and can even lead to death. 

Living among these pollutants can be damaging in the short term, too, especially for those with existing respiratory problems like asthma. If you’re living with asthma, poor indoor air quality can worsen your condition and make your symptoms that much more unmanageable. 

If you suspect you have poor indoor air quality, it’s imperative that you work with an HVAC company to improve your air quality as soon as possible. 

Identifying Poor Indoor Air Quality 

Most homeowners don’t know how to identify whether their indoor air quality is poor or not. You can’t exactly take a magnifying glass and analyze your air quality visually.

And besides, who has the time to walk around inspecting their air? We hope no one. 

Thankfully, there’s an easier way to tell how poor or good your air quality is. There are different meters that one can use to monitor the purity of indoor air. 

While Oakland Park, FL, homeowners can purchase these meters from a store, it’s always better to have a professional inspect your air quality. Why? Often these meters are unreliable and don’t work properly. When you use a meter with incorrect settings, it’s difficult for homeowners to detect there’s even a problem with the meter at all.

To err on the side of caution (and to receive the most accurate results possible), call a certified professional. When you call Abraham AC, we can assess the level of your air quality to determine how clean or dirty it may be. 

If you’re worried about your air quality, don’t live in fear – give us a call today to analyze your air quality! 

HVAC Systems and Indoor Air Quality 

When HVAC systems are working properly, they can improve your indoor air quality by a considerable amount. 

When HVAC systems are ignored, however, it can wreak havoc on your indoor quality – pumping and circulating further pollutants in your home’s air system until you notice something is wrong. 

There are several reasons why your HVAC system has so much to do with your air quality. The biggest reason is related to your HVAC filter. 

When working properly, your filter traps pollutants and particles out of your home’s indoor space. When you turn on your HVAC system, it sucks the air out of your home and towards the air duct vents. A clean filter snags all of the pollutants from your home’s air. 

When your filter is dirty, it has a harder time collecting these pollutants. As a result, they are recirculated in your air. 

But your HVAC system impacts air quality in other ways, too. If your system isn’t working properly, it might have difficulty controlling humidity levels in your Oakland Park, FL, home. Excess moisture can encourage the growth of airborne mold spores. 

Additionally, if you haven’t cleaned your duct system in a while, mold can grow in your vents, which means that whenever you turn on your AC or heater, all of that mold growth and grime buildup gets blown into your home. 

For all of these reasons, your HVAC system plays an integral part in managing your home’s air quality and air purification capabilities. 

Does AC Help Ventilate a Room?

AC can help ventilate a room to a degree. When you turn on your AC, the air is blown around your home. If your HVAC system has been properly cleaned, this air will be fresh and free of pollutants. 

If your HVAC system has been ignored, however, turning on the AC will do little to improve your home’s air quality, as the stale air will be replaced with equally dirty air. 

As a result, AC repair and AC tune-ups are vital to air purification. Make sure to schedule routine AC repair and AC tune-ups to combat filthy air. 

How Can I Improve Indoor Air Quality Naturally?

You can improve your indoor quality in several natural ways. To start cleaning your indoor air, you can: 

• Buy more plants
• Use vents when you cook 
• Change air filters regularly 
• Buy a humidifier 
• Clean rugs often

By taking these natural steps, you can improve your indoor air quality by a considerable amount. Consider taking some of these steps today for better air purification. 

Call Abraham AC Today! 

Looking for ways to improve your air purification? We can assess your home’s indoor air quality levels and work on your HVAC system to improve its air-purifying abilities. 

For Oakland Park homeowners, never live in stale or polluted air again. With over 15 years of experience, a trusted crew of licensed technicians, and a dedication to excellent service, we’re confident we’re the best AC team in Oakland Park, FL. 

Call our team at Abraham AC today to purify your home’s air and get back to breathing well.