Health and Wellness: The air you breathe can make your home a true castle

Submitted by COMFORT SHIELD HVAC OF NC

Most people like coming home to a haven or castle they can rest and enjoy their time in.

Having an uncomfortable home can be felt instantly and we all know to contact our local HVAC company to come out and fix it. But what about the quality of that air coming into your home? Most people never even stop to think about how the air in their home affects them.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, indoor air quality is four to five times worse than outdoor air quality. This means just by going inside, you are in an environment worse than that just outside your door. Outdoor pollutants near the home and pollution moving through the HVAC system can cause indoor buildup of bacteria, mold spores, pollen and dust.

In some climates, like North Carolina, inside and outside humidity levels may cause mildew or excessive condensation problems that lead to biological growth inside the HVAC system and/or ductwork.

Thankfully, there are solutions to this problem. Improved filtration and ventilation systems and air cleaners are in high demand with the increased awareness of issues like COVID-19. Each type of solution has its own benefits and drawbacks.

Filtration — From whole house media filters to electronic filtration, there are many options available to trap and hold particulates in the air stream of your ducts. These systems are designed to trap specific sizes of material being pulled into the return side of the HVAC system.

This allows for cleaner air on the supply side back into your home. The better the model, the more particles and smaller particles it can trap and hold. The downside is that these do little to nothing about odors, chemicals or biological contaminants. The system filters also either must be changed regularly or cleaned to continue to provide the correct amount of filtration needed without putting extra strain on your HVAC system.

Ventilation — Another way to improve indoor air quality is to bring fresh air into the home and exhaust the stale air back to the outdoors. By allowing a specific amount of outdoor air to mix with the indoor air circulating through the home, the indoor mix is diluted to a safer level. Having a system that exchanges the air in the home regularly can help improve air quality and get rid of stale air. The drawback here is that as you bring air into the home, you must also exhaust the same amount. In addition, proper maintenance to the ventilation system must be done to ensure the air is moving properly in and out of the home.

Air cleaners — From UV lights to air purifiers, the types of air cleaners vary greatly in what they can do to improve indoor air quality and how they achieve that. UV lights are active killers of anything biological. Where this light shines, nothing lives. Mold, mildew, pollen, pet dander, viruses and bacteria are just some of the things that UV light destroys. Active ion creating systems add ions to the air stream to actively break down pollutants.

Photo Catalytic Oxidation is an advanced process by which volatile organic compounds, bacteria, mold and fungi are destroyed by incorporating photon and ultraviolet energy activating a catalyst creating photo catalytic oxidation. Basically, there is a material pollutants get trapped on, and they are then are broken down by the reaction of the UV light and that trapping material. Most types of air purifiers need regular maintenance like changing the UV bulb or wiping down the media surface.

When it comes to the air you breathe in your home, it should and can be much better for you. While the best homes and business have a combination of all three types, adding just one to your home will start to ensure you and your family are breathing easier in your castle.

Call Comfort Shield today at 919-588-8015 to schedule an indoor air quality audit and/ or system check.