Any homeowner who has experienced poor indoor air quality knows how problematic it can be. Degraded indoor air quality can be caused by a variety of factors, including outdoor and indoor sources of pollution.
The good news is that regardless of the source, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), homeowners can take three specific steps to improve indoor air quality.
- Control the source of the problem — Common sense tells us that taking the source of the problem out of the equation will greatly improve indoor air quality, and it’s a low-cost or no-cost step any homeowner can do. Evaluate your home for potential sources of pollution, including carbon monoxide-emitting appliances, such as a gas stove, construction materials, wet carpeting and pressed-wood furniture. Adding a carbon monoxide detector to your home is also a good investment.
- Add ventilation — Improving your home’s ventilation will help to usher polluted air out, but it can also affect energy costs too. Installing a mechanical ventilation system will help to ensure that your home has a means to supply fresh air and exhaust polluted air, and it will directly affect how much pollution can exist within your home, especially if it’s well-sealed and insulated. Other means of ventilating your home include running exhaust fans when cooking or showering, or operating floor or ceiling fans and opening windows when you perform activities that generate pollution, such as painting or sanding.
- Use an air cleaner — If after you’ve removed the source and ventilated your home you still find that indoor air quality is under par, consider using a whole-house air cleaner. This type of device will filter and purify your air far beyond what your HVAC equipment’s standard air filter can do. You can also select an air cleaner that targets the pollutants that are more likely to cause you and your family problems.
Improve the indoor air quality inside your home immediately with three proven steps that take care of the problem. For more expert advice, contact the indoor air experts at (503) 266-1249. We’ve served the metro Portland area since 1976.
