About Indoor Air Quality on Commercial & Residential HVAC

With everyone staying inside more and more frequently, indoor air quality and keeping it clean, fresh, and breathable is now less of an afterthought and more crucial than ever to our daily lives. More specifically, it’s a big factor as to why we’re either feeling our best or our health needs improvement.

Not only is indoor air quality a significant factor to residential HVAC systems, but also to commercial as well. So let’s take a look at some things you really need to know about this subject.

Why Indoor Air Quality Matters

Before we dive further into the subject, it’s worth understanding why exactly indoor air quality is so significant and what it is exactly.

What it is: When we say indoor air quality we are talking about the air quality within and outside of any building or structure, in particular relating to the health and comfort of people occupying the building.

Why it matters: Knowing what the air quality is in your home or commercial building can determine the state of health your family, employees, and virtually everyone who breathes the air inside the building are experiencing.

Root causes: research has basically narrowed the root causes of indoor air pollution to these nine in total:

1) Building construction and design

2) Building not commissioned – i.e. checked to see if it works for people inside it

3) Indoor contaminant sources

4) Damp and dirty ventilation systems

5) Indoor activities and equipment that contribute to contaminants

6) Moisture enclosed in the building

7) Poor air cleaning and filtration

8) Poor ventilation rates

9) Poor outdoor air quality

What this all boils down to is, the older your building and the less maintenance performed, the more likely your indoor air will be polluted and the higher the risk becomes of getting ill as a result. You need to keep this quality under control for many reasons.

1. Controlling the Air Quality Benefits Everyone

Not only are you keeping the air quality of your building fresh for health’s sake, but also according to research, air quality impacts productivity as well as profits. There is also research that confirms that 50% of all respiratory diseases are caused by indoor air pollution. So, by ensuring some sense of control, which you can now find on recently produced HVAC systems as well as air purifiers, you’re not only keeping yourself safe but also many of the people impacted in the home or commercial building.

2. Opening a Window is Not Enough to Improve the Air

It’s easy to assume that the only way to increase ventilation and improve indoor air quality is to open a window. However, this alone is not enough. One study in particular shows that all of the outdoor air pollutants we may breathe in are in fact found more commonly indoors than out. So, in addition to breathing in the really gross indoor stuff such as mould, we’re breathing in outdoor things inside as well.

Some food for thought before you go ahead and crack the window open next time. Plus, the temperature of the air outside can also negatively affect your indoor air if you’re not careful, such as during a heat wave.

So, what can you do, other than open a window, next time the air smells stale? Try these solutions:

• Ban smoking inside of the building; take it outside and away from the building.
• Eliminate odours rather than use chemical air fresheners.
• Dust often, and well, to prevent things like pet dander from accumulating too much.
• Clean floors regularly. Carpets can be a source of dust too, so vacuum and use a carpet cleaner if needed.
• Keep floor mats around. These can actually prevent larger pollutants such as dirt and dander from spreading into the building.
• Use natural cleaners as opposed to toxic kinds.

3. Causes of Poor Quality Can be Lessened by HVAC

Many of the downsides of poor air can all be deterred, provided you apply proper HVAC maintenance to your system, commercial and residential. The downsides we mean include all of the following:

• Poor air quality
• Pests and bugs
• Dust
• Fur dander, such as from pets
• Mould and moisture
• Lack of ventilation where needed
• Thermal discomforts

With proper HVAC maintenance, you can improve indoor air quality easily. Cleaning the filters when recommended (every 3 months, or every month if you own pets) and ensuring the exterior is clean and nothing is blocking the outdoor units are both good tasks you can do yourself, whether you own them at home or you manage them at the office.

4. Ventilation is a Must

Whether you need to apply a new coat of paint in the office or you’re renovating a new part of the building, the fumes and dust accumulating from these examples can contribute to negative effects in air quality. Most buildings are kept air-tight to prevent heat gain and loss both, but this in and of itself can make indoor air quality worse because it’s not allowing air pollutants to escape. This situation can make indoor air quality worse, as opposed to better, which is not what most people think will happen until it’s too late—those with asthma and allergies end up being the most affected.

Ventilation and air exchange in HVAC helps solve this problem and prevent air quality from getting worse. Air exchange is a big part of how HVAC works to serve you and your building better, whether residential or commercial. The exchange takes the stale, polluted indoor air and replaces it with fresh outdoor air. Not only will a properly maintained system keep the air indoors fresh, but also it will decrease humidity and its own slew of problems associated with it.

5. Cleaning Goes a Long Way, Always

A clean system, whether it’s an HVAC one, a dehumidifier, or an air purifier, will not function the way it’s supposed to or keep your air clean unless you keep the system itself clean too. That’s why we always recommend cleaning the air filters in addition to other maintenance tasks. Having your machinery checked up by a professional technician every so often can also help with upkeep. An HVAC professional will be able to tell you if your HVAC is failing, if it’s the wrong size, or replace older systems with more up-to-date ones.

So long as you follow these guidelines, you can keep the indoor air quality in your home or commercial building clean, fresh, and healthier.

Keeping the indoor air clean isn’t an impossible task, but it does require work on everyone’s part. If you need us to do our part and help maintain your HVAC for the sake of indoor air quality, we’re always ready so give us a call. At Rep-Air Heating And Cooling we provide our customers with many options that will best suit your needs from heating and cooling to refrigeration. Contact us today for your complimentary quote: 1-844-218-3362 or contact@repairheatingandcooling.com and don’t forget to take a look at our website: https://repairheatingandcooling.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for free giveaways!