You may constantly be bombarded with new subjects that should bother you and your family. Don’t buy anything that isn’t BPA-free. Stay away from the microwave. Only save your leftovers in glass jars, not plastic.
Now your neighbors are telling you about indoor air quality (or IAQ) in Elkhart. You shouldn’t use harsh chemicals to wipe down your counters. You should install an air purification system. You should use essential oils instead of air fresheners.
And on and on it goes.
So you stop listening to all the noise and just do the best you can. We feel you - why agonize about one issue if you will have to constantly worry about everything else?
But, of anything, indoor air quality is certainly a point you should focus on, and here’s why.
It affects your health
We’ve told you how to fight sickness and stay healthy with indoor air quality; and, we’ve shared how to Stop the Sneezes and help alleviate symptoms of asthma and allergies with recommendations to improve indoor air quality; we’ve even given you a full review of the APCO Whole-House Air Purifier to help keep your indoor air quality at its best. So now, we’ll be frank: bad indoor air quality is bad for your health . We spend around 90% of our life in home and buildings and with indoor air contaminants, including pet dander, dust, fibers, and virus-causing germs, floating around our homes, it’s crucial to have an air purification system that can filter our air and help fight the germs that cause sickless.
It affects your home
Not only could bad air quality affect your lungs, it can also affect the performance of your home. Indoor air with increased levels of contaminants floating around is tougher on your home’s heating and AC system. Contaminants clog the parts of the blower system and the home’s air filters faster, causing your heating and AC system to work a lot more to keep your family comfortable. Your ducts can also become dirty more rapidly, resulting in inefficient airflow.
It affects your workplace
Several studies have proven that poor indoor air quality can actually have a huge effect on workplace efficiency. Not only can it increase the symptoms of allergies and asthma, but the contaminants put off by copying machines, cleaning supplies, poorly maintained HVAC systems, and electrical equipment can cause headaches (even migraines), dripping eyes, and irritated throats. While these symptoms may be short-term, continued exposure to poor indoor air quality (after all, you do spend at least 40 hours a week at the office) can result in skin irritations, respiratory illness, and other chronic sicknesses. On the more extreme side, radon or asbestos seeping in through damaged foundations or ceilings can actually cause cancer and other fatal diseases and a strong concentration of carbon monoxide can lead to sudden death.
So next time your friend starts telling you about indoor air quality, listen up because it could be vital for your health and for your home. If you are unsure if your home’s indoor air quality is good or bad, call BW/Cook Service Experts for a no-charge in-home analysis and we’ll verify your indoor air quality levels and review whole-home air cleaning choices with you.