The Air in Your Home
Have you ever considered the quality of the air in your home? In the building industry, the quality of the air inside a building is known as IAQ. Indoor Air Quality.
It used to be that homes were built to “breathe”. Meaning that air came in through cracks around the windows and in the wall, floor, and roof. This served the valuable purpose of drying out any moisture issues but, unfortunately, it also meant heated and cooled indoor air escaped out through those same cracks. It is very expensive to heat or cool a house that “breathes”.
Modern construction focuses on sealing tight the walls, roof, and foundation against air and water intrusion. Much better for energy efficiency but it introduces a new problem; now we’re inside with all the fumes and humidity trapped in our home. (If you're designing a new house with me, this won't happen because we'll ventilate properly and use the right materials. But if you're living in an existing house already, it could be an issue.)
Remember that plastic shower curtain you unwrapped and hung up, it smelled for a few days? Those were plastic fumes. And that table you stained that smelled for a while? Those were VOC’s. And of course, there are the fumes you can’t smell like radon coming from the ground under your foundation or carbon monoxide coming from your furnace, fireplace, or wood stove. The sources of fumes are numerous and scary.
People react to bad indoor air in many different ways including allergies, headaches, and respiratory issues like asthma. Luckily there are ways to maintain healthy indoor air, here are a few:
1. Test for Radon
Soil often contains radon. Cracks in your foundation can leak that radon into your home. DIY radon tests are simple and relatively inexpensive. Buy a test at the hardware store or online. If you have dangerous levels of radon, contact a builder about installing a radon vent.
2. Install Carbon Monoxide Detectors
Anything that uses fuels like oil, gas, or wood creates carbon monoxide. And if your home is not expelling combustion air properly, carbon monoxide could be leaking into your home. CM poisoning is very dangerous. Install carbon monoxide detectors on each floor of your home, preferably near combustible appliances. And preferably five feet off the floor. Yes, the best height for CM detectors is five feet off the floor.
3. Ventilate Properly
You need to vent air out of your home AND into your home. Most people have bathroom exhaust fans and kitchen range hoods to vent air out, but how does fresh air get in? Avoid getting your “fresh” air from cracks in your walls, roof, and foundation. This is often tainted with dust, construction material particles, and critter feces. Ideally, you want a full mechanical vent system like an ERV. But there are much cheaper options like Passive Air Vents that let fresh air in without letting your heated or conditioned air out. But if you’re on a tight budget and need a simpler fix, just crack a window whenever your exhaust vents are running.
And on that note, make sure you run your exhaust vents. They remove fumes which are bad for your health and water vapor which can cause mold, also bad for your health. When you’re showering, turn on the bathroom fan or crack a window. When you’re cooking, turn on the range hood. Yes, even if you’re cooking on an electric range. Incredibly, cooking food fumes mix with other particles in your house to create unhealthy chemicals.
4. Avoid Chemicals
There are chemicals in nearly everything these days. Cleaning products, scented candles, plastic furniture, building products. Try your best to avoid those products. But if you just love that Yankee candle or you can’t afford the expensive, non-toxic flooring finish, make sure you follow step #3 and ventilate your space properly.
5. Clean Your Ducts
If you have a furnace or boiler with ductwork, get those ducts cleaned every three to five years. They’ll use a circular broom to mechanically sweep the inside of your ducts, cleaning out dust and other allergens lingering in your air suppliers. Also, make sure the air handler’s filters are changed regularly.
6. Monitor Air Quality
We recently purchased an air quality monitor for our home and the findings are incredibly interesting. We bought a uHoo Air which tests humidity, carbon dioxide, VOC’s, particulate matter, and carbon monoxide, among other things. You can move the monitor to different rooms to test different areas of the house. This information can help plan any renovations or tweaks to your home. And is especially important if you have young kids as they are the most susceptible to bad IAQ.