Indoor Air Quality Solutions You Can Count On in Madeira, OH
As a homeowner, your home’s heating and air conditioning aren’t the only factors you should consider when it comes to the air in your home. When it comes to your overall residential air care needs, your Indoor Air Quality is a third factor that all-too-often gets neglected.
Nevertheless, if you have inadequate ventilation, you might have a wide range of indoor air pollution floating around in your home. Your home’s air quality is extremely important and you really can’t afford to ignore it. In fact, experts say your health and well-being depend on optimal air quality that you might not be getting.
Your air quality experts here at Madeira Heating & Air offer all the air quality solutions necessary to transform your abode into a safe haven with fresh air you and your loved ones will benefit tremendously from.
Our Indoor Air Quality Products
Smart Thermostats
Humidifiers
iWave-R Air Purifier
UV Lights
Air Filters
Dehumidifiers
What is Indoor Air Quality
Recent studies showing that the air within most homes and places of work being more polluted than the air outside of them, more and more homeowners are becoming aware of the importance of Indoor Air Quality. Are you one of them? Because most of us spend an average of 90 percent of our time inside, indoor air quality is something that demands every homeowner’s consideration and attention.
Because the air indoors usually lacks sufficient filtration, or at least ventilation, the air quality levels in our homes is something homeowners need to take more seriously. Experts at the Environmental Protection Agency state the definition of Indoor Air Quality as the quality of air inside a building or home and how it affects the people inside the building or home. They warn that indoor air quality problems (or IAQ problems) can have a serious impact on health and well-being.
Why is Indoor Air Quality So Essential?
Americans spend more time indoors than ever before. By some estimates, we spend an average of 21 hours a day inside the home and workplace. Because of this, the air quality has far more of an impact on our health than most of us realize. Additionally, if indoor air quality is bad enough, it can also have a negative effect on the home itself and some of the woodwork and electronics in the home as well.
Some studies go so far as to claim it isn’t uncommon for Indoor Air Quality to be 5 times as toxic and polluted as outdoor air. Outside the home, nature can utilize a wide range of natural processes that clean the air and recycle it. When you realize how indoor air is constantly being recycled and how homes are made intentionally air-tight with a lot of sealing and insulation, it becomes a little more obvious why HVAC experts and health officials tell homeowners to employ certain indoor air quality devices, humidity control systems and air purification products in conjunction with their home heating and air conditioning equipment.
Featured Product: iWave-R Air Purifier
Drifting around in the average household air supply without being seen by the human eye, a home can become filled with toxins, pollutants and particles that are harmful. This includes gases, building materials, dust, pollen, dander, mold, smoke, and even dangerous pathogens, viruses and bacteria. Without proper filtration and ventilation, this stuff gets circulated continuously. Nevertheless, your air care experts at Madeira Heating & Air have a powerful, practical and affordable solution. That solution is our innovative and affordable iWave-R.
The iWave-R has a very innovative (patented) needlepoint bi-polar ionization (NPBI) technology that ensures the production of a balanced amount of positive and negative ions. When these ions target the passing air stream, their field breaks down pollutants and gasses, transforming them into harmless compounds like oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and water vapor. In short, there’s nothing like the iWave-R.
4 Benefits of Improving Indoor Air Quality
As we have noted, indoor air quality goes hand in hand with home comfort and HVAC equipment. While most homeowners make their home’s comfort level a high priority, only a few understand the importance of Indoor Air Quality. Nevertheless, more and more homeowners are catching on and beginning to understand the importance of IAQ. This is partly because there are a ton of benefits to improving it and a ton of consequences for ignoring it. Below your local air quality control experts here at Madeira Heating & Air explain a few of the benefits of improving residential air quality.
Lower Monthly Heating & Cooling Costs
Sometimes, a homeowner will try to reduce their home cooling costs by turning off their air conditioning unit and turning it back on when things heat up. Nevertheless, it doesn’t work this way. It’s much less efficient and makes your A/C unit work harder. However, if you upgrade to a newer, energy-efficient central air conditioning system, it will allow you to keep your home cool far more efficiently. Overall, newer more energy-efficient A/C units are so much cheaper to use, and can even pay for themselves in a short period of time.
Breathe Easier
They say the air we breathe is the essence of life. And they are right. The more pollution in our home’s air supply, the easier we fall prey to breathing-related conditions, allergy symptoms, and even asthma. Even if you only have faint amounts of indoor pollution, it can impact your stress levels and affect your health and well-being. A little-known fact is that air purity also affects our ability to heal, recover from illness as well as our energy levels. Your air quality control experts here at Madeira Heating & Air offer a whole line of air conditioning units, humidity control systems, air purifiers and air filtration systems (HEPA) that make breathing conditions optimal all year long.
Optimal Sleeping Environment
Optimal indoor air quality helps you avoid a wide range of health issues caused by household air pollution. When the air quality in our home is optimal, it also helps people in the home sleep better. This minimizes stress by making sleep more restful. Additionally, cooler temperatures are also said to help you sleep better because your bodies can rest more and relax deeper in cooler environments, which are correlated with lower levels of humidity. In this case, owning a relatively new air conditioner or home cooling system improves indoor air quality significantly during the summer.
Remove Pollutants & Allergens
If you happen to be allergic to something in the air supply, your body will tell you by triggering allergies and breathing issues. This is nature’s way of letting us know it doesn’t like whatever we’re taking into our lungs. Whatever we breathe into our lungs usually makes its way into the blood. Because of this, the more someone is exposed to airborne allergens and pollution, the more likely they are to get sick or have an allergic reaction. Optimal indoor air quality gives the body time to recover and stay healthy so you’re at your best when you go outdoors.
Air Duct Cleaning, Ductwork Services (Limited Availability)
When it comes to optimizing your home’s Indoor Air Quality, there is one service that has a tremendous impact and a low price tag. That service is ductwork cleaning or air duct cleaning. We at Madeira Heating & Air offer residential air duct cleaning services but only during certain times of the year. Because of its limited availability, if you want your air ducts cleaned you should give us a call for more information.
During an air duct cleaning appointment, our experts check and inspect your entire ductwork system prior to cleaning the air ducts. Our ductwork services help homeowners find air leaks and the cleaning alone contributes to optimal airflow, which is essential to the operation of your heating and cooling equipment. Additionally, our air duct cleaning services also purify the air supply for the entire home on top of ensuring optimal efficiency for HVAC equipment.
4 Signs of Your Home Has Poor Indoor Air Quality
In addition to all those pesky physical symptoms you encounter when your home’s air quality is compromised, your house itself can give you warning signs that your indoor air quality needs an upgrade. Those signs include the following:
Smelling Strange Odors
If you’re smelling strange odors that you suspect could be mildew, mold, chemicals, pests or anything foul or unusual, it’s a sign your air quality is being compromised. Even chemicals from air fresheners can become problematic along with excess dirt, dust and debris on surfaces in the home also indicate indoor air quality issues.
Humidity Problems
Humidity can be an issue all its own. The relative humidity of a home should be somewhere between 35 and 50 percent to ensure comfort and prevent microorganism issues from developing. Low levels of humidity cause damage to the wood in the home in addition to health issues. High levels of humidity make your home uncomfortable and create breeding grounds for mold, mildew, and other microbes. All of these problems, however, are easily removed with the addition of humidity control systems such as humidifiers and dehumidifiers.
Dust Buildup Around Vents & Surfaces
As we alluded to above, if you are finding dust buildup around your home it’s an air quality issue. This is especially true in and around air vents where the air is traveling the most. If you’re finding dust building up around these areas, it can be addressed with an air filter upgrade or HEPA filtration system. A HEPA filter will also help with other types of pollution such as pollen, smoke, pet dander, dust mites and other particles.
Air Distribution Issues
Uneven heating with cold and warm areas in a home is indicative of air distribution problems, which can also result in indoor air quality issues. If your HVAC system isn’t maintaining proper temperature and humidity levels, your indoor air quality is likely suffering the effects of this.
3 Tips to Improve Indoor Air Quality
Keep Up With Maintenance
Keeping up with preventative maintenance services is essential for not only equipment longevity and lower heating and cooling costs. It’s also essential for home comfort and optimal indoor air quality. In fact, being proactive with your HVAC systems enables the equipment to run more smoothly and do its job effectively like it’s intended and designed to. Being proactive always pays off in the long run and seasonal maintenance always improves indoor air quality.
Invest in Better Air Filters
Changing your HVAC system’s air filters regularly is one of the most fundamental parts of owning one. Most homeowners know this. What many do not know is that the standard air filter, which is the one-inch fiberglass air filter, usually does nothing to clean the air or improve indoor air quality. It’s merely intended to protect the equipment only. This means investing in a better air filter could go a long way in your home at improving your indoor air quality. If you have anything compromising your indoor air quality, this is something you should definitely consider.
Invest in an Air Purifier
Investing in a household air purifier from Madeira Heating & Air is a great option when you’re looking for the most cost-effective method for improving your home’s overall air quality. Air purifiers help home heating and cooling systems by removing dirt, mold spores, pet dander, dust, pollen, and other pollutants floating around in your home. This makes air filters last longer and while reducing the stress and strain from poor airflow caused by dirty air filters. Air purifiers also kill bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms while removing strange odors and chemicals in the air.
General Indoor Air Quality & Answers
How do I improve my indoor air quality?
To improve indoor air quality, you need to test for sources of pollution first. Based on the results of an air quality test, you will then remove sources of air pollution and reduce emissions. Some sources of air pollution contain harmful toxins like asbestos, gases or radon. These need to be addressed immediately. Other sources can be adjusted to reduce their emissions. If necessary, appliances can be replaced, building materials removed and certain chemical products can be substituted.
Why does Indoor Air Quality affect health so much?
When you’re breathing polluted air, it allows this stuff to get inside your lungs. Once in the lungs, these harmful toxins often travel to the bloodstream where they are transported to internal organs. This can cause all sorts of health problems like asthma and cardiovascular diseases, breathing conditions and even cancer. While some types of household air pollution aren’t very harmful, other types are bad for health and wellbeing.
What are some signs of poor indoor air quality?
Warning signs of poor household air quality include health problems and health-related symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, sinus problems, headaches, dizziness, dryness, irritation to the eyes and skin and more. Any sort of unusual odor should be considered a sign that something might be compromising your indoor air quality. Additionally, if you are having to clean or change your HVAC systems’ air filters more frequently because they are getting dirty faster than normal, it’s another sign. Other symptoms include high humidity levels or even low humidity levels (dry air) and excessive static electricity in the home as well as difficulty sleeping.
HVAC FINANCING
Buy Today, Pay Over Time with HVAC Financing
Your local heating, cooling and air care experts here at Madeira Heating & Air have longstanding relationships with a wide range of creditors, lenders and respected financial institutions that we partner with to help you through the process. Our job is to help you maintain optimal home comfort year-round and make manageable monthly payments to pay for your new HVAC equipment. We understand how sometimes home comfort can’t wait here in Ohio.
In short, our furnace financing, heat pump financing and A/C finance options are second to none.
