The Ins and Outs of Indoor Air Quality

Father and daughter playing with an adorable puppy

Ah, indoor air quality (IAQ)—the often overlooked aspect of home comfort. Most homeowners think that as long as their furnace and air conditioner are working, they’re as comfortable as they can be. But because you spend up to 90 percent of your time indoors, it’s important to look beyond just air temperature and consider air quality. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ranks poor indoor air quality as a top health concern.

IAQ is a score of your air’s purity, as well as its humidity level. Common pollutants—like dust, bacteria, viruses, pollen, and mold—can affect your family’s health over time, and even decrease your home value. Have one of our specialists test your home’s air to ensure it’s clean and fresh.

IAQ Products Enhance Your Home Comfort

To accurately test your home, we use the AirAdvice for Homes™ monitor. It’s a small device that provides a detailed air quality report after just 30 minutes. The monitor detects particles, chemicals, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, temperature, and humidity issues that could be affecting your health and comfort. If we find a problem, we’ll recommend a product to resolve it. Here are a few common IAQ products and what they can do for you.

Air Purifiers

Air purifiers remove harmful particles like bacteria, viruses, pollen, and mold from the air. They eliminate up to 99 percent of irritants and are 40 times more effective than a standard furnace filter.

Ultraviolet (UV) Lights

UV lights destroy bacteria, viruses, mold, and other microorganisms that are growing on your cooling coil, and sterilize it with an ionizing charge.

Humidifiers

Humidifiers add moisture to dry air to maintain a level between 35 and 50 percent. Balanced humidity can help decrease warping on wood floors and furniture. It also helps you save on energy costs during winter because humid air feels warmer—that means you’ll feel comfortable at lower temperatures.

Dehumidifiers

Dehumidifiers remove excess moisture from your air when levels become uncomfortable (above 50 percent). They, too, can help save you money on energy bills because you’ll feel comfortable at higher temperatures during summer.

Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRVs)

Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRVs) bring fresh air into your home to replace stagnant air. These systems are ideal for our Minnesota climate because they minimize heat loss to ensure efficiency.

Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERVs)

Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERVs) exchange stagnant, contaminated air with pre-filtered, outdoor air to lower pollution levels without wasting your energy. However, these systems are ideal for warmer climates.

CO Alarms

CO alarms monitor your air quality and alert you at the first sign of dangerous carbon monoxide. Because carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas, even the smallest of leaks can be deadly. It’s important to change your batteries regularly to make sure the alarm is working at all times.

If you’re concerned about the quality of your air or would like yours tested the next time we’re out for furnace or air conditioner maintenance, just let us know.

What Our Indoor Air Quality Specialist Certification Means for You

Earning our Indoor Air Quality Specialist certification was important to us. We’ve been helping to improve indoor air quality for years, and this certification was the next step in showing our customers our commitment to “Healthy Home Air.” We stay up to date on our training and complete a test each year to maintain our certification. Leave all of your air quality needs to us—we’re here to help. Just contact us or call (507) 454-7689.