Why the Air Quality in Your Home Can Be Worse Than Smog

While many of us think of our homes as sanctuaries away from the dangers of the outside world, the fact of the matter is that many of those dangers can follow you into your home, and they can actually cause even worse harm there.

Air quality is one of the most insidious problems that can afflict your home. Many people don’t bother to measure or attempt to control the air quality inside their homes. This is a serious problem, because for many homes, the indoor air quality can be worse than the outdoors, even in heavily polluted areas.

In order to ensure that you and your family can breathe safely, it’s important to check the air quality in your home.

Stale Air

One of the biggest factors that can affect Indoor Air Quality is the presence of stale or overly recycled air. Unlike the outdoors, where airflow is constantly moving, inside your home the air is generally cycled and recycled through your ventilation system over and over, with little movement.

During the wintertime in particular, when most people keep their windows shut to keep in the heat, indoor air can become stale. The lack of fresh air can do more than just introduce an undesirable smell or feeling in your air. It can cause pollutants to build up in the home.

Pollutants

Without proper air circulation, pollutants can build up and compound in your home, putting you at risk of serious health problems. Whereas pollutants outside can be dispersed by wind and normal airflow, inside they are trapped, and only get recycled into the ventilation system.

This can cause you to be exposed to chronic pollutants and air impurities, which can cause a whole host of health issues. Make sure to monitor the quality of your indoor air to ensure that you aren’t breathing in poison.

How to Improve the Quality of Your Indoor Air

What activity do you spend more of your time doing than anything else? Breathing, of course! Yet, no matter how important it is to have access to safe, unpolluted air, the fact of the matter is that most people underestimate the importance of quality indoor air.

That is, at least until they develop chronic respiratory problems from constantly breathing in air that contained serious pollutants. In order to improve the overall quality of your indoor air, it’s necessary to use the correct tools for the job, and that means using cutting edge air monitoring equipment.

Use Sensors

The biggest obstacle to improving Indoor Air Quality is not having the proper tools to measure it. Unlike smog, pollutants in the indoor air environment are generally not visible. You could be breathing them in all day, for weeks or months at a time, and not even be aware that you’re doing so.

This can create major problems, since chronic exposure to even small amounts of pollutants can cause serious health problems. In order to make sure that your air quality is meeting high standards, you need to be using an air quality sensor, which will give you the necessary information on any pollutant issues before they become significant dangers to your health.

Clean Up Your Circulation

Indoor air quality can degrade over time precisely because there is so little circulation. The same stale air can get circulated and recirculated inside your home again and again, collecting more pollution and impurities that compound over time.

These impurities can settle into your ventilation system, ensuring that your air environment continues to degrade as you run heating or cooling systems. Make sure to use air circulators that will introduce fresh outdoor air into your home so that you don’t end up with stale, polluted air constantly circulating in your home.

Check out some of our favorite Air Quality Sensors here! 

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Honeywell Analytics IAQPoint2  
Put Money in Your Pocket and Fresh Air in Your Building  

  To combat high levels of CO2, which can cause drowsiness and create an inefficient work environment,building managers sometimes choose to run the ventilation system continuously. This is an inefficient and costly practice. With Honeywell Analytics IAQPoint2 in place, the ventilation system can do its job appropriately and efficiently.  IAQPoint2 detects many gases common to building areas including carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, nitrogen dioxide and VOCs. 




 Features include: 

·         Menu driven, customizable, easy-to-navigate display

·         Large 1.9 x 2.6 in (4.9 x 6.5 cm) VGA screen with easy-to-read LCD digits graphical display

·         Simple wall- or duct-mount

·         Multi-analog or digital (BACnet, Modbus) options

·         DC and AC power; fits standard junction box

·         5 year sensor life with automatic self-calibration

·         Adjustable set-points and optional relay for local fan activation

CHECK OUT e-controls.net HONEYWELL ANALYTICS LINE HERE.  

Questions?  Contact us via e-mail or call 1.866.215.4043

Smart Building: Providing Automation Systems for Your Business

Full autonomous control of your facility is a luxury that you can afford! Here are a few basics about how Building Automation Systems (BAS) work for you and for the efficiency of your company.

·         Sensors – Sensors can be used to determine CO2 output, as well as temperature, humidity, room occupancy and time of day.

·         Controllers – The controllers can be used to help modify the behavior of the systems. The sensors determine the need for a modification while the controller can then adjust to fit the appropriate room size, temperature or indoor air quality.

·         Output Devices – Devices include relays, air handlers, constant volume air-handling units, the hot water system and actuators.

·         Communications Protocols – The communication system used for your controllers, devices and sensors to all communicate is essential for a seamless use of the complicated systems.

·         User Interface – Having an intuitive system for management and employees to use can also be extremely important to the efficiency of the system. A user friendly interface will be used as the dashboard for easy communication to the BAS system.

Are you looking for components to a BAS for your business? Contact us at E-Controls.net today to find each part you need including sensors, controllers, output devices and interface systems.