Always walk into your house, inhale deeply, and smell something “off”? Maybe it is just a touch stale, dusty, or not right. Until allergies attack or someone cannot get over a cold at HVACinRiverview.com, people barely give the air in their homes any thought. Actually, every day your indoor breathing could be affecting your health.
Indoor air is a combination, not just “air.” Among the float dust mites, pollen, cleaning agents, mold spores, pet dander, and bacteria are bacteria. The EPA says indoor air can be two to five times (sometimes even 100 times!) worse than that outdoors. Imagine now yourself, your children, perhaps your dogs all marinating in that combination eight hours a night, every night. Now.
One clever troublemaker is poor air quality. If you wake up stuffy or routinely get headaches at home, your air could be the source. Love dirty air; allergies find home in it. Children coughing? Perhaps mold or dust gathered in your ductwork. Prolonged exposure raises the risk of asthma, respiratory infections, and maybe heart problems. One Johns Hopkins study found that those with superior indoor air showed reduced doctor visits for respiratory issues.
Now let me talk briefly about humidity. Too much drives mold to grow where you least want it and makes your house feel like a marsh. Too little; throat is scratchy, lips are chapped, and skin feels like the Mojave. Balanced humidity not only makes your house feel better it zaps the stuff making you sick.
If anything smells odd or if your family is sneezing and sniffling all the time, steer clear of labeling it as “bad luck.” Maybe your indoor air has some maintenance needs. Respect the air you breathe the same way you would respect water, your front door lock, or meals. Better days follow from good air; everyone can agree upon this.