Indoor Air Quality

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Indoor Air Quality

Here in Scappoose, these days we tend to spend 90 percent of our time indoors without realizing our indoor air can be two to five times more polluted than our outside air. In fact, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ranked indoor air quality one of the top five environmental dangers to public health.

At Columbia NW Heating and Air Conditioning, we understand the importance of clean indoor air. Our professionals know poor indoor air quality is linked to severe asthma and allergy development in children and lung cancer and heart problems in both adults and children.

What Are Signs of Poor Indoor Air Quality?

All symptoms are not the same, as they depend on which contaminant is present in your home. Although these signs can be different, many times the majority of them are sometimes mistaken for allergies, colds, flu, or stress. These associated symptoms can be coughing, sneezing, dizziness, fatigue, headaches, sore throats, nose bleeds, and upper respiratory congestion.

Poor indoor air quality can also add to the development or exacerbation of more serious conditions. These can include chronic infections, asthma, lung diseases, and heart disease.

What Can Cause of Poor Indoor Air Quality?

Anything that releases gas or particles affects your home’s indoor air quality. Examples of these contaminants are combustion, personal-care products and activities, and even outdoor air quality. Insufficient ventilation traps your contaminated air inside your home and can prevent fresh, clean air from getting inside.

Your clogged air filters and dirty air ducts can contribute to dust and mites in the air when your heating and cooling system is not regularly professionally maintained. Also, leaks, floods, high humidity, or an unmaintained humidifier or dehumidifier create bacteria and mold. These most certainly add to poor indoor air quality and impaired health.

If you smoke, use chemical cleaners and personal-care products, burn any type of fuel inside your home, you can release damaging particles into your home’s air. Adequate ventilation can help keep these contaminants under control.

Contact our Columbia NW team to assist you in detecting possible sources in your home.

Can You Improve Your Home’s Air Quality?

By taking several different steps, you can most definitely improve your home’s indoor air quality. Our professionals recommend always using proper ventilation whenever you utilize fuel-burning appliances and harsh chemical products inside.
We also highly recommend replacing your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system’s air filter every three months, testing your ductwork for leaks, cleaning your home’s humidifier and dehumidifier regularly, and keeping your home clean by regularly dusting and vacuuming. Additionally, you need to install a carbon-monoxide detector, test for radon, and remove any asbestos with professional help only.

Electronic Air Cleaners

Electronic air cleaners are whole-home air cleaners working together with your home’s heating and cooling system. The electronic air cleaner filters are usually much thicker than normal one-inch filters. These remove particles from your home’s airflow circulating everywhere in your home. Our indoor air quality experts integrate the air cleaner’s filter firmly inside your HVAC system, forcing your indoor air to pass through it.

You should change this filter every three months. The air cleaner blocks more pollutants, dust, allergens, mold spores, and debris than standard filters and brings fresh, clean air to your home, thereby improving your indoor air quality.

Whole-House Dehumidifier

A whole-house dehumidifier removes moisture from your home’s air. Excess moisture can cause a number of seen and unseen issues in your home. Old and new houses alike go through phases of humidity levels for several different reasons.

Newer or remodeled homes have better insulation than ever before, creating less airflow and trapping humidity inside. On the other hand, older homes can have badly insulated pipes, windows, and cool surfaces which, when mixed with warm interior air, can create moisture. Your daily activities can contribute to the humidity level in your home as well.

Whole-House Humidifier

A whole-house humidifier gives off water vapor to increase the humidity level in your home. Our experts can help you assess if your home requires one.

During colder weather, a humidifier often helps fight the symptoms that accompany this type of weather. Cold weather’s dry air can negatively affect your body’s respiratory system. This drier air can also damage your home’s wooden furniture and architectural aspects, musical instruments, and more. A whole-house humidifier reintroduces the needed moisture into your home’s air to help alleviate the dry-air problems.

Call Columbia NW Today

At Columbia NW, our team of professionals wants you to be comfortable and healthy in your Scappoose, OR, home. We know one of the best ways to help you achieve this is to promote clean indoor air. Call our indoor air quality experts today at 503.543.3624 or request service online to learn more about how we can help you improve your home’s indoor air quality.

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Columbia NW proudly provides HVAC service to Beaverton, Columbia City, Cornelius, Forestgrove, Hillsboro, Portland, Scappoose, St. Helens, Tigard, Warren, and the surrounding communities. Visit our service area page for more coverage details, call us at 503.543.3624, or request service online today.