Your home’s air quality is an important health factor for you and your family. Here are some easy ways to conduct an air quality test in your home.
If there’s one thing that can have a significant impact on your overall health, without you even knowing it, it’s the air quality in your home. Whether it’s poor ventilation, a buildup of mold, dust, or volatile organic compounds, the side-effects of poor air quality can creep up on you.
If you have your suspicions about the air in your home, it’s a good idea to conduct your own air quality test, then call in the professionals for advice on how to remedy the situation. Learn more about the causes of poor air quality in this blog post, and find out how to test yours at home.
What’s the Cause of Poor Air Quality, Exactly?
Throughout our day-to-day lives, any number of things can have an impact on the air we breathe. When it comes to your home, one of the most common causes of poor air quality is a lack of ventilation. This is especially prevalent in the colder months when you’re less inclined to open the windows.
But other common factors include:
- Cleaning supplies, such as countertop, toilet, and shower cleaners, as well as air fresheners (ironically)
- Pesticides that you might use throughout your garden
- New indoor furniture and carpeting can emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which impacts air quality
- A buildup of dust
- Mold and mildew
Bear in mind that your home’s air quality is also impacted by nearby home construction or roadwork. Dust, adhesive particles, and paint particles could find their way into your home without you even knowing it.
How To Tell if Your Home Has Poor Air Quality
As mentioned, the symptoms of poor air quality can creep up on you and your family members over time. In other words, the effects are cumulative and might not show themselves immediately.
But some of the most common tell-tale signs of poor air quality in your home include:
- A feeling of dryness, burning or itching in the eyes, nose, and throat
- A persistent runny or stuffy nose
- Headaches and dizziness might be a common occurrence
- You might feel an overall sense of lethargy or lack of energy
- Shortness of breath and the onset of asthma
- Allergy flares
It’s important to point out that all of these symptoms might not relate to poor indoor air quality. Some of them could tie back to stress, lack of sleep, or a cold that’s brewing.
You might only experience these symptoms in certain parts of your home, too, while other family members feel perfectly fine. But if they’re ongoing and impact all family members, you want to conduct an air quality test as soon as possible.
How To Conduct an Air Quality Test for Mold
Second to a lack of ventilation, is mold and mildew buildup. They are common culprits for poor air quality. The thing about mold is that it’s very sneaky and mold spores tend to grow and proliferate constantly.
Both mold and mildew can cause allergy flare-ups and bring on instances of asthma, too. One of the first tell-tale signs of mold buildup anywhere in your home is a musty, earthy smell, especially around your HVAC system or air ducts.
Nowadays, there are simple mold tests you can purchase from just about any hardware store. These tests include a petri dish, filled with a substance called potato dextrose. You simply leave the test out for the instructed amount of time. Then, you place the lid on the petri dish and let it incubate.
If mold starts to grow, you might have a mold problem in your home, as well as mold spores floating around in the air. If you’re concerned about the amount of mold spores in your air, you may need a professional to conduct an air quality test in your home.
The experts can test the condensation of mold spores in your home and recommend ways to remedy the problem.
How To Conduct an Air Quality Test for Carbon Monoxide
The presence of carbon monoxide (CO) is common in any home that uses gas-driven appliances. Some of these include gas dryers, stoves, and gas furnaces. If your home includes any of these appliances, your best way to keep an eye on CO levels is to install a carbon monoxide reader/alarm.
While CO is not a prominent danger in most homes, an accumulation of it can have dire consequences. Some of the symptoms are also difficult to tie back to CO poisoning. So, if you want to keep tabs on its presence in your home, a CO detector is your go-to.
Carbon monoxide monitors basically measure CO concentrations in the air and will let you know if there’s anything to be concerned about. However, a monitor does not include an alarm, so you might want to invest in a CO alarm, too.
You can find both CO monitors and alarms at most department or home stores. Make sure to place them within 10-15 feet of each sleeping area in your home.
How To Conduct an Air Quality Test for VOCs
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) include toxins such as xylene, benzene, chloroform, styrene, and formaldehyde. Long-term exposure to these compounds can have a significant effect on your health. It can cause anything from nasal stuffiness to headaches, nausea, and even long-term liver damage.
Today, there are a number of different VOC detectors that you can purchase online. You can also wear a badge throughout the day to detect VOC levels and your personal exposure. However, these methods are not always reliable.
That’s why one of the best ways to test for VOCs is by hiring a professional with the right kit to get the job done. Their equipment is reliable and they know how to interpret the results. Plus, they can recommend ways to reduce or eliminate VOCs from your home if there is a problem.
Looking To Purify the Air in Your Home?
While it might be easier to conduct a DIY air quality test of your own, you aren’t actually guaranteed accurate results. At the end of the day, if air quality is a major concern for you, it’s worth spending the money to hire a professional to help.
Eyman Plumbing, Heating, and Air is here to provide top-quality service that ensures you and your family breathe the finest quality air. Learn more about our air purification systems and how our professional expertise can help by calling us at (402) 731-2727 today!