Indoor Air Quality - IAQ - Is your air clean?
Everywhere & unseen
The air we breathe indoors, and the HVAC systems providing it, aren’t something we see or really think about. But Indoor Air Quality - IAQ has a direct impact on the health and well-being of a building’s occupants.
Poor IAQ can result in:
- Reduced Productivity
- Sick Building Syndrome
- Spreading Pathogens
- Impaired Learning
The dirtiest air come from attics, cralspaces and garages
Ducts don’t make the dust, they simply move it around. So where does the dust really come from? New research has found that in many homes a significant amount of the dust actually originates from outside the living space. The hot or cold outside air that leaks in through gaps & cracks into unconditioned spaces of your Saint Paul home often brings a lot of dust along with it. The air from outside always contains airborne particles such as pollen, mold spores, soot, tire rubber and agricultural dust. A lot of the dirt that builds up in ducts actually gets into them via duct leaks. If you have dirt accumulating on the supply air vents, the cause is most likely duct leaks, not dirt from inside the ducts. The solution? Duct Sealing!
A good sealed duct system, with filtration at the inlets, rarely if ever needs cleaning.
“Whether or not you decide to have the air ducts in your home cleaned, preventing water and dirt from entering the system is the most effective way to prevent contamination. Make sure ducts are properly sealed and insulated in all non-air-conditioned spaces (e.g., attics and crawl spaces).” (EPA)
Most people assume that furnace filters are enough to collect the average amount of dust being circulated inside their Saint Paul homes, but a leaky return will cause you to replace filters at a faster rate and if left in too long can put strain on your system. Finding and fixing the leaks that let in bad air will make your home healthier, and less dusty. Your home will also become more comfortable, and have more controllable indoor humidity levels. Fixing air leaks will even pay for itself through lower heating and cooling bills. In fact, duct leakage alone has been found to waste 20% to 40% of most system’s heating or air conditioning.
IAQ - affects you!
We can’t see IAQ. But, if we spend most of our time indoors, making sure the air we breathe is clean and healthy should be an obvious imperative.2 In fact, based on the average lifespan (73 years), we know the average person will spend 66 years of their life indoors. If you consider the fact that we spend most of our time indoors, the need for good IAQ becomes an obvious imperative.
SOURCES
1 Joseph G. Allen, director of Harvard’s Healthy Buildings Program: https://forhealth.org/
2 Environmental Protection Agency: https://www.epa.gov/
3 The World Health Organization: https://who.int
Aeroseal Can help
Aeroseal is a proven technology that measurably improves the air we breathe, reducing allergens, dust and other contaminants that can cause health problems. That’s why hundreds of hospitals and schools use Aeroseal to stop the spread of germs and improve air quality.
1. Control Humidity Issues and Avoids Mold Growth
Sealing your air returns will block humid and unconditioned air from entering the system and eliminate the threat of mold growth inside your ducts.
2. Provide Healthier Airflow Throughout Your Home
In addition to greater airflow coming out of your vents, sealing your ducts blocks out all the filthy dust, dirt, and allergens, providing the fresh air that you expect and putting your mind at ease.
3. Create a Cleaner Environment Sealed air returns stop gross dust, dirt, allergens, and other air pollutants from being introduced into your system and then blasted all over your house.