A friend of mine, Brian Schutt, is the co-owner of Homesense Heating and Cooling. Brian and I have discovered we both have an interest in helping people learn about safe indoor air quality and we recently talked about how we could share both the challenges and solutions with you. Like most people, Brian's interest grew and became more personal after he and his wife recently had their first child. Our goal is to help people learn that there are things we can do in our homes that can help our environment and on a more personal level, create a safer home for our families and pets.
Brian shared some interesting statistics:
•Americans spend on average, 90% of their life indoors
•Indoor air is an estimated 2 – 5 times more polluted that outdoor air
•New home construction requires tighter insulation, which reduces utility costs but also reduces fresh air into home
•50 % of all illness is due to poor indoor air quality (Source: 1989 State of Mass. Study)
•Indoor air quality is one of the EPA’s top five environmental risks to public health.
•Air pollution contributes to lung disease, respiratory tract infections, asthma and lung cancer.
There are two major solutions that Brian suggested to improve our indoor air quality. The first is to proactively reduce pollutants in your home by purchasing non toxic products. Putting all the chemicals behind safety locks will keep them out of reach for an accidental poisoning but our families are still exposed to the chemicals in our air and this may be impacting in the increase in asthma, respiratory infections and even cancer. Switching to safe products is an easy step forward. The next step is important because we can't eliminate all indoor pollutants (consider just a few... VOCs in paint, carpet, furniture and stain resistant applications on carpet and furniture).
Most homeowners are familiar with the standard 1 inch filter your furnace comes equipped with, but according to Brian, these do not filter the air and their primary purpose is to prevent major debris from entering the mechanical parts of your HVAC system.
Next, Brian suggests:
"To make a noticeable impact on the filtration of your home, the first step is a 4 or 5 inch pleated filter. There are many brands that offer a pre-fabricated filter rack that will fit the dimensions of your system ductwork. Some conventional sizes are 16″ x 20″, 20″ x 20″, 20″ x 25″, but there are other sizes available as well.
To take another step in increased filtration, we recommend electro-static air cleaners. Carrier has two main product lines the Performance Series Air Cleaner, and the Infinity Series Air Purifier. These offer a great solution if you know you or a family member has issues with allergies or asthma. These systems capture 75% to 95% of particles and kill 95% to 99% of germs, respectively.
Finally, if you’re aware of issues related to mold or mildew in your home and you’re having a reaction to that, there are two primary methods that we recommend to target that issue. First is a germicidal ultraviolet light. This system is designed to kill mold and other organisms that can grow inside your evaporator coil and in the moist environment created by your HVAC system. The newest method we have to target is from Global Plasma Solutions."
You can read Brian's full article here, including a video on the system to kill mold and other organisms.
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