How to Improve Indoor Air Quality
Indoor air quality within your Cincinnati area home plays a significant role in your household’s health and comfort. It even impacts the costs you pay for that comfort!
Indoor air pollution creates an uncomfortable and uninviting indoor environment. Often, homeowners don’t realize it’s an air quality problem at the root of the issues they face inside the home.
Apollo Home shares the effects poor indoor air quality inflicts on your home and household, as well as what to do to improve indoor conditions. To find the indoor air quality solutions best for your needs, schedule an appointment with our HVAC professionals today.
Humidity Wreaks Havoc on the Home
Humidity creates serious discomfort inside the home as well as out. As summer nears, it’s important that you know how to correct high humidity issues to ensure everyone’s indoor comfort throughout the season.
Humidity Problems
When too much moisture exists within your indoor air, distinct issues arise that concern comfort, health and the condition of your home.
High humidity causes the body to feel warmer – that same muggy, sticky feeling you get from being outside on a humid day. The excess moisture in the air in your home makes it difficult for you to find comfortable temperatures with the help of your air conditioner. Often, people continue to turn down the thermostat’s temperature, but this doesn’t solve much when humidity is the primary issue – it just increases your energy bills.
High moisture levels in the home cause condensation to collect on surfaces. This leaves wet spots behind on walls and ceilings, along with musty odors. The moisture also affects your home’s structure, causing wood rot and attracting pests.
With excess moisture comes the opportunity for mold growth, which causes damage to the home and can harm your health if exposed. A hot and humid indoor environment increases the chance for heat stroke, especially among household members with heart issues. High humidity also increases asthma and allergy symptoms because of elevated contaminant concentrations indoors.
Solutions to Lower Indoor Humidity Levels
Air conditioners provide some level of dehumidification as they cycle, but it’s just not enough to keep moisture levels balanced inside when the outdoor environment is highly humid. Ideally, indoor relative humidity levels should be kept between 35 and 50 percent.
The best way to maintain ideal relative humidity and good indoor air quality is through the use of a whole house dehumidifier. Installed along the home’s duct system, the dehumidifier extracts excess moisture from the air as it cycles through the HVAC system. The system’s humidistat tells the dehumidifier when and how much to run to achieve balanced relative humidity.
Whole house dehumidifiers treat moisture problems across the entire dwelling. Since your air conditioner isn’t burdened with the task, it operates more efficiently. When humidity levels are balanced, you feel more comfortable indoors and are less likely to use unnecessary air conditioning. Dehumidifier use helps keep your energy bills down in the summertime. Air purifiers are another solution to decrease indoor air contamination.
Change HVAC air filters on a regular basis. When filters are clogged with contaminants, airflow is restricted, which reduces the air conditioner’s dehumidification capabilities.
While some humidity naturally occurs, humidity is also added to the indoor environment through activities such as cooking, bathing and other activities involving hot water use. These activities add large volumes of moisture to the air, and if left untreated, it stays inside your home, which causes humidity levels to rise.
Spot ventilation removes excess moisture created by daily activities so it doesn’t affect the humidity of your home. Use exhaust fans when showering or bathing and range hoods when using the stove or cooktop. Take cooler, shorter showers, and wash laundry with cool water to reduce humidity generation indoors.
Make sure clothes dryers are properly vented outdoors. Replace dryer ducts if they are damaged or have tears. Clean out lint traps regularly, and clean the dryer vent to remove material that forms clogs in the vent line. Use a clothesline to dry items outdoors when possible to reduce dryer use and moisture production.
Improve Indoor Air Quality with the Help of Apollo Home
Indoor air pollutants such as pet dander and dust mites, along with high humidity levels, put a damper on comfort. Luckily, solutions exist to effortlessly remove excess moisture, keeping your home protected and your family healthy, happy and cozy inside.
Tackle indoor air quality issues caused by poor moisture control with the help of Apollo Home. Contact us today to find the right solutions to improve your home’s indoor air quality issues.