Having clean air inside your home is incredibly important for the well-being of your family. It’s not just important for those with allergies; rather, it’s critical for any healthy family member, too. Poor indoor air quality can worsen allergies and result in headaches and poor sleep. Indoor air that has high levels of dangerous gases like carbon monoxide can be lethal. If you’re concerned about the indoor air quality in your house, how should you test it? Here are some ways.
Test the Carbon Monoxide and Radon Levels
Carbon monoxide is a colorless and odorless gas, so having a carbon monoxide leak in your home may go unnoticed. Because such a gas leak is easy to miss, it’s important that you place carbon monoxide detectors throughout your residence. Carbon monoxide is lighter than air, and it will therefore rise toward the ceiling. It’s important, then, to place your carbon monoxide detectors on the ceiling or at least five feet above the floor. Each floor of your house will need a separate detector.
Another gas you’ll want to test for is radon. Radon can enter your property through cracks, walls, or any spots where there are gaps in the foundation around pipes. Like carbon monoxide, radon is odorless and colorless, so the only way to know if you have it is to have a test done. Long-term exposure to radon can lead to lung cancer, so it’s important to test for it and eliminate it from your home. The best way to test for radon levels is to call in a professional. With a professional technician, you’ll be able to get accurate radon levels. A licensed technician can also tell you if you’re living in a radon-contaminated home.
Buy an Indoor Air Quality Monitor
There are many types of pollutants in our houses, including contaminants like dust from the outside, bacterial growth, chemicals from cooking, or pet dander from dogs. To test the quality of your air, you may want to invest in an indoor air quality monitor. These devices are always on, so they constantly test the levels of pollution in your home.
There are different kinds of indoor air quality monitors, but almost all will test for chemical pollutants, humidity, and particulate matter. Some will test for carbon monoxide, but you can buy a separate carbon monoxide detector for that purpose. Some monitors are also smart-home enabled, so you can get a reading even if you’re not at home.
Look Out for Excess Humidity
You’ll probably know that you have excess humidity in your house if your skin feels more moist than usual. However, another way to test for excess humidity is by checking for signs of mold growth in different areas of your home. In humid rooms, you can look inside all the closets. Mold growth is common in poorly ventilated bathrooms, too.
On the other hand, if your residence has too little humidity, you may suffer electric shocks when you touch doorknobs or you may suffer from dry skin. Either way, your humidity levels are off and should be corrected. There are dehumidifiers that are designed to pull in excess moisture from the air, along with humidifiers that are designed to add moisture to the air.
At Bone Heating & Cooling in Festus, MO, we offer humidity-control products to keep your indoor air quality fresher and more comfortable.
Call a Professional
To get an accurate idea of how polluted your indoor air quality is, you should call in a professional. You can get a DIY kit, but these kits don’t offer a comprehensive view of everything that’s in your air. A company that offers these services will provide different kinds of testing. At Bone Heating & Cooling, for example, we test for mold and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are released when you cook, so you’re bound to have a lot of this kind of pollution if you cook a lot. We’ll also check for any carbon monoxide and radon. We can conduct airborne particulate testing as well. Once we do a thorough, professional test, we can recommend the options you have for improving your indoor air quality.
Bone Heating & Cooling offers ductwork, water heaters, and heating, cooling, and indoor air quality services to people in Festus and the surrounding neighborhoods. Contact us today to schedule an appointment. We’ll be happy to help with your home comfort needs and to provide a thorough indoor air quality test.
