The air in your home contains two to five times more pollutants than the air outside. That means most buildings in George West, TX, will have air quality issues if mediation measures aren’t put into place. Here are some warning signs of an IAQ problem and some solutions that professional HVAC service technicians can offer you.
Significant Dust Buildup
Dust isn’t just unsightly and annoying — it’s actually a telltale sign of air quality problems. If the dust is collecting around your vents, it means you have excessive buildup in your ducts. Dust on other surfaces means you have a lot of particulate matter in your air.
The first step to deal with this is to ensure you’re changing your furnace filter regularly. If you’re doing this, consider adding an additional filter to your home. You can use an in-room option to address an isolated concern or look at new system filtering options.
Also, be sure to conduct regular system maintenance. Several areas in your HVAC system are notorious for collecting particulate matter and recirculating it. During a maintenance visit, a service technician should clean these areas, including the evaporator coils, heat exchanger and circulating fan.
Overall Dryness
Dryness is something that commonly occurs during the winter months while running your heating. This is evident when you start noticing overly dry skin, waking up with a dry mouth or even spotting cracking or warped furniture.
The optimal indoor humidity is between 30% and 50%. During colder months, you may need to add moisture to the air to achieve this.
You can try using room vaporizers, which may help improve the air in a single room. You can also add a humidifier to your system to circulate moisture throughout your home.
Musty Odors
Musty odors are common in poorly ventilated bathrooms. However, when those smells start circulating through other parts of the house, you know you have too much moisture.
Adding a whole-home dehumidifier helps keep the humidity at bay during the sticky summer months. It also adds more air filtration, further reducing contaminants as the air continues to circulate.
Chronic Respiratory Irritation
Your body can tell you if you have poor air quality. Some of the symptoms you might experience include:
- Eye irritation.
- Sinus congestion.
- Dry sinuses.
- Respiratory irritation.
- Increased allergies.
Biological contaminants and particulate matter both contribute to these symptoms. Air purification symptoms work to remove these contaminants through two processes.
First, the system traps the larger particles in the filters, removing them from the air entirely. Then, either electricity or ultraviolet light renders those active particles inert, removing any risk they may cause.
Like many air quality options, you can choose smaller room-size units or a single one that installs into your HVAC system. The smaller units show more promise in individual rooms if there’s a particular area of concern. On the other hand, the installed units will have a greater impact on the entire home, improving overall air quality.
Frequent HVAC Repairs
Having unexpected repairs is an inconvenience and can be expensive when they’re necessary at the times you depend on your system most. While excessive repairs may indicate aging machinery or poor maintenance, they also hint at air quality problems.
Airborne contaminants, specifically particulate matter, will eventually make their way into your HVAC system, causing airflow restrictions. These restrictions occur at the air filter, heat exchanger, evaporator coil and circulating fan.
Restrictions cause extra resistance in the system, leading to additional heat at the components. This causes sensors and wiring to fail prematurely, and it puts extra stress on the fan motor bearing, all causing more frequent repairs.
A service technician will check all of this during regular system maintenance. However, excessive buildup indicates an IAQ problem. Filtered ventilators or system-installed air purifiers provide the best solution to buildup in the HVAC system.
Achieving good air quality is a complex pursuit that requires an understanding of how to interpret subtle signs to avoid larger problems. Call us at Bodine-Scott Air Conditioning Co. to schedule your IAQ consultation today.
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