The quality of the air we breathe has never been of more importance than in the last couple of years. The COVID pandemic has placed a spotlight on the presence of pathogens, allergens, and pollutants in our indoor air supply. Unfortunately, it can often be hard to tell if our home has poor indoor air quality until it has already begun to impact our health. That is why it is crucial that we learn the signs of poor indoor air quality and keep an eye out for them throughout the year. One way to make sure you check up on your home’s indoor air quality is to add an indoor air quality inspection to your spring cleaning to do list.

How to Determine If Your Home Has an Indoor Air Quality Problem

Unless there are literally clouds of dust in the air, it can be hard to tell if the air quality in your house has declined. Many of the things that can make your home’s air quality poor are microscopic, so you won’t necessarily see what’s happening to the air in your home. However, there are ways to determine if your home’s air quality has taken a dip even if the signs aren’t visible, including:

Physical Symptoms – If you and your family are breathing poor quality air, one of the surest signs is when it starts impacting your health. Symptoms of poor indoor air quality that people experience include frequent illness, coughing, congestion, dizziness, fatigue, headaches, nausea, dry skin, respiratory issues, skin irritation, out of season allergy attacks, and nosebleeds.
Dust – A buildup of dust around your home, especially around your vents and in your air filters, is a sign that your air quality needs improvement.
Hot Spots/Cold Spots – If you notice hot spots and cold spots in rooms and throughout your home, that may be a sign of poor airflow. If air isn’t flowing properly throughout rooms and around your home, that can lead to air stagnating, and stagnate air is often poor quality air.

What You Can Do to Improve Your Home’s Indoor Air Quality

Improving your home’s air quality has never been easier. The technology behind, and methods of, improving indoor air quality have taken a giant leap forward in the last few years. Here are a few tips for keeping your home’s indoor air quality above par:

Upgrade your air filtration system – A high quality air filtration system can make a huge difference in the quality of the air in your home. It can filter allergens, pathogens, and pollutants from your home’s air that other less capable filtration systems might miss.
Check your filters – Make sure to check and change your home’s filters regularly. Filters can only help keep your home’s air clean for so long before they become too dirty. Dirty air filters not only don’t help clean your home’s air, but also can contribute to hurting your home’s air quality. Instead of collecting allergens, pathogens, and pollutants from your home’s air supply, dirty air filters can release what they’ve collected back into your home’s air supply.
Open your windows – This is especially helpful if you’re doing something in your home that could pollute your air, such as cooking, painting, or using cleaning products containing hazardous chemicals.
Buy house plants – Plants are nature’s air filters. A few house plants can really help improve your home’s indoor air quality.
Fix water damage – Water damage can result in mold, which is a dangerous indoor air pollutant.
Clean your carpets – Like house plants, carpet isn’t just for show. Carpet acts as an air filter to some degree as well. However, unlike house plants, carpets need to be cleaned regularly to continue to properly filter allergens from a home’s air supply.
Use your fans – Using your ceiling fans, as well as any other fans you have, can help improve airflow within rooms and throughout your house. Improved airflow can equal improved air quality.
Install air scrubbers – Air scrubbers are installed in the ductwork of an HVAC system. They help capture and remove odors, allergens, and other pollutants from a home’s air supply.

Speak with Our Indoor Air Quality Experts Today!

Most of the world has only scratched the surface regarding the importance of indoor air quality. At Carter Services, we have been helping residential and commercial customers in Torrance, California and throughout Orange County and its surrounding areas with their indoor air quality problems since 1974. During that time, we have developed an understanding of indoor air quality issues that is second to none. We are knowledgeable, skilled, and experienced, and we’re always open to embracing new technology and methods. Our licensed and insured technicians can recognize a decline in your business or home’s indoor air quality right away, even in its earliest stages. From there, we can quickly and efficiently determine what is causing the problem and fix the issue without exceeding your timeframe or budget.

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Need help with an indoor air quality problem? Give us a call at (310) 872-1898 or get in touch with us online to talk to our indoor air quality specialists about your situation. Discounts available!